Testing Moffitt's neuropsychological variation hypothesis for the prediction of life-course persistent offending

Although neuropsychological deficits have been linked to antisocial behavio r, theories of crime have been slow to develop formal processes and predict ions for neuropsychological deficits. One recently articulated theory, howe ver, places emphasis on the influence of neuropsychological variation in th e development of antisocial behavior. In her developmental taxonomy, Moffit t outlines a theory of antisocial behavior that rests on the presence of tw o groups of offenders: life-course persisters and adolescent-limiteds. Both groups occupy distinct etiologies for antisocial involvement and are belie ved to engage in different antisocial activities. One of the main differenc es between the two groups is the role that neuropsychological deficits play in the production of antisocial behavior. Moffitt hypothesizes that neurop sychological deficits are predictive of antisocial involvement for life-cou rse persisters but not for adolescent-limiteds. Using data from the Philade lphia portion of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project, proxy measur es of neuropsychological deficits are used to predict four different manife stations of life-course persistent offending. Results support Moffitt's hyp othesis about the relationship between poor neuropsychological test scores and life-course persistent styles of offending.