Introduction: Understanding criminal and antisocial behavior within a developmental and multidisciplinary perspective

Abstract

This introduction chapter briefly discusses key definitional issues related to criminal and antisocial behavior, highlights the importance of the developmental perspective, and discusses the multidisciplinary character of developmental criminology. The main practical applications of developmental research are also outlined. Finally, this book also represents a Festschrift underlining the scholarly contributions of Professor Marc Le Blanc, a French-Canadian criminologist who is recognized for having conducted innovative research in developmental criminology and who has made important theoretical, empirical, and applied contributions to the field. The last section of this chapter briefly summarizes his contributions to developmental criminology.