The aim of this dissertation is to provide a comprehensive examination of crime and delinquency over the early life-course through an informal social control perspective. Specifically, the dissertation examines how sources of informal social control (including family, school, work, peers, and community) influence the development of, and continuity and change in antisocial propensity and behaviour. Using a three-wave panel model with lagged and synchronous effects, estimated by a series of structural equation models, I follow a nationally representative birth cohort (born 1984-1985) from the age of 10 to the age of 19, through the first five cycles of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). The analyses are done in three life-stages: childhood, adolescence and emerging adulthood. This study represents the first national-level examination of the influences of informal social control on the development of, and continuity and change in, crime and delinquency in Canada. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, criminal responsibility begins at age twelve. Considerable evidence shows that prior to this age, children exhibit signs of aggressive and antisocial behaviour which may lead to teenage delinquency and crime in adulthood. The theoretical foundation of my dissertation integrates age-graded informal social control theory, collective efficacy, and social disorganization theory. Traditionally, social control theories of crime such as Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime have assumed that deviance is stable over the life course. During childhood, social bonds to institutions such as the family and school teach children to internalize the norms and values of society. Deviance arises when these social bonds are weak and remains stable over the life course. Age-graded theory of informal social control by Sampson and Laub (1993) challenges the assumption of stability. This theory argues that deviant behaviour has elements of both stability (continuity) and change (discontinuity) over time. Under this life course perspective, social bonds are relevant at all life stages. Individuals may modify antisocial trajectories during adolescence or young adulthood with new age-appropriate social bonds such as a positive relationship with school or with nondelinquent peers. The results of the research confirm that antisocial propensity and behaviour are characterized by stability and change over the life course. Social bonds are the primary mechanism through which antisocial behaviours are developed or regulated, in childhood. Informal social control further mediates effects of community disorganization characteristics and family background characteristics on antisocial behaviour in childhood. There is stability in antisocial behaviour from childhood to adolescence to early adulthood, suggesting continuity in an underlying propensity. At the same time, there are changes in antisocial behaviour at each life-stage. The importance of social bonding extends beyond childhood into adolescence, as age-graded sources of informal social control contribute to changes in antisocial and delinquent behaviour. Furthermore, individuals are subject to varying levels and sources of informal social controls as they age: during childhood, informal social controls from families and school have the greatest influence on the development of antisocial behaviour, but during adolescence, school bonds and peer associations account for most of the variation in antisocial behaviour. Finally, emerging adults do not appear to be as subject to the effects of social control as children or adolescents. In emerging adulthood, changes in antisocial behaviour may be the result of a process of maturation. The results suggest that social bonds are dynamic and different sources of informal control are more or less important during different stages of the life course.

Background: Research exploring the developmental of adolescent antisocial behaviour suggests that a secure attachment style is a protective factor against problem behaviour (Bowlby, 1969). It is theorised that disruptions in the attachment relationship can increase the likelihood of adjustment difficulties in adolescence, including antisocial behaviour (MacDonald, 1985). Such relationships have been inferred by cross-sectional research studies, but have yet to be tested in a longitudinal sample. Aims: This research is a secondary data analysis, using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort study, to explore the relationship between attachment and adolescent antisocial behaviour at age 15.5 years. Attachment was measured using three component measures; maternal sensitivity in infancy (sample 1), separations from main caregiver in early childhood, age 3-5 years (sample 2) and the presence of separation anxiety in middle childhood, age 81 months, 6.75 years (sample 3). Results: Logistic regression analyses were used to explore the relationships. Using available data, in sample 1 (n=456 complete cases) no evidence was found to support an association between non-positive maternal sensitivity in infancy and an increased incidence of adolescent antisocial behaviour (OR=0.79 [CI=0.42-1.48], p=0.46). In sample two (n=3,961), the number of separations in infancy were not found to significantly increase the risk of adolescent antisocial behaviour (OR=1.26 [CI=0.94-1.71], p=0.17). Separation anxiety in middle childhood was not found to have an effect on adolescent antisocial behaviour (OR=1.01 [CI=0.80-1.26], p=0.96). Conclusions: The findings suggest that although components of attachment, as measured in this study, were hypothesised to be associated with an increased risk of adolescent antisocial behaviour, this was not statistically supported in this study. In this study effects may be limited due to attrition, leading to the loss of antisocial adolescents from the study, creating a bias in the sample studied.

This study examined links between antisocial behaviour, moral emotions (i.e., sympathy and guilt), and negative emotionality in an ethnically diverse sample of 4- and 8-year-old children (N = 79). Primary caregivers reported their children’s antisocial behaviour, sympathy, and negative emotionality through a questionnaire and across a 10-day span via daily diary entries (n = 474 records). In a semi-structured interview, children reported their sympathy levels and guilt feelings. Children with high guilt in harm contexts and low negative emotionality were rated as less antisocial in both questionnaire and diary reports. For children with low guilt in exclusion contexts, low sympathy ratings predicted higher questionnaire-reported antisocial behaviour. For children with high guilt in prosocial omission contexts, high sympathy ratings predicted lower diary-reported antisocial behaviour. Lastly, high sympathy ratings predicted lower questionnaire-reported antisocial behaviour for children with low negative emotionality.

This study examined links between antisocial behaviour, moral emotions (i.e., sympathy and guilt), and negative emotionality in an ethnically diverse sample of 4- and 8-year-old children (N = 79). Primary caregivers reported their children’s antisocial behaviour, sympathy, and negative emotionality through a questionnaire and across a 10-day span via daily diary entries (n = 474 records). In a semi-structured interview, children reported their sympathy levels and guilt feelings. Children with high guilt in harm contexts and low negative emotionality were rated as less antisocial in both questionnaire and diary reports. For children with low guilt in exclusion contexts, low sympathy ratings predicted higher questionnaire-reported antisocial behaviour. For children with high guilt in prosocial omission contexts, high sympathy ratings predicted lower diary-reported antisocial behaviour. Lastly, high sympathy ratings predicted lower questionnaire-reported antisocial behaviour for children with low negative emotionality.

The present study firstly aimed to identify children with delayed reading who were missing the component skills of decoding fluency and who also displayed antisocial behaviour in the classroom. It also aimed to replicate with them an intervention designed by Church, Nixon, Zintl and Williams (2005). The study finally aimed to explore the question of whether children who have both a reading delay and a disruptive behaviour disorder require a reinforcement scheme to maintain their engagement in learning activities. Six participants worked with same-age peer tutors on specially-designed practice activities for approximately 20 minutes a day, four times a week, for 8-18 sessions. Improvement in decoding fluency and prose reading fluency was tracked for each child throughout the intervention. Results showed that the six participants gained, on average, sixteen months on their age-equivalent score for reading rate. Decoding fluency scores increased from a pre-test average of 16 correct graphemes per minute to 32 correct graphemes per minute at the post-test measure. Reading accuracy improved by an average of five months and reading comprehension by an average of six months. The gains in reading rate are most likely due to the practice opportunities afforded by the testing procedures as decoding fluency scores did not improve enough to have had a direct impact on the learners’ prose reading ability. Implications for remedial reading interventions with children with behaviour problems are discussed.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is not only a health crisis, but also shatters the socialand economic lives through regulations and social restrictions. As seen duringSARS 2002-2003, measures like social restrictions can impact behaviournegatively, leading to discrimination, stigmatisation and xenophobia. There is alack of studies on antisocial behaviour and crime during health crises, such aspandemics. Related studies on disaster and crime gave mixed results, with somesuggesting an increase in prosocial rather than antisocial behaviour. Using acriminological perspective, German news media from January 1, 2020 untilMarch 31, 2020 were analysed. These media sources were the tabloid Bild andtwo main elite newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter AllgemeineZeitung. Analyses were conducted quantitatively based on frequencies, means andword counts. Additionally, a qualitative media content analysis regarding events,behaviour and story tone was undertaken. The aim was to reveal indications ofreported behavioural changes. For a complete overview, both antisocial andprosocial behaviours were included. Results indicate that antisocial behaviour,such as ignoring of governmental advice and rules, and discriminatory behaviours,as well as crimes like fraud became more prominent over time than prosocial andhelping behaviour. This study shows only a fragment of the situation in Germany,but highlights the importance of continuous assessments of human behaviourduring dynamic and critical times.

This study is a research synthesis that aims to explain the possible connection between the attachment in parent and child relationship and antisocial/ deviant behaviour.The purpose is to chart and discuss how previous science views the attachments effect on the risk of developing antisocial behaviour. The issue of this study is following: Can the attachment between parent and child affect the risk of developing antisocial behaviour? Which attachment pattern is specifically riskful and why is that? The data in this study is based on earlier research collected from databases such as Psycinfo and Sociological Abstract etc. The results from different studies and articles are analysed by Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory.The results show that there is a possible connection between attachment and the development of antisocial behaviour, but there are also indicators that show that there are more factors that play a role in the risk of developing antisocial behaviour such as environmental and structural factors. In other words, attachment affects the risk, but there are also other indicators that enlarge the risks of developing antisocial or deviant behaviour. Avoidant and anxious/ ambivalent attachment are two attachment styles that previous studies have found to have an increased risk to develop antisocial and deviant behaviour.

Introduction: Previous research describes significant associations between criminal offending behaviour and traumatic brain injury (TBI). In young offenders, particularly, TBI is significantly more prevalent than in the general youth population. This association might be explained by the fact that key TBI sequelae (e.g., aggression, behavioural and cognitive impulsivity, emotional dysregulation) can place individuals at risk for criminal offending. However, at least two critical questions remain relatively under-investigated: Is there crossnational variability in the prevalence of TBI in young offenders and in the emotional, behavioural, and cognitive profile of young offenders with and without TBI? Few studies report on prevalence of TBI in young offender populations from low- or middle-income countries (LMICs), and fewer describe the neuropsychological profiles of TBI-afflicted young offenders from LMICs. Method: Participants were a South African sample of 25 young offenders and 56 non-offender controls. Conducting such investigations in South Africa is valuable because (a) crime rates, particularly those related to violent offences, are higher in this country than elsewhere in the world, and (b) the prevalence of TBI in South Africa is three times the global rate. All participants were administered self-report measures of emotion regulation, aggression, antisocial behaviour, as well as standardized tests of various executive functions (planning, cognitive flexibility, generative fluency, inhibition, problem solving, and rule learning/maintenance) from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) battery. I also gathered self-report information about their history of TBI, including whether it was accompanied by loss of consciousness (LoC). Results: Prevalence of TBI was higher in offenders (n = 18/25; 72%) than in non-offenders (n = 24/56; 43%). Offenders reported experiencing more severe TBI: The distribution of TBI with LoC was significantly different across offender and non-offender groups, p < .001. Analyses detected significant main effects of offender status on all outcomes; significant main effects of TBI on emotion regulation, aggression, and antisocial behaviour; and significant offender x TBI interaction effects on emotion regulation and aggression, ps < .036. Conclusion: These findings are broadly consistent with previous studies in this literature. Hence, the present study confirms the importance of understanding associations between TBI and offending (particularly in LMICs) and how the co-occurrence of the two is predictable and can have cumulative effects on affect, behaviour, and cognition. Because sustaining a TBI is preventable, describing the risk for negative outcomes and the socioeconomic costs thereof can inform policy development, rehabilitation planning, and initiatives to reduce recidivism rates.

The purpose of this study is that the stories provide insight into and understanding of institutionalized girls experiences and views on their schooling, and from their stories also explore how schools can create opportunities for students who challenge. An overriding purpose is also that the girls’ life stories in the long run lead to a school developing work. To provide a better understanding of the girls, qualitative methods with a narrative approach have been used. In the theory chapter I have used, inter alia, George H. Mead and Aaron Antonovsky's theories; Mead's theories to illuminate and understand the interactions between people and their understanding of each other, while Antonovsky's theory highlights the importance of creating meaningfulness, manageability and comprehensibility to people in vulnerable situations. The results show that by taking in the girls' valuable experiences and wise thoughts, we can affect their schooling positively instead of continuing as we do today, which obviously is not working but rather contributes to that the girls get low self esteem, do not feel accepted and are forced out of society. One conclusion is that if we and today's politicians listen to the girls' stories, we can together through our professionalism create a meaningful existence in school, a school where girls do not have to be expelled and end up with antisocial friends, leading to abuse or criminal behavior as a result.

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.