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Adolescence is marked by increases in psychosocial maturity that are reflected in improvements in temperance (the ability to curb impulsive and aggressive behavior), perspective (the ability to see things from multiple temporal and social vantage points), and responsibility (the ability to function autonomously; Steinberg & Cauffman, 1996). On average, temperance, perspective, and responsibility develop steadily across the adolescent years, with growth slowing as youth transition into early adulthood (Monahan, Steinberg, Cauffman, & Mulvey, 2009, 2011). Evidence also suggests that there is significant variability in the degree and rate of development of psychosocial maturity across adolescence and young adulthood, with some youth showing greater or faster gains and others exhibiting little or very slow growth in maturity over time (Monahan et al., 2009, 2011).
The extant literature on the development of psychosocial maturity suggests that normative variations in social context may contribute to individual differences in the development of temperance, perspective, and responsibility. For example, exposure to positive parent-child relationships, prosocial peers, and nurturing school and extracurricular contexts are each linked to greater psychosocial maturity during the adolescent years (Steinberg, Chung, & Little, 2004). Less is known about how normative development proceeds in atypical contexts, a central question within the study of developmental psychopathology. The current study investigates how the development of psychosocial maturity is affected by incarceration, a highly atypical context. Studies of normative psychosocial development among incarcerated young people are almost nonexistent, even though this is not an uncommon experience among poor, ethnic minority male adolescents in America (National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 2007).
The juvenile justice system handles more than 1.6 million delinquency cases each year (Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). Annually, approximately 72,000 youth are incarcerated in the United States (Sickmund, Sladky, Kang, & Puzzanchera, 2008). Given the existing research on contextual contributors to positive psychosocial development, there is good reason to believe that incarceration has a lasting, adverse impact on the developing adolescent. Although the challenges and stresses of incarceration would tax the faculties of even those most adept at coping with adversity, adolescent offenders face this situation with the added disadvantage of immaturity. Incarceration separates youth from their parents at a time in development when youths' well-being (Helsen, Vollebergh, & Meeus, 2000) and acquisition...