Age differences in children's attributions for deviant behaviors

Previous research has described age-related changes in children's attributions for deviant behaviors. This research has suggested that children begin to develop a social psychiatric theory of deviant behavior by the end of the elementary school years. The current study extended this line of investigation to examine attributions for deviance by early and middle adolescents. Results suggested that adolescents view deviant behavior as caused not only by social and environmental factors but also by nonrational internal psychological states.