Neuro-bio-chemical balance within deviant delinquent behaviors in adolescents

Juvenile delinquency is often viewed as a social phenomenon. Behavior disorders, especially in teenagers and outside true psychiatric pathologies, are analyzed as inner neuro-hormonal imbalances with familial and social influences based on intellectual and emotional stimulation levels. All outer stimuli trigger powerful and abrupt responses in these individuals due to their physiological transformations that affect the neurological bio-chemistry and the central nervous mechanisms. Some of the cerebral areas are hyperactive, affecting impulse control, volition, emotional balance and the tendency to aggressiveness. Beyond hormonal impregnation, it seems that some of the dopaminergic activity is increased, similar to addictive behaviors, triggering satisfaction and rewarding systems and conducting to gratification and short term satisfaction seeking, beyond the limitations imposed by cognitive functions. Further research on neuro-bio-chemical activity in teenagers might reveal patho-physiological justifications for deviant behavior, even in non-psychiatric patients, which could change the forensic psychiatric evaluation on adolescents by individualizing clinical and biological aspects of each case.