Developmental Pathways to Conduct Problems and Serious Forms of Delinquency

This chapter addresses several questions regarding developmental pathways. It considers a parsimonious model of developmental pathways from oppositional behaviors and conduct problems to serious property crime, violence, and homicide. Moreover, the chapter asks what methods are available for identifying pathways, and what their key aspects and limitations are. The chapter explores these questions by first reviewing the defining characteristics of developmental pathways and the methods to identify them. It then studies other key aspects of developmental pathways, including developmental pathways between substance use and delinquency. Finally, this chapter discusses some limitations of developmental pathways as well as the applications of these concepts.