Abstract
One of the strongest correlates of crime is age, with a common empirical finding of an adolescent rise and peak of offending. One theory in particular, Moffitt’s developmental taxonomy, advances a specific hypothesis for the age–crime relationship, with a focus on a specific typology of offenders, adolescence-limited, who offend for specific reasons during adolescence. This chapter reviews the adolescence-limited hypothesis, relevant empirical research, and concludes with summary statements, challenges to Moffitt’s adolescence-limited hypothesis, and directions for future research.