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Neuropsychological perspectives on delinquency
Author(s) -
Miller Laurence
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.2370060309
Subject(s) - psychology , juvenile delinquency , mediation , neuropsychology , developmental psychology , personality , disinhibition , interpersonal communication , cognition , self control , cognitive psychology , social psychology , psychotherapist , psychiatry , political science , law
Abstract Neuropsychological studies of delinquents have revealed characteristic deficits in skills that require verbal mediation, conceptual integration, impulse control, anticipation of consequences of actions, and the utilization of feedback from behavior to modify maladaptive response patterns. Formulations of this impairment pattern in terms of frontal lobe and left hemisphere dysfunction are reviewed. The role of verbal mediation in the development of a stable personality and the capacity for self‐control is discussed. It is proposed that the neuropsychodynamic profile of the delinquent is dominated by an inability to form a self‐referential conceptual classification system and that this predisposes to behavioral disinhibition under conditions of stress or interpersonal conflict. The relationship between language development, moral cognition, and social behavior is examined and therapeutic and dispositional implications are discussed. Finally, the general role of neuropsychological models in personality and social theory is addressed.