The peak of adolescence

TINA KRETSCHMER: It’s interesting to know that the amount of people who do take yes on questionnaires like the ones you’ve done yourself just now differs between age groups. Children, for instance, they hardly show any anti-social behaviour and neither do adults. This looks a bit different for teenagers, where the number of people who take yes on those questionnaires is higher. Although the numbers are not exactly the same across the world, that pattern that adolescents show more anti-social behaviour than children or adults is actually the same in many parts of the world. This is something that we call the age crime curve. What is most fascinating is that scientists found this pattern already centuries ago. They’re calling this the adolescent peak.

And they’re not actually that worried about those teenagers who show a bit of anti-social behaviour, because they expect them to grow out of it once they grow older.