Childhood Predictors of Criminality in Males

In the May, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the results of a comprehensive prospective analysis of childhood predictors of later criminal offending in males is presented.  Using a sample of 2,713 Finnish boys born in 1981, information on problem behaviour at the age of eight was obtained from parents, teachers, and child self-report.  Through the examination of later criminal offenses taken from the national police register between the years 1998-2001, it was determined that 22.6% of the study respondents had at least one criminal offense in the period studied.  The researchers determined that living in a non-intact family home, conduct problems, low parental education, and teacher reports of hyperactivity at the age of eight were the best predictors of later criminal offending.  Child self-reports of bullying behaviours independently predicted violent offenses.   

The study abstract can be found here,  A full-text version of the study is also available.