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Re-examining of Moffitt’s theory of delinquency through agent based modeling
Citation
Leaw, J. N., Ang, R. P., Huan, V. S. , Chan, W. T., & Cheong, S. A. (2015). Re-examining of Moffitt’s theory of delinquency through agent based modelling. PLoS ONE, 10(6), Article e0126752. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126752
Abstract
Moffitt’s theory of delinquency suggests that at-risk youths can be divided into two groups, the adolescence- limited group and the life-course- persistent group, predetermined at a young age, and social interactions between these two groups become important during the adolescent years. We built an agent-based model based on the microscopic interactions Moffitt described: (i) a maturity gap that dictates (ii) the cost and reward of antisocial behavior, and (iii) agents imitating the antisocial behaviors of others more successful than themselves, to find indeed the two groups emerging in our simulations. Moreover, through an intervention simulation where we moved selected agents from one social network to another, we also found that the social network plays an important role in shaping the life course outcome.
Date Issued
2015
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Journal
PLoS ONE
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0126752