Theories of development are divided into two perspectives; Life course and latent trait. These perspectives can answer questions about why juveniles grow up to lead destructive lifestyles and why others exit their delinquency. The latent trait explains that certain tendencies we may be born with and how important it is to be there for our children. Our parenting skills have a profound effect on how our children may lack self-control or exhibit impulsive behavior. The life journey perspective unfolds as we grow and learn more in life. The person's life can go one way or the other, for better or for worse. From childhood, we have experiences that can change our lives. Sometimes this leads us to a radical change: we can choose the crime instead of facing the experience. According to the Florida Department of Education, there are two main concepts: trajectories and transitions. “A trajectory is a lifelong journey that involves long-term patterns of events, such as employment or family history. In contrast, a transition involves short-term events, or turning points, that constitute specific changes in life, such as marriage, divorce, or parenthood. (FDE) Laub and Sampson helped identify what can help adult offenders move away from crime. Trajectories refer to long-term patterns and transition refers to short-term patterns. The trajectory and transition can be positive or negative in the path of life. Sampson and Laub proposed their own theory of the life course. Age theory suggests that individuals who have deviated from their life path have either severed or weakened their social ties to society. Sampson and Laub also believe in the life of crime...... middle of paper ...... uh to build a better future for the next generation, but we need to be positive and stop placing our teenagers in the negative category making them feel like they are nothing, otherwise they will live up to that label. Works Cited Florida Department of Education (2003). Crime over the life course. Retrieved from http://criminology.fsu.edu/center/jjeep/pdf/annual2003/chapter7ar03.pdf Moffitt, T.E. (1993). A taxonomy of development. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/ewaters/552-04/slidsets/brian_mcfarland_aggression/moffitt_aggression.pdf Siegel, L. J. (2000). Criminology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Treadwell, J. (2006). Theories of development. In Criminology (pp. 295-328). London: SAGE.Understanding the theories of criminology | Criminology. (nd). Retrieved from http://www.criminology.com/resources/understanding-criminology-theories/