Film Viewing Guide for Troubled Teens: Why Some Go Bad, and Others Come Right

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Film Viewing Guide for Troubled Teens: Why Some Go Bad, and Others Come Right

How have Researchers in Dunedin, New Zealand, studied Human Development?

Researchers in Dunedin have studied human development by subjecting 1037 participants born on April 1 1972 and March 30 1973 to lifetime behavioural studies. A pilot study using 250 four and five-year-olds laid the ground for establishing a refined psychological assessment outline for the study (Poulton et al., 2015). The pilot study aimed to assess broader questions of child health and development due to the overall lack of reliable data in New Zealand at the time (Poulton et al., 2015). However this pilot study paved the way for a large-scale study to assess the nature and prevalence of health and development problems and determine their correlations, long-term consequences and implications, famously known as the Dunedin study (Poulton et al., 2015).

According to Researcher Terrie Moffit, how do Adolescent-Limited Delinquents (offenders) differ from Life-Course Persistent Delinquents (offenders)? Which categories do Gary’s and Paul’s experiences represent?

According to Moffit et al. (2001), adolescent-limited delinquents are pubescent offenders who, with time, can desist from delinquent behaviour as they enter adulthood and achieve psychological maturity as they slowly embrace a conventional lifestyle. However, Moffit et al. (2001) mention that drug addiction or having a criminal record negatively impacts an adolescent-limited delinquent recovery. Conversely, a life-course-persistent delinquent persistently indulges in criminal activities and has pathological issues. Paul falls under the adolescent limited delinquent category, whereas Gary is the Life-course persistent delinquent. Paul’s narration indicates the excitement of getting involved in a bad group that passes with time. In contrast, Gary’s narration of her criminal experience indicates careful orchestration and awareness of what unfolds if he is caught yet decides to follow through with his plan anyway.

What has the study learned about the large increase in adolescent risk-taking and law-breaking in adolescence?

The study has found that the large increase in adolescent risk-taking and delinquency varies with sex, with the male to female life-course-persistent ratio being 10:1 (Moffit et al., 2001). The study also found that individuals on a life-course-persistent path have more success problems than individuals on a limited-adolescent-delinquent path (Moffit et al., 2001). However, Moffit et al. (2001) state that this trend is more severe among men than women, with up to 20 percent of men in each study cohort experiencing adverse compromised functions with six or more issues. Poulton et al. (2015) also mention that the study found that timely determination of conscientiousness can help identify healthy individuals who would develop problems in the future.

During the peri-pubertal stage in females, the predisposition and incidence of conduct issues arise at the highest level in females at any point in the life-course path (Moffit et a;., 2001). Moffit et al. (2001) also found that unless an adolescent romantically pairs up with an antisocial male, her antisocial conduct is unlikely to persist through to adulthood. However, if the adolescent female romantically pairs up with an antisocial male, she is inclined to engage in criminal activities (Moffit et al., 2001). Finally, the study found that antisocial conduct among men was most likely to result in illegal activities and occupational problems, whereas antisocial conduct among women led to depression, poor physical health, and suicidality.

What did you learn about girls’ delinquency through the case example of Potoz King (the young woman) interviewed in the film)?

From the interview, I learned that girls’ delinquency shares risk factors woth males’ deliquncy, such as poor discipline, hyperactivity, and social rejection by peers (Films Media Group, n.d). I also learnt that antisocial conduct is similar for both males and females. I also learnt that the immediate environment, i.e., social circle, significantly contributes to female delinquency. Additionally, the study found that females initiate substance-related delinquency at the same rate as males during adolescence (Films Media Group, n.d). Finally, I learned that depression in females grows exponentially with an increase in delinquency, implying that delinquent females are more stressed towards adulthood than non-delinquent females (Films Media Group, n.d).

What are controversial findings on domestic violence presented in the film?

The film represents that women initiate domestic violence more than men (Films Media Group, n.d). This statement breeds controvery in that it would sound more legitimate if men stirred the domestic violence. Another controversial finding about domestic violence in the video is that domestic violence increases with an increase in relationship duration (Films Media Group, n.d). The controversy comes in as it would be expected that co-habitation should breed harmonious co-existence with time rather than hostile conditions. It is also evident from the film that particular violent conduct among women in domestic violence is less terrible than among males. Additionally, the film depicts domestic violence to be a product of other primary factors like antisocial traits (Films Media Group, n.d). The controversy here is that domestic violence can be a by-product wide variety of risk factors with no connection to behaviour traits. Finally, I find it controversial when the film depicts women as victims of domestic violence (Films Media Group, n.d). This approach aims at victimizing men and thus, hinders the correct account of events that led to the domestic violence.

References

Films Media Group. (n.d). Troubled teens: Why some go bad, and others come Right—Predict my future: The Dunedin longitudinal study. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.films.com/ecTitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=112957

Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Rutter, M., & Silva, P. A. (2001). Sex differences in antisocial behaviour: Conduct disorder, delinquency, and violence in the Dunedin longitudinal study (Cambridge Studies in Criminology) (Illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Poulton, R., Moffitt, T. E., & Silva, P. A. (2015). The Dunedin multidisciplinary health and development study: Overview of the first 40 years, with an eye to the future. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 50(5), 679–693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1048-8