Delinquency and Antisocial Behavior in Childhood Delinquency refers to criminal behavior committed by a minor such as unruly behavior. However, in the educational field, such behaviors are termed as antisocial behavior. Most studies of antisocial and delinquent behavior have shown that children who display high rates of antisocial behavior are more likely to show persistence in such behaviors than children with lower rates of antisocial and delinquent behavior (Ronald, 1991). Children who are delinquents in more than one setting show a variety of antisocial and delinquent behavior. Once high levels of antisocial behavior has been established, children tend to maintain such high levels rather than to revert to lower levels. Thus, the patterns of antisocial behavior tend to change during the preadolescent and adolescent stage of child development. Some of the children who exhibit antisocial and delinquent behaviors are often disobedient and arrogant. However, such activities decline between six years and sixteen years, a period in which children engage themselves in severe antisocial acts such as crime, alcohol, and substance abuse (Shoemaker, 1990).