Week 8 reading 2: Adolescence-limited and life-course persistent antisocial behaviour: a developmental taxonomy

Question 1

Delinquency conceals 2 distinct categories of individuals

Answer 1

-Life course persistent= small group of individuals engage in antisocial behavior in 1 sort or another at every life stage

-Adolescent limited= larger group of individuals is antisocial only during adolescence

-Two qualitatively different categories requires two distinct theoretical explanations. Antisocial behaviour across time is incredibly stable for some people, and not stable at all for others.

Question 2

How does life-course persistent antisocial behaviour arise?

Answer 2

-Children’s neuropsychological problems interact cumulatively with their criminogenic environments across development resulting in a pathological personality

-Theory must locate casual factors early in childhood and explain the continuity in their troubled lives.

Question 3

How does adolescence limited antisocial behaviour arise?

Answer 3

-A contemporary maturity gap encourages teens to mimic antisocial behavior in ways that are normative and adjustive

-Theory must reflect the discontinuity in their lives (have causal factors that are proximal to the issues)

Question 4

Age and antisocial behaviour

Answer 4

-Rates of crime peak in adolescence (age 17) and then drop in young adulthood

-General pattern remains for both genders and across most types of crime, in numerous western nations

-Previously curve based on arrest statistics. Not necessarily the best indicator of antisocial beahviour. Now, self-report measures included (again not perfect).

Question 5

Proposed reasons for the age/ antisocial behaviour curve (i.e. what explain the peak in offending?)

Answer 5

-Does a small and constant number of offenders simply generate more criminal acts while they are adolescent?

-Or does adolescence cause an increase in the number of people who are willing to offend

-Evidence suggests the second option (new people not acceleration of pre-existing people).

Question 6

How do the life-course persistent and adolescence limited individuals differ?

Answer 6

-Etiology (cause)
-Developmental course
-Prognosis
-Classification of their behavior as either pathological or normative

Question 7

Is adolescence-limited antisocial behavior a normative part of adolescent development?

Answer 7

Yes, the paper argues that adolescence-limited antisocial behavior is a normative part of adolescent development and is not indicative of a deeper antisocial personality.

Question 8

What negative outcomes are associated with life-course-persistent antisocial behavior?

Answer 8

Range of negative outcomes, including criminal behavior and poor social and economic outcomes.

Question 9

What are some of the risk factors that contribute to the development of antisocial behavior?

Answer 9

-Individual factors (e.g., low IQ, impulsivity, poor self control)
-Contextual factors (e.g., family dysfunction, exposure to violence).

(influence both types but to varying degrees)

Question 10

Is life-course-persistent antisocial behavior more strongly influenced by individual or contextual factors?

Answer 10

Life-course-persistent antisocial behavior is more strongly influenced by individual factors than adolescence-limited antisocial behavior.

Question 11

Dual taxonomy of antisocial behavior

Answer 11

Two underlying dimensions of antisocial behavior:
-a “dimension of severity”
-a “dimension of age of onset.”

Question 12

Dimension of severity

Answer 12

Extent and severity of the antisocial behavior.

Question 13

Dimension of age of onset

Answer 13

The timing of the onset of the antisocial behaviour

Question 14

What are the scores on the dimensions of severity and age of onset for life-course-persistent antisocial behavior?

Answer 14

Individuals who exhibit life-course-persistent antisocial behavior have high scores on both dimensions.

(High score of age corresponds to young age onset)

Question 15

What are the scores on the dimensions of severity and age of onset for adolescence-limited antisocial behavior?

Answer 15

Those who exhibit adolescence-limited antisocial behavior have high scores on the dimension of severity but low scores on the dimension of age of onset.

Question 16

What are some of the potential intervention strategies for addressing life-course-persistent antisocial behavior?

Answer 16

Early childhood intervention may be effective in preventing the development of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior.

Question 17

Potential intervention strategies for addressing adolescence-limited antisocial behavior

Answer 17

Target specific risk factors: exposure to deviant peers, or alcohol and drug use

Question 18

Importance of understanding developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior

Answer 18

Understanding the developmental trajectories of antisocial behavior is crucial for the development of effective prevention and intervention strategies.

Question 19

Life course persistent individuals: risk factors Parenting monitoring

Answer 19

Low parental monitoring has been identified as a risk factor for life-course-persistent antisocial behavior.

Question 20

What is the relationship between childhood conduct problems and the risk of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior?

Answer 20

Childhood conduct problems are a strong predictor of the risk of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior.

Question 21

How does neighborhood context contribute to the risk of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior?

Answer 21

Neighborhoods characterized by poverty, social disorganization, and high crime rates are associated with an increased risk of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior.

Question 22

What are some of the contextual risk factors associated with adolescent-limited antisocial behavior?

Answer 22

-Deviant peer relationships and exposure to delinquent behavior.
-School disengagement, such as truancy or academic failure
-Early puberty (increases maturity gap)
-Family conflict + parent relationships are predictors (but often less severe than those associated with life-course persistent beahviour)

Question 23

Why do not all teenagers engage in antisocial behavior?

Answer 23

Protective factors such as supportive families, positive relationships with peers, involvement in structured activities, access to positive role models, and individual factors such as high self-esteem and good coping skills can prevent or mitigate the effects of risk factors that might otherwise lead to antisocial behavior.

Question 24

“snares” hypothesis

Answer 24

The “snares” hypothesis suggests that life-course-persistent antisocial behavior is the result of a cumulative process in which early risk factors lead to the accumulation of additional risk factors over time, creating a “snare” from which it is difficult to escape.

Question 25

“maturity gap” hypothesis

Answer 25

The “maturity gap” hypothesis suggests that adolescent-limited antisocial behavior is the result of a temporary mismatch between the individual’s level of biological maturity and their social environment.