Full metadata
Title
The origins of life-course persistent offending revisited: does self-control mediate the effect of neuropsychological deficits on early-onset offending?
Description
The link between childhood neuropsychological deficits and early-onset offending--the assumed precursor to life-course persistent offending--has been well established, yet the underlying mechanisms facilitating this relationship are less understood. Support is growing for the claim that self-control is a key mechanism that links neuropsychological deficits to early-onset offending. Despite this, findings are mixed with regard to the mediating effect of self-control in the relationship between neuropsychological deficits and antisocial behavior. These studies largely support the notion that self-control exerts a mediating effect on neuropsychological deficits when the offending being studied is less serious. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the present study seeks to build upon the existing literature by examining whether self-control mediates the relationship between neuropsychological deficits and two types of early-onset offending--low and high risk--as a means of testing core tenets of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) and Moffitt's (1993) criminological theories. Findings show that while self-control and neuropsychological deficits independently predict general early-onset offending, these effects vary as a consequence of early-onset offender type. The results point to the need for future research to explore the possibility that the early-onset offender group that leads to persistent offending could be more precisely defined. Examining early-onset offending as a single construct limits our ability to make inferences about those offenders that are the most persistent in their offending patterns and, arguably, more likely to continue offending over the life-course.
Date Created
2014
Contributors
- Infante, Arynn (Author)
- Burt, Callie H (Thesis advisor)
- Decker, Scott (Committee member)
- Young, Jacob Tn (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
- criminology
- Early-Onset Offending
- Life-Course Offending
- Neuropsychological Deficits
- Self-control
- Juvenile delinquency--United States--Psychological aspects.
- Juvenile Delinquency
- Juvenile delinquents--Mental health--United States.
- Juvenile delinquents
- Self-control in adolescence--Social aspects--United States.
- Self-control in adolescence
Resource Type
Extent
iv, 49 p. : 1 ill
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.24902
Statement of Responsibility
by Arynn Infante
Level of coding
full
Note
thesis
Partial requirement for: M.S., Arizona State University, 2014
bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-49)
Field of study: Criminology and criminal justice
System Created
- 2014-06-09 02:09:33
System Modified
- 2021-08-30 01:35:27
- 3 years 2 months ago
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