A criminalidade é um problema recorrente de grande relevância, o engajamento delituoso de jovens é um fenômeno preocupante e alarmante, de acentuado impacto na sociedade. A população, em geral, tende a acreditar que os jovens estão cada vez mais perigosos e envolvidos no agir antissocial. Faz-se necessário a realização de pesquisas que desvendem a problemática e busquem alternativas e possíveis soluções. No âmbito internacional, os questionários de delinquência autorrevelada são considerados o método mais seguro para indicar a prevalência e frequência de comportamentos delituosos entre os jovens. O objetivo do presente estudo foi, em termos gerais, conhecer o comportamento divergente e delituoso de adolescentes estudantes de instituições de ensino privadas, investigando a associação do fenômeno a variáveis potencialmente relacionadas e ampliar pesquisa anterior realizada junto a jovens de instituições de ensino públicas. Participaram do estudo 324 adolescentes, do sexo masculino, estudantes de três escolas particulares. Foi aplicado o Questionário sobre Comportamentos Juvenis, um instrumento de autorrelato que aborda questões relativas à família, escola, rotina, pares, local de residência e comportamentos divergentes e delituosos. Os resultados indicaram que 60,80% da amostra relatou já ter praticado algum comportamento delituoso e 68,88% algum comportamento divergente. O comportamento delituoso mais frequente foi a lesão corporal, seguido de dano. Quanto aos comportamentos divergentes 52,5% dos adolescentes declararam já ter consumido bebidas alcoólicas. Os adolescentes foram agrupados em 5 clusters de acordo com o nível de engajamento criminal, concluiu-se que 11,11% dos jovens são responsáveis por 81% dos delitos revelados praticados nos últimos 12 meses. Esses são aqueles de engajamento mais grave e que se diferenciaram dos outros agrupamentos pela idade de primeiro delito, pela diversidade e volume de delitos praticados. / Criminality is a relevant social problem. Juvenile delinquency is a worrying and alarming phenomenon with many impacts on society. The population, in general, Believes that young people are increasingly involved on antisocial behaviours. Studies about this, is necessary to looking for alternatives and possible solutions. In international level. Self-Reported delinquency are considered the best method to indicate the delinquency behaviors prevalence and frequency. The aim of the present study is to know the self-reported delinquency in private schools young boys; investigating the association of the phenomenon with potentially related variables and expanding previous research carried out with youngsters of public educational institutions. Thirty-four adolescents, male, private schoolss students from three participated in the study. The Self Reported Delinquency was applied; its a self-report questionnaire that investigating about family, school, routine, peers, place of residence and divergent and criminal behavior. The results indicated that 60.80% of the sample reported some delinquent behavior and 68.88% some problem behavior. The most frequent criminal behavior was hurt someone, followed by damage. Regarding divergent behaviors, 52.5% of adolescents reported having consumed alcoholic beverages. The adolescents were grouped into 5 clusters according to the level of criminal engagement, it was concluded that 11.11% of young people are responsible for 81% of de delinquency practiced in the last 12 months. These group (5) have more serious engagement and that differ from others, about age, diversity and frequency.

Previous research suggests that as well as behavioural difficulties, a small subset of aggressive and antisocial children show callous unemotional (CU) personality traits (i.e., lack of remorse and absence of empathy) that set them apart from their low-CU peers. These children have been identified as being most at risk to follow a path of severe and persistent antisocial behaviour, showing distinct behavioural patterns, and have been found to respond less to traditional treatment programs. One particular focus of this thesis is that emerging findings have shown emotion recognition deficits within both groups. Whereas children who only show behavioural difficulties (in the absence of CU traits) have been found to misclassify vague and neutral expressions as anger, the presence of CU traits has been associated with an inability to correctly identify fear and to a lesser extend, sadness. Furthermore, emotion recognition competence varies with age and development. In general, emotion recognition improves with age, but interestingly there is some evidence that it may become less efficient during puberty. No research could be located, however, that assessed emotion recognition through childhood and adolescence for children high and low on CU traits and antisocial behaviour. The primary focus of this study was to investigate the impact of these personality traits and pubertal development on emotion recognition competence in isolation and in combination. A specific aim was to assess if puberty would exacerbate these deficits in children with pre-existing deficits in emotion recognition. The effect of gender, emotion type and measure characteristics, in particular the age of the target face, was also examined. A community sample of 703 children and adolescents aged 7-17 were administered the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire to assess adjustment, the Antisocial Process Screening Device to assess antisocial traits, and the Pubertal Development Scale was administered to evaluate pubertal stage. Empathy was assessed using the Bryant Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents. Parents or caregivers completed parent version of these measures for their children. Emotion recognition ability was measured using the newly developed UNSW FACES task (Dadds, Hawes & Merz, 2004). Description of the development and validation of this measure are included. Contrary to expectations, emotion recognition accuracy was not negatively affected by puberty. In addition, no overall differences in emotion recognition ability were found due to participant’s gender or target face age group characteristics. The hypothesis that participants would be better at recognising emotions expressed by their own age group was therefore not supported. In line with expectations, significant negative associations between CU traits and fear recognition were found. However, these were small, and contrary to expectations, were found for girls rather than boys. Also, puberty did not exacerbate emotion recognition deficits in high CU children. However, the relationship between CU traits and emotion recognition was affected differently by pubertal status. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to future research into emotion recognition deficits within this population. In addition, theoretical and practical implications of these findings for the development of antisocial behaviour and the treatment of children showing CU traits are explored.

A one-group pre-test post-test design (including 6- and 12-month follow-up), supplemented with benchmarking analyses, was employed to assess the effectiveness of Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for youth displaying antisocial behaviours in New Zealand. An additional aim of the current study was to assess for predictors and moderators of outcome. The predictor variables assessed included: Client satisfaction, therapeutic and supervisory alliance, therapist and supervisor adherence, therapist and supervisor allegiance, and therapist and supervisor accountability. Seventy-three youth and their families completed the MST program (M = 162 days) and the present study’s measures. Youth and their families experienced improvements in ultimate outcomes (offending frequency, offending seriousness, and days in out-of-home placements) and instrumental outcomes (youth positive and negative behaviour, parent well-being and psychopathology, parent ability, and family functioning) following MST treatment. With a few exceptions, these gains were largely maintained up to 12 months following treatment. Benchmarking analyses indicated that the completion rate and effect sizes were comparable with those from previous MST studies both in New Zealand and the United States. The predictor variables of service satisfaction, therapeutic alliance, and therapist adherence predicted higher levels of change in most instrumental outcomes as expected. However, of significant importance, higher supervisor adherence and supervisory alliances were associated with significantly lower therapist adherence, therapeutic alliance, and some client outcomes. Furthermore, the few significant interactions between predictor variables produced mixed findings, many of which contradicted widely held assumptions. As MST has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for youth offenders in New Zealand, continuing dissemination and ongoing evaluation of MST in New Zealand is recommended. In particular, given the negative impact of supervision variables on therapist adherence, therapeutic alliance, and some client outcomes, this would include research aimed at assessing various quality control functions of supervision, including supervisor training, mechanisms of supervision related to therapist and client variables, and the potential value of more closely monitoring the process of supervision.

This thesis investigated (1) social status and shaming experiences in relation to aggressive behaviour and depression, and (2) gene-environment interactions between two genetic polymorphisms related to the serotonergic system – MAOA-VNTR and 5HTTLPR – and experiences of maltreatment in relation to delinquent behaviour and depression among adolescents. The four included studies are based on questionnaire data from the Survey of Adolescent Life in Vestmanland 2006 (SALVe-2006). A total of 5396 students in 9th (15-16 years old) grade of elementary school and 2nd (17-18 years old) grade of high school comprised the target population. The students in 2nd grade of high school also provided a saliva sample for gene extraction. There were strong associations between shaming experiences and both aggressive behaviour and depression. In addition, individuals who reported many shaming experiences and had either low or high social status had increased risks of physical aggression or depression, whereas medium social status seemed to have a protective effect. Gene-environment interactions were found between experiences of maltreatment and the MAOA-VNTR in relation to delinquent behaviour. Moreover, the direction of the gene-environment interaction differed depending on sex: boys with the short (S) variant of the MAOA-VNTR, in contrast to girls with the long (LL) variant, had the highest risk of delinquency in combination with maltreatment. Gene-environment interactions were also found between experiences of maltreatment and the 5HTTLPR in relation to depression among girls. The girls that were homozygous for the S allele (SS) had the highest risk of depression in combination with maltreatment. Among boys however, no gene-environment interaction was found between the 5HTTLPR and maltreatment in relation to depression. In conclusion, it is important to consider both genetic effects, and psychosocial factors such as social status, shaming experiences, and experiences of maltreatment when investigating different aspects of health and behaviour among adolescents.

Previous research suggests that as well as behavioural difficulties, a small subset of aggressive and antisocial children show callous unemotional (CU) personality traits (i.e., lack of remorse and absence of empathy) that set them apart from their low-CU peers. These children have been identified as being most at risk to follow a path of severe and persistent antisocial behaviour, showing distinct behavioural patterns, and have been found to respond less to traditional treatment programs. One particular focus of this thesis is that emerging findings have shown emotion recognition deficits within both groups. Whereas children who only show behavioural difficulties (in the absence of CU traits) have been found to misclassify vague and neutral expressions as anger, the presence of CU traits has been associated with an inability to correctly identify fear and to a lesser extend, sadness. Furthermore, emotion recognition competence varies with age and development. In general, emotion recognition improves with age, but interestingly there is some evidence that it may become less efficient during puberty. No research could be located, however, that assessed emotion recognition through childhood and adolescence for children high and low on CU traits and antisocial behaviour. The primary focus of this study was to investigate the impact of these personality traits and pubertal development on emotion recognition competence in isolation and in combination. A specific aim was to assess if puberty would exacerbate these deficits in children with pre-existing deficits in emotion recognition. The effect of gender, emotion type and measure characteristics, in particular the age of the target face, was also examined. A community sample of 703 children and adolescents aged 7-17 were administered the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire to assess adjustment, the Antisocial Process Screening Device to assess antisocial traits, and the Pubertal Development Scale was administered to evaluate pubertal stage. Empathy was assessed using the Bryant Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents. Parents or caregivers completed parent version of these measures for their children. Emotion recognition ability was measured using the newly developed UNSW FACES task (Dadds, Hawes & Merz, 2004). Description of the development and validation of this measure are included. Contrary to expectations, emotion recognition accuracy was not negatively affected by puberty. In addition, no overall differences in emotion recognition ability were found due to participant’s gender or target face age group characteristics. The hypothesis that participants would be better at recognising emotions expressed by their own age group was therefore not supported. In line with expectations, significant negative associations between CU traits and fear recognition were found. However, these were small, and contrary to expectations, were found for girls rather than boys. Also, puberty did not exacerbate emotion recognition deficits in high CU children. However, the relationship between CU traits and emotion recognition was affected differently by pubertal status. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to future research into emotion recognition deficits within this population. In addition, theoretical and practical implications of these findings for the development of antisocial behaviour and the treatment of children showing CU traits are explored.

Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / Parents are important in the socialization of children to develop into adjusted adults. Parenting is a developmental process and encourages the child to become an independent adult in society, an adult who is pro-social rather than anti-social. The main aim of parenting is to control the behavior of the child, but as the child matures the approach is more of monitoring and supervision rather than control. The aim of this study is to establish the prevalence of parental psychological control during the phase of emerging adulthood and this will be associated with the anti-social behavior of emerging adults. A quantitative methodological approach was used to conduct the study. A sample of 382 participants aged 18 to 25 years were randomly stratified across the departments in the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (CHS). The Parental Psychological Control (Barber, 1996) and the Anti-Social Behavior (Achenbach and Edelbrock, 1987) questionnaires were used to collect the data. The data were analyzed by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results show a significant positive relationship between perceived psychologically controlling parenting and antisocial behavior of emerging adults. Furthermore, antisocial behavior is also positively predicted by both mother and father psychological control, with mothers being significantly more psychologically controlling than fathers. When comparing males and females, males engaged significantly more in antisocial activities than females; males also found fathers to be more psychologically controlling. Implications for further research are suggested. / South Africa

Det här är en kvalitativ studie där yrkesverksamma poliser som arbetar med unga lagöverträdare och barn och unga med ett normbrytande beteende intervjuades. Det genomfördes en semistrukturerad intervju och en fokusgruppsintervju. Intervjuerna genomfördes i en större stad i Sverige. En tematisk analys tillämpades på det insamlade materialet. I resultatet framkommer det att barnets bästa genomsyrar polisens arbete oavsett om de möter unga lagöverträdare, målsäganden eller vittnen. Brottsprevention och samverkan är också ett viktigt inslag i ungdomsgruppens arbete utöver utredningsarbetet. En av studiens viktigaste slutsatser är att samverkan mellan ungdomsenheten, socialtjänst och skolan tidigare har varit bristfällig. Samverkanssvårigheterna bestod till stor del av en defensiv sekretesstolkning från socialtjänstenssida samt att skolan och polisen inte hade en nära samverkan gällande det brottspreventiva arbetet gällande barn och unga.

Tyrimo objektas – sportuojančių mokinių prosocialus ir antisocialus elgesys, vertybės sportinėje veikloje, nuomonė apie trenerio kompetenciją ugdyti garbingos kovos nuostatas ir motyvuoti juos sportinei kovai, moralinis pateisinimas sportinėje veikloje bei siekiami tikslai. Tyrimo problema. Tyrime keliami probleminiai klausimais siekiant išsiaiškinti kaip sportininkų elgesys sportinėje veikloje susijęs su vertybėmis, požiūriu į trenerio kompetencijas ugdyti garbingos kovos nuostatas, moraliniu pateisinimu bei siekiamų tikslų suvokimu. Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti sportininkų elgesio sportinėje veikloje sąsajas su siekiamais tikslais, moraliniu pateisinimu ir nuomone apie trenerio kompetenciją ugdyti garbingos kovos nuostatas ir motyvuoti. Tyrimo tikslui pasiekti darbe keliami uždaviniai: nustatyti sportuojančių mokinių prosocialaus ir antisocialaus elgesio raišką sportinėje veikloje; vertybes sportinėje veikloje ir nuomonę apie trenerio kompetenciją ugdyti garbingos kovos nuostatas ir motyvuoti; moralinį pateisinimą; siekiamus tikslus (laimėjimų motyvacijos) sportinėje veikloje ir atskleisti koreliacinius ryšius tarp sportuojančiųjų elgesio ir kitų tyrime analizuojamų tyrimo kintamųjų. Tyrime keltos hipotezės, kad sportininkų prosocialus elgesys susijęs su jų orientacija į moralines vertybes, suvokta trenerio kompetencija ugdyti garbingos kovos nuostatas ir motyvuoti bei sportininko orientacija į užduoties atlikimą, o antisocialus elgesys susijęs su orientacijomis į statuso... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of the research – prosocial and antisocial behaviour of exercising students, values in sports activity, the opinion about the trainer’s competence to develop the attitudes towards fair play and to motivate them for competition, moral disengagement and the objectives. The research raises the problematic questions on purpose of ascertaining how the behaviour of athletes in sports activity is related to the values, attitude towards the trainer’s competences to develop the attitudes towards fair play, moral disengagement and perception of the objectives. The aim of the research was to determine the correlations of the behaviour of the athletes in sports activity with the objectives, moral disengagement and the opinion about the trainer’s competence to develop the attitudes towards fair play and to motivate. The following research objectives were raised: to determine the prosocial and antisocial behaviour in sports activity; the values in sports activity and the opinion about the trainer’s competence; moral disengagement; the objectives in sports activity and to reveal the correlations between the behaviour of athletes and other variables analysed in the research. We hyphotizased that the prosocial behaviour of the athletes is related to moral values, the perceived trainer’s competence to develop the attitudes towards fair play and to motivate, and athlete’s orientation to the performance of the task; and antisocial behaviour is related to the status values, moral... [to full text]

Les relations avec des amis déviants à l’adolescence peuvent être un terreau fertile pour le développement de comportements antisociaux. Au travers des processus de sélection et de socialisation, les amis s’influencent fortement, de manière telle que le niveau de comportements antisociaux des amis permet de prédire l’augmentation de comportements antisociaux chez les jeunes. La supervision parentale est susceptible de réduire l’influence négative des amis. Cette étude longitudinale vise à évaluer la contribution respective de l’influence des amis antisociaux et de différentes composantes de la supervision parentale (contrôle parental, sollicitation parentale et divulgation spontanée du jeune) sur le développement de comportements antisociaux au début de l’adolescence auprès d’un échantillon de 623 élèves âgés de 12 à 14 ans.   Il vise également à évaluer dans quelle mesure les différentes composantes de la supervision parentale interagissent avec l’influence des amis antisociaux afin de rendre compte du développement ultérieur des comportements antisociaux. Des analyses de régression hiérarchique indiquent que les comportements antisociaux des amis, ainsi que chacune des composantes liées à la supervision parentale, contribuent de manière unique et indépendante à prédire le développement ultérieur des comportements antisociaux. De plus, les adolescents qui rapportent un plus haut niveau de contrôle parental et qui ont davantage tendance à partager spontanément de l’information sur leur vie présentent moins de comportements antisociaux deux ans plus tard. Par contre, les jeunes qui rapportent un plus haut niveau de sollicitation parentale présentent plus de comportements antisociaux deux ans plus tard.   Les comportements parentaux (contrôle et sollicitation) ne viennent pas modérer l’influence négative des amis. Cependant, la propension du jeune à divulguer spontanément de l’information à ses parents modère l’influence négative des amis. En effet, chez les jeunes qui divulguent peu, les comportements antisociaux des amis ne permettent pas de prédire le développement des comportements antisociaux deux ans plus tard. Ces jeunes présentent un niveau de comportements antisociaux systématiquement plus élevé, et ce, indépendamment du niveau de comportements antisociaux des amis. Chez les jeunes plus enclins à se confier à leurs parents, les comportements antisociaux des amis sont alors positivement associés au développement ultérieur des comportements antisociaux. / Friendships with delinquent peers during adolescence can foster the development of antisocial behaviour. Through the processes of selection and socialization, friends influence each other significantly, to the point that the friends’ level of antisocial behaviour can predict an increase in the adolescent’s antisocial behaviour. Parental supervision can reduce peers’ negative influence. This longitudinal study aims to examine the respective contributions of delinquent peers’ influence and three components of parental supervision (parental control, parental solicitation and child’s disclosure) on the development of antisocial behaviour at the beginning of adolescence among 623 students between 12 and 14 years old. It also aims to measure to what extent these components of parental supervision moderate the influence of antisocial peers in predicting the subsequent development of antisocial behaviour. The hierarchical regression analysis indicate that peers’ antisocial behaviour, as well as the components of parental supervision, contribute in a unique and independent way to predict the subsequent development of antisocial behaviour. Furthermore, adolescents who report a higher level of parental control, and who are more likely to freely disclose information to their parents, manifest less antisocial behaviour two years later. On the other hand, adolescents who report a higher level of parental solicitation manifest more antisocial behaviour two years later. Parental behaviour (control and solicitation) do not moderate the negative influence of peers, whereas adolescents’ tendency to disclose spontaneously information to their parents moderates the peers’ negative influence. Indeed, for adolescents reporting a lower level of disclosure, their peers’ antisocial behaviour cannot predict the development of their own antisocial behaviour two years later. These youths manifest a level of antisocial behaviour which is systematically higher, independently of their peers’ level of delinquency. For the adolescents who disclose more to their parents, peers’ antisocial behaviour are positively associated to the future development of their own antisocial behaviour.

<p>Parents are important in the socialization of children to develop into adjusted adults. Parenting is a developmental process and encourages the child to become an independent adult in society, an adult who is pro-social rather than anti-social. The main aim of parenting is to control the behaviour of the child, but as the child matures the approach is more of monitoring and supervision rather than control. The aim of this study is to establish the prevalence of parental psychological control during the phase of emerging adulthood and this will be associated with the anti-social behaviour of emerging adults. A quantitative methodological approach was used to conduct the study. A sample of 382 participants aged 18 to 25 years were randomly stratified across the departments in the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (CHS). The Parental Psychological Control (Barber, 1996) and the Anti-Social Behaviour (Achenbach and Edelbrock, 1987) questionnaires were used to collect the data. The data were analysed by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results show a significant positive relationship between perceived psychologically controlling parenting and antisocial behaviour of emerging adults. Furthermore, antisocial behaviour is also positively predicted by both mother and father psychological control, with mothers being significantly more psychologically controlling than fathers. When comparing males and females, males engaged significantly more in antisocial activities than females / males also found fathers to be more psychologically controlling. Implications for further research are suggested.</p>