Maturity in Adolescent and Young Adult Offenders: The Role of Cognitive Control

This study examined the role of cognitive control in explaining the psychosocial maturity of adolescent (n = 43) and young adult male (n = 40) offenders. We separated psychosocial maturity into prosocial and criminal components, which were statistically unrelated and were explained by different vari...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law and human behavior 2009-12, Vol.33 (6), p.455-469
Main Authors: Iselin, Anne-Marie R, DeCoster, Jamie, Salekin, Randall T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescence
Adolescent
Adolescents
Age
Alcohols
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Brain research
Child development
Cognition
Cognitive Control
Cognitive models
Cognitive psychology
Community and Environmental Psychology
Criminal Offenders
Criminal offenses
Criminals
Criminals - psychology
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Decision making
Error rates
Human
Humans
Interview, Psychological
Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile Delinquency - psychology
Juvenile justice
Juvenile offenders
Law
Law and Psychology
Male
Memory
Original Article
Personality and Social Psychology
Psychology
Psychosocial Development
Self control
Studies
Teenagers
United States
Young Adult
Young adults
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Summary:This study examined the role of cognitive control in explaining the psychosocial maturity of adolescent (n = 43) and young adult male (n = 40) offenders. We separated psychosocial maturity into prosocial and criminal components, which were statistically unrelated and were explained by different variables. Individuals with higher levels of prosocial maturity were older, had better proactive cognitive control, and had better short-term memory than those with lower levels of prosocial maturity. Individuals with higher levels of criminal maturity were older and had better reactive cognitive control than those with lower levels of criminal maturity. We discuss the implications of these findings with regard to juvenile justice policy and practice.
ISSN:0147-7307
1573-661X
DOI:10.1007/s10979-008-9160-x