IS AGE IMPORTANT? TESTING A GENERAL VERSUS A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR*

We tested competing hypotheses derived from Gottfredson and Hirschis (1990) general theory and Moffitt's (1993a) developmental theory of antisocial behavior. The developmental theory argues that different factors give rise to antisocial behavior at different points in the life course. In contrast, the general theory maintains that the factor underlying antisocial behavior (i.e., criminal propensity) is the same at all ages. To test these competing predictions, we used longitudinal data spanning from age 5 to age 18 for the male subjects in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Using reports from three sources (parents, teachers, and the boys themselves), we estimated second-order confirmatory factor models of antisocial behavior. These models provided consistent support for the developmental theory, showing that separate latent factors underlie childhood and adolescent antisocial behavior. Moreover, we found that these childhood and adolescent factors related in ways predicted by Moffitt's developmental theory to four correlates of antisocial behavior: Childhood antisocial behavior was related more strongly than adolescent antisocial behavior to low verbal ability, by per activity, and negative/impulsive personality, whereas adolescent antisocial behavior was related more strongly than childhood antisocial behavior to peer delinquency. The two underlying latent factors also showed the predicted differential relations to later criminal convictions: Childhood antisocial behavior was significantly more strongly associated with convictions for violence, while adolescent antisocial behavior was significantly more strongly associated with convictions for nonviolent offenses.     

HELPING PEOPLE WITH LABOR MARKET PROBLEMS: AN OVERVIEW OF KEY POLICIES

Those in need of employment and training programs face a variety of difficulties. Accordingly, the federal response to labor market problems has encompassed a wide range of initiatives. These include preparing people for work (through skills training, the Job Corps, work experience programs); improving the functioning of the labor market (through matching workers with jobs, establishing a minimum wage, and the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit program); and preventing discrimination. Unresolved issues in these areas are examined. They include who should be targeted for federal assistance, which levels of government can best operate programs, how public versus private efforts should be balanced, how limited resources should be distributed, and how the welfare versus work question should be resolved.