Conductas antisociales y delictivas en adolescentes infractores y no infractores

Abstract

Expressions of anti-social and criminal conduct with two groups of adolescent males and females
between 12 and 18 years of age are studied. The sample was made up of 179 adolescents, 72 of whom
were law-breakers and 107 who were not. The average age of the sample was 15, with a standard
deviation of 1.828. The results showed that that there were differences in the frequency of antisocial
and criminal behavior between the two adolescent groups. The non-law-breaking adolescents
reported a higher frequency of antisocial and criminal conduct in comparison with the law-breakers.
With reference to age, there were significant differences between the 12-13 year-old adolescents, and
those of 16, 17 and 18, the latter being the group with the highest incidence of this type of behavior.
These results showed the early commencement and progressive nature of this behavior. Adolescent
males showed a higher average of antisocial conduct and criminal behavior compared with females,
which are statistically significant differences. We suggest that similar future studies take account
of biological and evolutionary differences which could be affecting the expression of this type of
behavior and therefore the preparation of prevention programs, bearing in mind its progressive nature
and some groups which are persistent over time.