Page - 151 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits 151 A distinction is made between adolescent delinquency and lifelong delin- quency (Moffitt 2007, 2003). Three -quarters of all adolescents in the United States between ages 13 and 20 commit petty criminal acts such as shoplifting, vandalism and traffic violations. In the Dunedin study – a longitudinal study for New Zealand, where the subjects were investigated from childhood up to the age of 30 – both types were represented: the first group (ALDs – adolescence - limited delinquents) only came into conflict with the law once and have a period of occasional criminal activity, breaking the law with behavior such as van- dalism, theft and use of illegal drugs; and those whose delinquency was long- term (LCPDs – life -course -persistent delinquents). This second group, with a “career as violent criminals”, already had problems in childhood (learning prob- lems, often ASD – autism spectrum disorder) and grew up in a difficult family environment. Let us now turn to two case studies of adolescents who came into conflict with the law and were put in jail. In her thesis, Social Pedagogy in Prison (1997), Andrea Staudner -Most describes the Viennese model of “anti -aggression train- ing” for adolescents in prison. The following two case studies are from her thesis. The data were obtained and analyzed in a one -hour narrative interview as well as participatory observation during the 24 sessions of the anti -aggression training. “Anti -aggressivity training”, also “anti -aggression training” or “anti -violence training” are terms for training courses consisting of numerous theoretical, practical and physical exercises for a larger group of adolescents, with the goal of preventing or reducing aggressive behavior in everyday life. The old- est course, AAT, is now standardized and validated in Austria, but there are numerous other courses, with various approaches and techniques, that psy- chologists, pedagogues and social workers have designed for various needs and clients. Men Woman 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 Age Age 70 0 600 500 400 300 200 100 Figure 6.1 Age and criminality of men from a) 1842 and b) 1977 (from Gottfred- son and Hirschi, 1990)