Jason and Paul both grew up on the same block in a poor neighborhood. Despite this similarity,
their trajectories turned out quite differently. Jason’s single mother became pregnant at the young
age of 16. Not knowing much about maintaining a healthy pregnancy, she continued to smoke
and drink alcohol until the day she gave birth. Jason was born prematurely arriving 6 weeks early
at just under 5 pounds in weight. As he grew up, Jason was behind in all significant
developmental markers such as sitting up straight, walking, talking, and developing social skills.
At the age of 12, he learned from his mother to drink and use drugs. He never excelled in school
or made many friends and would drop out by the 10th grade—which is around the same time he
was charged with distributing narcotics for profit, his first official arrest. Jason would go on to
become a career criminal and pass away at the young age of 49.
Paul grew up in a two-parent household. Although his family was poor, they never went without.
When Paul’s 27-year-old mother became pregnant she took pregnancy classes and read all the
relevant books. Paul was born on his due date and would hit all developmental markers on-time
or even early. Although he got caught at the age of 15 sneaking into a movie theater with a group
of friends, this would be the only crime he ever committed. The whole experience scared Paul
and from that point forward he focused on school and would go off to college once graduating
high school. Later in life, Paul would become a talented architect. He lived a long life and was
able to meet his great grandkids.
Using the prompt above, answer all of the following questions:
• Discuss Moffitt’s dual taxonomy. Considering the life course of Jason and Paul, which
one out of the two would be considered life-course-persistent and who is adolescence-
limited? Why?
• Discuss the biological reasons that may have contributed to Jason and Paul’s differences.
• Considering the family dynamic, what factors would have contributed to Jason and Paul’s
behavior throughout the life course?
• Discuss major life events that could have changed the life course for Jason and Paul.
Make sure to mention how these major life events could have put them on opposite paths
(e.g., Jason would end up being prosocial).
