Early Developmental Precursors

Professionals who work with youth at risk for serious and violent offending come from a variety of disciplines, including juvenile justice, education, and mental health. Each discipline has different concerns, treatment approaches, and descriptive terms. In juvenile justice, for example, minors who have committed actions that courts have found to be illegal are described as juvenile delinquents. In contrast, educators and mental health practitioners refer to the same youth as antisocial, aggressive, disruptive, or, in more severe cases, conduct disordered.

Because of these different perspectives, treatments used by one discipline may not be known or used by another. This is particularly true of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a risk factor for serious antisocial behavior. ADHD is one of a group of disorders, including conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), that are collectively known as disruptive behavior disorders. Some of the symptoms of conduct disorder, such as theft, rape, and arson, are illegal activities but others, such as lying, are not illegal. Many of the symptoms involve physically aggressive or violent behavior. ADHD and/or ODD usually develop before conduct disorder does; it is therefore likely that some children with ADHD will develop conduct disorder and thus juvenile delinquency. From a multidisciplinary perspective, ADHD is often overlooked as a risk factor in programs that target the development of antisocial behavior. This Bulletin also examines interventions that target ADHD.

Prevention of Serious and Violent Juvenile Offending	Juvenile Justice Bulletin • April 2000