Citation

Shulman EP, Monahan KC, Steinberg L. Child Dev. 2017; 88(1): 16-26.

Affiliation

Temple University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/cdev.12684

PMID

28042898

Abstract

This report compares the effects (concurrent and lagged) of the anticipated rewards and costs of violent crime on engagement in severe violence in a sample of male juvenile offenders (N = 1,170; 42.1% black, 34.0% Hispanic, 19.2% white, and 4.6% other; ages 14-18 at baseline). Anticipated rewards (social approval, thrill) are more predictive of concurrent severe violence than are anticipated costs (social disapproval, risk of punishment). The analysis finds no evidence that perceptions of the rewards and costs of violent crime influence engagement in severe violence 6 months later. The results support the view that adolescence is a time of heightened reward salience but raise doubt about the longitudinal predictive validity of perceptions about crime during this time of life.

© 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Language: en