CRJU 4900: Lifecourse Criminology (Chen)

This episode of the Dunedin Longitudinal Study looks at the effects of modern life and aging. Study results reveal associations between cleanliness and increased asthma and allergies, poverty and long-term physiological damage, the physical effects of social isolation, and venule size and schizophrenia. Medical experts discuss the latest research and implications, and the future of the Dunedin Study.

This film introduces the Dunedin Longitudinal Study and examines myths and facts surrounding long-term effects of childhood. It reveals that some of what happens in early life has no lasting psychological affects (thumb sucking, bedwetting), while other behaviors are significant indicators for adult health, wealth, and happiness. See examples of the five personality types, how they compare to the population, and what their lives are like.

The argument of nature versus nurture has been widely debated, but recent evidence suggests that it is actually a matter of nature via nurture. In 1972, researchers in Dunedin, New Zealand began studying all of the babies born that year, with intentions to follow them throughout their lifetimes. Now adults, the 1037 subjects are the most studied human beings on the planet, and the resulting data provides significant insight into who we are. In this episode, learn how scientists study genes and environment in three specific areas - violence in men, depression, and cannabis induced schizophrenia.

Youth offenders consist of two core groups; life present offenders (people who are going to continue offending regardless of circumstances), and people who given the right conditions will return to become mainstream citizens. This episode asks why most young adolescents engage in juvenile delinquency, and why most of these delinquents desist whereas a few become violent career criminals.