Research on executive function indicates that self-control stems partially from normative brain development. Extant research has also provided evidence of an association between self-control and offender decision-making. Yet, to date, there has been no attempt to account for these associations within one model. The current study used structural equation modeling to estimate the links between executive function, self-control, moral disengagement, and perceptions of risk and reward in a sample of male offenders ( n = 1,170) from the Pathways to Desistance data. The results indicated that executive function affects self-control, which subsequently influences perceptions of offending and offending behavior, supporting the integration of these concepts under one processual model. Moreover, moral disengagement, certainty of punishment, and rewards of offending mediated the majority of the effects of self-control on offending. The results from the current study advance theories in the life-course/developmental perspective and inform policy toward a developmentally oriented juvenile justice system.

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Research on the role of risk perception as a mechanism linking personality traits and behavioral outcomes is limited. The current study assessed a developmental model of the influence of psychopathic traits (PPTs) on the between- and within-individual variation in perceptions of risk and aggressive offending. Multivariate latent growth curve models were used to estimate the role of risk perceptions in the association between PPTs and aggressive offending in a sample of 1,354 adjudicated youths. The results indicated that PPTs influenced between-individual differences in perceptions of risk (β = −.312) and aggressive offending (β = .256), although the effects on within-individual differences suggested some attenuation over time. Additionally, higher PPT scores exhibited an indirect influence on increased aggressive offending through reduced perceptions of risk (β = .049). Implications from this line of research support calls for a developmentally informed juvenile justice system that considers latent personality traits and their long-term effects. Broader implications support individualized rehabilitative programming and tailored responses to offending over the blanket deterrence approach that dominates the current landscape of the American criminal justice system.

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