Parental management, ADHD, and delinquent involvement: Reassessing Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory

ADHD and criminality: A primer on the genetic, neurobiological, evolutionary, and treatment literature for criminologists

“…It is of necessity extremely brief, but we believe that it focuses on the main issues and research findings about this disorder. With Unnever, Cullen, and Pratt (2003), we believe that ADHD has been much neglected by criminologists. This neglect is surprising given that ADHD individuals are present in correctional populations at rates exceeding their prevalence in the general population by at least three to four times, which increases even further for ADHD+CD individuals.…”

“…We now have data sets available to us such as the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data which contains information on the genotypes of many subjects, and among the genes tested for are the three we have identified in this review as being related to ADHD and CD. On the other hand, biomedical research has often neglected to include a range of known environmental correlates of antisocial behavior and have neglected concepts such as GxE and rGE, and as Unnever, Cullen, and Pratt (2003) pointed out, this is where our expertise can be useful to biomedical research. The cross-fertilization of concepts, methods, and theories from diverse disciplines has been the primary road to progress in other sciences because cross-fertilization breeds hybrid vigor in their resulting offspring.…”

“…A review of 100 studies (Ellis & Walsh, 2000) found that 99 of them reported a positive relationship between ADHD and various antisocial behaviors-violent and property crimes, delinquency, drug abuse. Individuals diagnosed with ADHD are consistently found to be overrepresented in juvenile detention centers, jails, and prisons worldwide (Rösler Rosler et al, 2004), and it has been suggested that ADHD may underlie one of criminology's most revered etiological concepts-low self-control (Unnever, Cullen, & Pratt, 2003). The risk factor for delinquent or criminal behavior is increased for individuals who are comorbid for conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) (Comings, 2005).…”

“…With Unnerver, Cullen & Pratt (2003) we are surprised that criminologists do not pay sufficient attention to a disorder that is found at rates in prisons around the world greatly exceeding in prevalence in the general population. Unnerver, Cullen & Pratt (2003) believe that it is because ADHD research has been carried out primarily by biomedical researchers and that criminologists tend to shy away from anything smacking of biology. We believe that the special expertise of criminologists in uncovering environmental correlates of antisocial behavior can benefit biomedical research and that biomedical research can assist criminologists in uncovering the individual-level correlates of antisocial behavior.…”

Adolescent Motherhood, Depression, and Delinquency

“…The conditioning role of self-esteem, social support, self-efficacy, prior deviant experiences, intelligence, moral beliefs, and affiliation with deviant peers have all been identified as causes of delinquent responses to negative emotions (Agnew, 1992). Delinquency is influenced by factors such as low self-control, impulsivity, and antisocial personality tendencies, which are related to criminal and analogous acts (e.g., smoking, excessive drinking, using drugs, driving too fast, having children out of wedlock, engaging in illicit sex, and gambling) (Chapple, 2005;Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990;Hay, 2001;Mazerolle and Maahs, 2000;Moffitt, 1993;Patterson, DeBaryshe and Ramsey, 1989;Pratt and Cullen, 2000;Pratt, Turner and Piquero, 2004;Schoepfer and Piquero, 2006;Unnever, Cullen and Pratt, 2003;Vazasonyi and Crosswhite, 2004). Individuals with these particular personality traits are seen to be more physical, more impulsive, and easily provoked, and according to general strain theory they are likely to cope with strain through delinquency (Mazerolle and Maahs, 2000).…”