Abstract
Assessment of prognosis by adolescent delinquents can be difficult. Although, the developmen-tal paradigm when researching delinquency can be very helpful.
This view has been elaborately described by Terrie Moffitt. Thanks to her research, which is still quite unfamiliar in Czech area, we can distinguish two major groups within delinquents - those who started with delinque-ncy in adolescence and have quite a good prognosis and so called life-course persistent de-linquents, who started in nearly childhood and have a unfavourable prognosis and poor treatment response.
Next authors, such as J. P.
Frick, helped to distinguish other subtypes of persistent delinquents by their studies. The worse prognosis is connected with group of delinquents with callous emotional traits.
This article offers an insight into development taxonomy theory by T. Moffitt and place it into the context of scientific knowledge in this area, and point out some important, consequential studies