Answer to Question 1
This approach examines the changes and influences across a person's lifetime that may contribute to the formation of antisocial and criminal behavior. These are usually called risk factors. Examples are poor nutrition, the loss of a parent, early school failure, or substandard housing. However, the developmental approach also searches for protective factors, or influences that provide individuals with a buffer against the risk factors. A caring adult mentor and good social skills are examples of protective factors. If we are able to identify those changes and influences that occur across the developmental pathways of life that divert a person from becoming caring, sensitive, and prosocial, as well as those that steer a person away from a life of persistent and serious antisocial behavior, we gain invaluable information about how to prevent and change delinquent and criminal behavior.
Answer to Question 2
Recent changes to the juvenile court system include increased sanctions, more accountability, and less privacy. These changes reflect more similarities to that of the adult system and are a departure from the juvenile's philosophy of being non-punitive and rehabilitative.
However, the adult system is currently making changes in the development of specialized courts, which tend to reflect more of the original intent of juvenile courts. That is, specialized adult courts are trying to be problem-solving-oriented and less of a processing system. This change in the adult system could in turn re-influence the juvenile system to return to the original intentions.
Developmental steps in the maturation of Tasmanian devil young. The diagonal lines indicate the amou
Field research on free-living primates allows primatologists to study patterns of behavior in the se
Neural Circuits and Maternal Behavior
The relative influence of heredity and the environment in human behavior has fascinated and plagued ...
Checklist of Developmental Skills: Birth to 5 years
Child Development: A Topical Approach