In Clifford R. Shaw's novel, The Jack-Roller, the autobiography of a teenager named Stanley, who lives in Chicago, Illinois, is discussed. late 1920s. In the novel, Stanley vividly describes the violent home from which he regularly escapes, the delinquent acts he constantly commits, and the changing social situations of which he is a part. Much of Stanley's delinquent behavior, throughout the novel, can be traced back to the violent interactions he has with his stepmother. Stanley details his stepmother's lack of affection and how her abuse drove him to harbor a deep hatred for her; it is implied throughout the novel that a major influence for Stanley's delinquent behavior is his stepmother's drive to perform deviant acts to survive, such as stealing for food and clothing. With this in mind, Shaw also states that Stanley's father thought of his children as "children who must be provided for"; in addition to the lack of attention and care that Stanley and his biological siblings received at home (p. 48). Stanley clearly details how his father was absent and how his stepmother's lack of care forced him to find his own source of comfort; that comfort came from the delinquent acts he had committed and the older boys in his neighborhood whom he idolized, such as his half-brother, William, and his friend Tony. Stanley found that the more time he spent with the older kids in the neighborhood, the more he learned about being a criminal. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Throughout the novel, Shaw details how Stanley loved the life of crime and how he enjoyed being placed in detention centers. Shaw points out that Stanley felt more comfortable in detention centers than in his home with his stepmother and father. However, after spending time in various detention centers, Stanley realized that his love for detention centers slowly lost its luster as the punishments he received in detention centers worsened over time. Eventually, Stanley overcame his deviant lifestyle and became a traditional man, who spent most of his time providing for his family to ensure they had the best future possible. With the above summary, Stanley's behavior can be explained by two criminological theories: Differential Association Theory and Life Course Theory. First, life course (developmental) theory focuses on an individual's criminality over time. In life course theory, as discussed in the lesson, an individual's life trajectories are examined; these trajectories are interdependent developments over the course of an individual's life. However, as far as The Jack-Roller is concerned, one of the types of individuals in Moffitt's developmental taxonomy, delinquents limited to adolescence, can be used to explain Stanley's behavior. Offenders limited to adolescence tend to engage in criminal behavior only during adolescence and young adulthood (Chapter 13 PPT). To explain, Stanley had early-onset delinquent behavior; Stanley started running away from home at the age of six. At fifteen Stanley was beginning to engage in burglaries and thefts, however, after years of delinquent behavior and being locked up in detention centres, Stanley changed his life after meeting and marrying a woman. As Stanley shares with Shaw, “she didn't care what I had done, she was worried about what I would become” (page 181). This was Stanley's desistance; he interrupted.