Relationship between age and crime
The view that involvement in crime diminishes with age is one of the oldest and most widely accepted in criminology. Beginning with the pioneering research by Adolphe Quetelet in the early nineteenth century, criminological research consistently has confirmed that (the proportion of) the population involved in crime tends to peak in adolescence or early adulthood and then decline with age. This age-crime relationship is remarkably similar across historical periods, geographic locations, and crime types.
Human behavior goes through a change from late adolescence to early adulthood. The fact that maximum number of crimes are being committed by the ones who fall in the age group of 16 to 20 can mean two things- firstly, that maybe the tendency to commit a crime declines with age, secondly, it can also mean that maybe the offenders are arrested disproportionately.
Maturity is the reason why crimes committed by an individual reduce with age. Firstly look at cause
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They become aware of the fact that once they enter adulthood, the punishment gets severe and no juvenile justice system can save them from being punished. Hence, adults automatically stop being a part of violent activities.
The relationship between age and crime is invariant and remains the same in individuals even across the borders. The age-crime relationship remains the same in every society amongst every group. Biological explanation for the decline in the number of crimes with age is testosterone. Testosterone leads to aggression but testosterone also declines with age. Therefore the youth is full of aggression which makes them take the wrong path of crimes. Hence, when a boy is in the age group of 12 to 20, that’s the time when testosterone is rapidly rising, making the principle perpetrators of