Background
Although a pathway from
childhood behavioural disorders to criminal offending is well-established, the
aetiological processes remain poorly understood. Also, it is not clear if
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is predictive of crime in the
absence of comorbid disruptive behaviour disorder (DBD).
Hypothesis
We examined two research
questions: (1) Does ADHD have a unique effect on the risk of criminal
offending, independently of DBD? (2) Is the effect of childhood behavioural
disorders on criminal offending direct or mediated by adolescent processes
related to school experience, substance misuse, and peers?
Method
Structural equation
modelling, with latent variables, was applied to longitudinally collected data
on 4,644 males from the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort Study.
Results
Both ADHD and DBD separately
predicted felony conviction risk. Most of these effects were mediated by
adolescent alcohol use and low academic performance. The effect of DBD was
stronger and included a direct pathway to criminal offending.
Conclusion
Findings were more
consistent with the life
course mediation hypothesis of
pathways into crime, in that the effects of each disorder category were
mediated by heavy drinking and educational failure. Preventing these adolescent
risk outcomes may be an effective approach to closing pathways to criminal
behaviour among behaviourally disordered children. However, as there was some
evidence of a direct pathway from DBD, effective treatments targeting this
disorder are also expected to reduce criminal offending.
Below: Structural Equation Model (Standardised Path Estimates are Reported)
Full article at: http://goo.gl/SoVWGH
By:
Jukka Savolainen, School of Criminology and CriminalJustice, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 321 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE
68588-0561, USA, Phone 402-472-3677, FAX 402-472-6758
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
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