Development of aggression and its linkages with violence and juvenile delinquency

This chapter begins with general discussion of the developmental approach and the most important area of behavior that is involved in youth delinquency, that is aggression. It focuses on the development of aggression and its linkages with delinquent violence in adolescence. The chapter discusses developmental trajectories in aggression and violence and concentrate very much on the problem of causality. The ultimate goal in developmental psychology is to find and understand causes of development. The rapid increase in deviant behavior during adolescence, which is followed by an equivalently rapid decrease, has been labeled the age-crime curve. Delinquency in adolescence cannot only be predicted from the development of aggression itself, but also from organismic and environmental factors correlated with children’s development.