ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature of offending across the lifespan with a focus on juvenile offending. One important finding is that crime rates seem to peak during adolescence and discusses the important biological, psychological, and social changes that occur during adolescence in an attempt to explain this phenomenon. Some young people are more likely to engage in offending than others, and their offending is of a more serious and persistent nature. The chapter addresses the most important individual, family, and social risk factors for offending to explain these individual differences. It reviews some of the key developmental theories of offending that have been developed to explain patterns of crime over the lifespan. Risk factors are variables that predict antisocial behaviour or criminal offending. Important individual risk factors include low IQ, low self-control or impulsiveness, low empathy, and ADHD.
