Adolescent-Limited Offenders, Essay Example

Adolescent-limited offenders are viewed as typical teenagers that are considered to engage in rebellious activities with their friends. This behavior is more likely to be common during the mid-teen years and reduced by the time they reach the age of 18. However, life course persisters tend to become involved in crime during their mid-teens and remain involved in criminal activity throughout adulthood. These individuals tend to be more likely to enter a life of crime due to neurological problems and family dysfunction. According to the “Path to Delinquency”, parental conflict and separation is one of the leading reasons that explain criminal behavior. During mid-teen years, criminal behavior may therefore be linked to an emotional reaction about parents arguing or getting divorced. As a child gets older, they are typically able to cope with these emotions and cease criminal activity. However, juveniles that cannot cope with this change are more likely to become life course persisters due to their neurological imbalance. It appears that other causing factors such as low socioeconomic status, negative school influences, negative community influences, and low intelligence tend to impact some members of the population more than others. Therefore, those that are impacted are less likely to remain adolescent-limited offenders and become engaged in crime over a longer period of time.