Life-Course-Persistent versus Adolescence-Limited Antisocial Behavior
This chapter reviews 10 years of research into a developmental taxonomy of antisocial behavior that proposed two primary hypothetical prototypes: life-course-persistent versus adolescence-limited offenders. According to the taxonomic theory, life-course-persistent offenders' antisocial behavior has its origins in neurodevelopmental processes; it begins in childhood and continues persistently thereafter. In contrast, adolescence- limited offenders' antisocial behavior has its origins in social processes; it begins in adolescence and desists in young adulthood. Life-course-persistent antisocial behavior originates early in life, when the difficult behavior of a high-risk young child is exacerbated by a high-risk social environment. The chapter presents four groups of existing studies, which suggests that the pattern of antisocial behavior that begins early in life, is pervasive across settings, is characterized by aggressive personality traits, includes physical aggression, and persists into adulthood is associated with relatively more genetic influence than is the pattern of later-onset, situational, transient delinquency.