An examination of motivational aspects for adolsecent criminal behaviour

In Terrie Moffitt's (1993) influential developmental theory of antisocial behaviour, two distinct groups of antisocial adolescents co-exist. First, a Life-Course Persistent (LCP) group that consists of individuals involved in antisocial behaviour long b efore they reach puberty. LCP individuals are strongly involved in various forms of antisocial (drinking, driving, theft, staying away from home, etc.) and criminal behaviour, and they are disproportionally found in criminal registers. Approximately 5% o f the population are considered LCP antisocial (less girls than boys). Parallel with this group, a second much larger group co-exists. This group, which includes the majority of the adolescent population, shows no evidence of antisocial behaviour befo re the teen-age period. During the early years of puberty, however, these individuals become differentially involved in antisocial and criminal behaviour due to two phenomena: (1) Increasing motivation for performing antisocial acts, and (2) Increasing opportunity for performing antisocial behaviour through the affiliation with, and mimicry of, LCP adolescents. The motivational factor is governed by two sub-processes; pubertal status (biological maturity) and social status. Early mature individuals, f ully capable of passing on their genes to the next generation, feel at odds with the social expectations directed towards them. Socially, they are, to a various degree, still considered immature and not capable of managing, or taking the full responsibi lity of, their lives. According to Moffitt's theory these individuals are caught in a time warp between biological and social status. Early mature individuals are expected to postpone the benefits of being adults (i.e., acting independent and autonomo usly, having sex, driving a car, buying their own goods etc.) in which they have no legitimate means to achieve. They are trapped in a so-called Maturity Gap. The main goal of this presentation is to examine to what extent variations in this Maturity Ga p is associated with criminal behaviour.