Etiology and Prevention of Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents (From Childhood Aggression and Violence, P 263-283, 1987, David H Crowell, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-112364)

• NCJ Number: 112374
• Author(s): J D Hawkins; D Lishner
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 21 pages
• Grant Number(s): 80-JS-AX-0052
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Sale Source: Plenum Publishing Corp
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter reviews existing evidence on childhood predictors and correlates of antisocial behavior and describes a prevention project that has demonstrated a positive effect on children at risk of delinquent behavior.

Abstract

Factors associated with antisocial behavior and delinquency include early conduct disorders, family functioning and management techniques, parental criminality or antisocial behavior, poor academic performance and lack of educational commitment. Others include association with delinquent peers, alienation from dominant social values, low parental attachment, and low religiosity. The social development model incorporates these etiological risk factors and posits that social bonds to prosocial others inhibit delinquent behavior. It suggests that bonds are formed in families, in schools, and among peers when youths have the opportunity to be involved with others in activities and interactions in these social units, when they have the necessary skills to perform competently, and when they experience consistent rewards for their involvement. A project in Seattle is testing the combined effects of developmentally sequenced interventions based on this model. The project includes school-based family, classroom, and peer focused services, as well as two community-based strategies. Preliminary evaluation suggests that the project has been effective in increasing bonding to family, school, and peers and in reducing antisocial behavior and delinquency. 112 references.