Developmental origins of chronic physical aggression: an international perspective on using singletons, twins and epigenetics
This chapter takes an international and historical perspective to discuss the present state of knowledge on the developmental origins of physical aggression and its implications for the prevention of chronic physical aggression. An increasing number of longitudinal studies of singleton and twins initiated at birth or during the first few years of life are showing that physical aggressions are more frequent in early childhood than at any other time during the life-span. Because chronic physical aggression generally starts in early childhood, preventive interventions during this period are much more likely to be effective and substantially decrease the costs of criminal behavior during adolescence and early adulthood. Unfortunately, most criminological studies on physical aggression development and prevention target the adolescent and adulthood periods and do not take into account gene-environment contributions. Early childhood studies are needed to identify early bio-psycho-social mechanisms that put individuals on a chronic trajectory of physical aggression from early childhood to adulthood. These studies can also help identify the preventive interventions that are most effective in preventing a life-course of crime and misery. Developmental criminology needs to take a bio-psycho-social intergenerational and life-span perspective as well as focus more systematically on females as the key target for intergenerational prevention of chronic physical aggression.
Early childhood Children Adolescents Adults Life-span Physical aggression Crime Delinquents Criminals Prevention Bio-psycho-social mechanisms Genetics Environment Epigenetics Development Trajectories