Abstract
A longitudinal sample of 306 males were followed with annual interviews over 4 years to evaluate the role of the timing of onset of different types of disruptive behaviors in predicting later arrest rates. In particular, we applied the Developmental Pathways model to explain progressions from less serious to more serious behaviors and progression along three types of disruptive pathways defined as Overt, Covert, and Authority Conflict behaviors. Results indicated that the sequences and the prognostic properties hypothesized for the model were supported. Most youth showed a progression from behaviors expected to occur earlier to those expected to come later according to the model. In addition, these results showed that onset timing of most types of behavior as well as rapidity of reaching more serious behavior related to arrest rate. This cross-validation extends the model to a high risk inner-city population and to Latino youth. One notable exception to the general trend found was that violence did not always follow earlier involvement in less serious offenses and did not seem to show the same onset timing relation to risk for arrests. Social-ecological differences in the precipitants of violence in the inner-city compared to other developmental settings, as well as the possibility that multiple forms of violence have differing underlying causes, may explain this exception. The model's generality suggests it has utility for guiding and discriminating risk better than simply noting the frequency, seriousness, or onset timing of delinquency.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Achenbach, T. M. (1993). Taxonomy and comorbidity of conduct problems: Evidence from empirically based approaches. Development and Psychopathology, 5 [Special Issue: Toward a developmental perspective on conduct disorder.], 51–64.
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. (1986). Manual for the teacher's report form and teacher version of the child behavior profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.
Blumstein, A., Cohen, J., Roth, J. A., & Visher, C. (1986). Criminal careers and “career criminals.” Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Elliott, D. S. (1994). Serious violent offenders: Onset, developmental course, and termination. The American Society of Criminology 1993 Presidential Address. Criminology, 32, 1–21.
Elliott, D. S., Huizinga, D., & Ageton, S. S. (1985). Explaining delinquency and drug use. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Farrington, D. P., & Hawkins, J. D. (1991). Predicting participation, early onset and later persistence in officially recorded offending. Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 1, 1–33.
Gorman-Smith, D. (In press). Prevention of antisocial behavior in females. In D. P. Farrington & J. Coid (Eds.), Primary prevention of antisocial behavior. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gorman-Smith, D., & Tolan, P. H. (1998). The role of exposure to community violence and developmental problems among inner-city youth. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 101–116.
Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., & Henry, D. (1998). The relation of community and family to risk among urban poor adolescents. In P. Cohen, L. Robins, & C. Slomskowski (Eds.), Where and when: Influence of historical time and place on aspects of psychopathology (pp. 349–367). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., Loeber, R., & Henry, D. (1998). The relation of family problems to patterns of delinquent involvement among urban youth. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 319–333.
Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., & Sheidow, A. J. (1999). Partner violence and criminal violence among urban adolescents: Do the same family factors relate? Manuscript submitted for publication.
Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H., Zelli, A., & Huesmann, L. R. (1996). Assessment of family relationship characteristics. A measure to explain risk for antisocial behavior and depression among urban youth. American Psychological Association, 9, 212–223.
Huizinga, D. (1995). Developmental sequences in delinquency: Dynamic typologies. In L. J. Crockett & A. C. Crouter (Eds.), Pathways through adolescence: Individual development in relation to social contexts. The Penn State series on child & adolescent development (pp. 15–34). Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Huizinga, D., Loeber, R., & Thornberry, T. (1993). Longitudinal study of delinquency, drug use, sexual activity, and pregnancy among children and youth in three cities. Public Health Reports: Journal of the U.S. Public Health Service, 108 (Suppl. 1), 90–96.
LeBlanc, M., Cote, G., & Loeber, R. (1993). Temporal paths in delinquency: Stability, regression, and progression analyzed with panel data from an adolescent and a delinquent male sample. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 33, 23–44.
Loeber, R., Farrington, D. P., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., & Van Kammen, W. B. (1998). Antisocial behavior and mental health problems. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Loeber, R., Green, S. M., Lahey, B. B., Christ, M. A., & Frick, P. J. (1992). Developmental sequence in the age of onset of disruptive child behaviors. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 1, 21–41.
Loeber, R., & Hay, D. (1997). Key issues in the development of aggression and violence from childhood to early adulthood. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 371–410.
Loeber, R., Keenan, K., & Zhang, Q. (1997). Boys' experimentation and persistence in developmental pathways toward serious delinquency. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 6, 321–357.
Loeber, R., & LeBlanc, M. (1990). Toward a developmental criminology. In N. Morris & M. Tonry (Eds.), Crime and justice: An annual review (pp. 375–473). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Loeber, R., & Wikstrom, P. O. (1993). Individual pathways to crime in different types of neighborhood. In D. P. Farrington, R. J. Sampson, & P. O. Wikstrom (Eds.), Integrating individual and ecological aspects of crime (pp. 169–204). Stockholm: Liber Verlag.
Loeber, R., Wung, P., Keenan, K., Giroux, B., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Van Kammen, W. B., & Maughan, B. (1993). Developmental pathways in disruptive child behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 103–133.
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701.
Patterson, G. P. (1993). Orderly change in a stable world: The antisocial trait as a chimera. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 911–919.
Tolan, P. H. (1988). Socioeconomic, family and social stress correlates of adolescents' antisocial and delinquent behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 317–332.
Tolan, P. H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (1997). Families and the development of urban children. In O. Reyes, H. Walberg, & R. Weissberg (Eds.), Interdisciplinary perspectives on children and youth (pp. 67–91). Newberry Park, CA: Sage.
Tolan, P. H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (1998). Development of serious, violent and chronic offenders. In R. Loeber & D. Farrington (Eds.). Never too early, never too late: Serious violent and chronic juvenile offenders (pp. 68–85). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Tolan, P. H., Gorman-Smith, D., Huesmann, R. L., & Zelli, A. (1997). Assessment of family relationship characteristics: A measure to explain risk for antisocial behavior and depression among urban youth. Psychological Assessment, 9, 212–223.
Tolan, P. H., & Guerra, N. G. (1994). What works in reducing adolescent violence: An empirical review of the field. Monograph prepared for the Center for the Study and Prevention of Youth Violence. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado.
Tolan, P. H., Guerra, N. G., & Montaini-Klovdahl, L. (1997). Staying out of harm's way: Children's coping with inner-city life. In S. Wolchik & I. Sandler (Eds.), Handbook of children's coping with common stressors: Linking theory, research and interventions (pp. 453–479). New York: Plenum.
Tolan, P. H., & Henry, D. (1996). Patterns of psychopathology among urban poor children: Comorbidity and aggression effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 1094–1099.
Tolan, P. H., & Loeber, R. (1993). Antisocial behavior. In P. H. Tolan & B. J. Cohler (Eds.), Handbook of clinical research and practice with adolescents (pp. 427–451). New York, Wiley.
Tolan, P. H., & Thomas, P. (1995). The implications of age of onset for delinquency risk II: Longitudinal data. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23, 157–181.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tolan, P.H., Gorman-Smith, D. & Loeber, R. Developmental Timing of Onsets of Disruptive Behaviors and Later Delinquency of Inner-City Youth. Journal of Child and Family Studies 9, 203–220 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009471021975
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009471021975