Developmental Trajectories of Male Physical Violence and Theft

Abstract

Youth who repetitively and persistently violate the rights of others, and breach age-appropriate norms of society, are classified by the DSM-IV as having conduct disorder (CD). The DSM-IV¹ categorizes CD behaviors into 4 main groupings: (1) aggression to people and animals; (2) destruction of property; (3) deceitfulness or theft; and (4) serious violations of rules. Neurocognitive impairments have traditionally been hypothesized to be a cause of chronic antisocial behavior.^2-4 However, it remains unclear if neurocognitive deficits are related to all forms of antisocial behavior, because most studies aggregate different types of problems into a single outcome.^5-8