The Effects of Prenatal Problems, Family Functioning, and Neighborhood Disadvantage in Predicting Life-Course-Persistent Offending

Abstract

Research examining Moffitt's dual taxonomy theory of offending has generally supported the idea that neuropsychological deficits interact with disadvantaged familial environments to predict life-course-persistent offending. Most research, however, has neglected to investigate the power of this interaction across different neighborhood and racial contexts. Using data extracted from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Moffitt's biosocial hypothesis is tested across different neighborhood and racial contexts. The findings indicate that the biosocial interaction predicts life-course-persistent offending only among non-Whites in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Stated differently, macro-level structural factors appear to moderate the effects of individual and family risks. That poor non-Whites reside in neighborhoods that are ecologically distinct from those in which poor Whites reside exacerbates the criminogenic effects of individual-level deficits and family disadvantage.