Attitudes and behaviour: An examination of change in antisocial potential over time

• In Event: Individual and Family Risk Factors: Impact on Development and Maintenance of Antisocial Behaviour

Abstract

Collectively, developmental and life-course theories of crime point to the importance of disentangling antisocial attitudes from behaviour and examining the interaction between these. The focus of the current research will be to explain this stability and change in antisocial behaviour and attitudes. To do this we revisit measures in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) to examine the stability of an antisocial attitude measure at ages 18, 32, and 48. The CSDD is a prospective longitudinal study of 411 inner-city London boys who were followed up from childhood to age 48. In previous research we have explored the extent to which the ranking of individuals on antisocial personality scores remains constant over time as well as the coexistence of absolute change with relative stability, and the relation between antisocial attitude and behaviour at different ages. We found a decline in both antisocial behaviours and attitudes over time in terms of absolute change. Despite this we also observed relative stability in both attitude and behaviour. In this paper we will identify factors that predict this change over time in levels of both attitude and behaviour. Then we compare this to the factors that predict stability/change in antisocial behaviour and attitudes.

Authors

• Tara Renae McGee, Griffith University

• David Philip Farrington, Cambridge University