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“MIGHT NOT BE A TOMORROW”: A MULTIMETHODS APPROACH TO ANTICIPATED EARLY DEATH AND YOUTH CRIME *
Author(s) -
BREZINA TIMOTHY,
TEKIN ERDAL,
TOPALLI VOLKAN
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
criminology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.467
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1745-9125
pISSN - 0011-1384
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2009.00170.x
Subject(s) - anticipation (artificial intelligence) , gratification , psychology , criminology , interpretation (philosophy) , social psychology , artificial intelligence , computer science , programming language
Several researchers point to the anticipation of early death, or a sense of “futurelessness,” as a contributing factor to youth crime. It is argued that young people who perceive a high probability of early death may have little reason to delay gratification for the promise of future benefits, as the future itself is discounted. Consequently, these young people tend to pursue high‐risk behaviors associated with immediate rewards, which include crime and violence. Although existing studies lend support to these arguments and show a statistical relationship between anticipated early death and youth crime, this support remains tentative. Moreover, several questions remain regarding the interpretation of this relationship, the meanings that offenders attach to the prospect of early death, and the cognitive processes that link anticipated early death to youth crime. In this article, we address the limitations of previous studies using a multimethods approach, which involves the analyses of national survey data and in‐depth interviews with active street offenders.