“What’s so civil ‘bout war anyway?” Advancing Civility as a Path Forward in Developmental and Life-Course Criminology

Abstract Although the notion of civility can be traced back to the period of Anno Domini, this paper advances the idea of civility as an important consideration for developmental and life-course criminology (DLC) in the present day. After briefly discussing the history of civility, the paper identifies its potential for understanding patterns of antisocial behavior within the context of DLC. Preliminary analysis shows that general civility is related to perceptions surrounding confidence in the criminal justice system as anticipated. The paper concludes by outlining what is needed to further apply civility to DLC as well as to how civility can be a useful concept to help address various DLC-related topics.