ABSTRACT

Adolescence is regarded as the 13th through the 17th years of human development, although some developmentalists extend adolescence through age 19–21 years. The forensic clinician observes in the adolescent, the remnants of childhood naivete, and the emerging adult capacity for deceptive behavior that may encompass criminal activity. Substance abuse in its numerous forms has exerted a major influence on the structure of Western world adolescents beginning in the late 1950s. Substance abuse and related criminal behavior are major sources of the introduction of adolescents into the forensic world.