International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Editorial Editorial: Juvenile Crime: A Renewed Suggestion for Prevention

Crime in general, although showing fluctuations during the past decade, contin-ues to be high according to statistics. In the process of analyzing the unfolding lives of offenders, one is struck by the obvious psychological and behavior traits that may have been the precursors of their criminal behavior. Indeed, the ancient aphorism in puero est homo extends to psychological as well as to physical char-acteristics of all human beings during their development. Age is generally accepted as an important criminogenic variable; it is assumed that the period between 18 and 35 years of age is that in which the majority of criminal offenders act out antisocially.However, behaviors usually do not abruptly start or change for theworse, as I have observed in innumerable criminals. Thus, criminal tendencies and acting-out behaviors should be viewed in some individuals as developing on a continuum from early childhood to adulthood: oppositional behavior → conduct disorder → antisocial behavior → psychopathic behavior. The factors involved in juvenile crime are not only idiosyncratic to the individ-ual but also environmental. The presence and importance of criminogenic traits in childhood are supported bywell-known longitudinal studies of delinquent behav-ior, such as the Cambridge Study, the American study of Loeber and colleagues, and the New Zealand study of White and colleagues (Palermo, 1994). Important variables in antisocial behavior, such as socioeconomic status, paternal education, familial dysfunction, aggression, temperament, impulsivity, racial disparity, and disparity between verbal intelligence and practical intelligence in juveniles, have been repeatedly pointed out in the past and together with poor educational facili-ties, lack of jobs, and use of illicit drugs and alcohol, greatly contribute to what is referred to as the criminogenic neighborhood. Studies on monozygotic and dizygotic twins have been offered in support of biological predisposing factors in aggression. During a recent visit to China as a visiting professor, I had the opportunity to share my thoughts regarding juvenile delinquency with several Chinese scholar