There is significant longitudinal evidence that behavioral characteristics that can be observed in late childhood persist into adulthood. These behavioral characteristics also persisted throughout much of adult life (Caspi, Harrington, Milne, Amell, Theodore, & Moffitt, 2003). The idea that criminal propensity is one of the behavioral characteristics that develops during childhood and persists into adulthood is highly contested, although of considerable importance (Wright, Tibbetts, & Daigle, 2008). . The idea that people are "born bad" and eventually grow from misbehaving children to criminal adults is a popular position with clear policy implications. This ignores the fact that people change, often quite significantly. People do not follow a fixed path from deviant child to criminal adult (Wright et al., 2008). However, there seems to be a link between childhood behavior and adult behavior. Caspi, Harrington, Milne, Amell, Theodore, and Moffitt (2003) observed 1,000 3-year-olds and reexamined most of them 23 years later. They identified five temperament groups in children. These temperament groups were compared to adult personality traits identified at follow-up 23 years later. There were many colorings between childhood temperament groups and adult personality traits. For example, children in the undercontrolled temperament group showed the highest levels of negative emotionality while adults and children in the confident group became the most disinhibited adults. Several other temperament groups show similar correlations with a small to moderate effect level. It would appear that there are significant links between childhood behavioral styles and adult personality... middle of article... and the continuity of traits further highlights the need for early intervention. If traits are to be fairly stable from childhood to adulthood, we need to ensure that we are helping people with negative behavioral traits early enough to be effective. Works Cited Caspi, A., Harrington, H., Milne, B., Amell, J., Théodore, R. and Moffitt, T. (2003). Children's behavioral styles at age 3 are linked to their adult personality traits at age 26. Journal Of Personality, 71(4), 495-513. Smith, CL, Calkins, SD, Keane, SP, Anastopoulos, AD, Shelton, TL (2004). Predicting stability and change in toddler behavior problems: Contributions of maternal behavior and child gender. Developmental Psychology, 40 (1): 29-42. Wright, JP, Tibbetts, SG and Daigle, LE (2008). Criminals in the Making: Crime Throughout Life. Los Angeles, California: Sage.