Life course persistent antisocial behavior silver anniversary

In 1995 Terrie Moffitt published a fully articulated version of a 1993 paper that proposed a dual developmental taxonomy of antisocial behavior. The paper triggered a cascade of research on types of criminal offending, thereby making it one of the most researched and most influential of all developmental theories of antisocial behavior, The silver anniversary of the 1995 publication seems a fitting time to review the status of the life-course-persistent (LCP) group who Moffitt suggested would enable researchers to learn more about the etiology of severe, persistent antisocial behavior from studying this group than from studying the group that had its onset of antisocial behavior in adolescence. The LCP group was hypothesized to consist of a relatively few males whose early-onset of severe antisocial behavior would persist into adulthood and had its origins in neurodevelopmental deficits interacting with various environmental risk factors. This review assessed the evidence supporting these hypotheses and reviewed the findings for early identification of the LCP group-a topic that was only modestly addressed in 1995. Lastly, the paper discussed what is one of most significant impacts of the taxonomy, providing impetus to the early-years crime prevention movement.