Chapter 7: The Development of Delinquent and Criminal Behavior Flashcards
Conduct disorder
A diagnostic designation used to represent a group of behaviors characterized by habitual misbehavior, such as stealing, setting fires, running away from home, skipping school, destroying property, fighting, or being cruel to animals.
Antisocial behavior
Any behavior that is considered a violation of social norms in society; antisocial behaviors may or may not be defined as crimes.
Reserved for serious habitual misbehavior, which involves actions that are directly harmful to the well-being of others
Antisocial personality disorder (APD or ASP)
A disorder characterized by a history of continuous behavior in which the rights of others are violated.
Psychiatric diagnostic label reserved primarily for adults at least 18 years old who displayed conduct disorder as children or adolescents and who continue serious offending well into adulthood
The Moffitt developmental theory
Indicated that delinquency could be best understood if we viewed it as progressing along two developmental paths
One that began early in a child’s life and launched the child into a career of lifetime offending
One that was restricted to adolescence
Life course-persistent offenders (LCPs)
Offenders who demonstrate a lifelong pattern of antisocial behavior and who are often resistant to treatment or rehabilitation.
LCPs exhibit inherited or acquired neurological problems during their childhood
Difficult temperaments as infants, attention deficit disorders or hyperactivity in elementary school, and additional learning problems during their later school years.
Adolescent-limited offenders (ALs)
Individuals who usually demonstrate delinquent or antisocial behavior only during their teen years and then stop offending during their young adult years.
AL delinquent most likely to be involved in offenses that…
Symbolize adult privilege and demonstrate autonomy from parental control
Vandalism, theft, drug and alcohol offenses, and other status offenses like running away or truancy
Offenses lack the cruelty and violence typical of LCPs
Steinberg’s dual-systems model
Theoretical model that offers a neurological explanation for Moffitt’s adolescence-limited offenders
Steinberg hypothesizes
That reward seeking and impulsivity develop along different timetables and have different neurological influences during adolescent and young adult development
Developmental dual systems model
Proposed by Laurence Steinberg, it refers to the difference in cognitive and emotional brain development in adolescents, making them more prone to sensation-seeking and risk-taking behaviors.
Human brain does not reach full maturity until
Around age 25
Externalizing disorders
Maladaptive behaviors directed at an individual’s environment, such as acting out, antisocial behavior, deceitfulness, hostility, violations of rules and social norms, vindictiveness, and aggression.
Disruptive behaviors lead to what psychologists call externalizing problems
Conduct disorder
Internalizing disorders
Maladaptive behaviors that are directed toward the self, such as suicide, depression, or unusual low self-esteem or confidence.
Prominent features of Moffitt’s LCPs
1) hyperactive-impulsive attention problems
2) conduct problems (or externalizing problems)
3) deficient cognitive ability
4) poor interpersonal or social skills (often resulting in peer rejection)
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Traditionally considered a chronic neurological condition characterized by developmentally poor attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. More contemporary perspectives also see the behavioral pattern as a deficiency in interpersonal skills.
