This book brings together some of the best empirical studies in Dutch DLC-research. Developmental and life course criminology (DLC) is an exciting and rapidly growing research area within the larger field of criminology. DLC focuses on explaining the development of anti-social, delinquent and criminal behavior from childhood to adulthood. In doing so, DLC embraces insights from a wide range of academic disciplines including behavioral genetics, developmental psychology and psychiatry, criminology, and life course sociology. Many DLC-research is based on Anglo-American data. The number of longitudinal studies and researchers on DLC-topics in the Netherlands however, is substantial and increasing. Based on first-rate Dutch research this book covers major topics in DLC. These include the role of individual characteristics, family environment and peers in delinquent development, as well as whether life events and interventions can act as 'turning points', and reroute developmental trajectories. The book's introductory chapter briefly introduces the key points of debate within DLC. Section introductions further place the selected readings within the larger DLC-frame. The book gives an overview of contemporary Dutch DLC-research. It also provides a useful introduction to DLC for researchers and students in criminology, psychology, psychiatry and related disciplines, interested in the way criminal behavior progresses over time.
Arjan Blokland (PhD) is a Researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR). Paul Nieuwbeerta (PhD) is a Senior Researcher at NSCR and Professor at the Department of Sociology of the Utrecht University.