The Relationship of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to Crime and Delinquency: a Meta-Analysis Travis C. Pratt, Francis T. Cullen, Kristie R. Blevins, Leah Daigle and James D. Unnever Department of Political Science/Criminal Justice, Washington State University, 801 Johnson Tower, Pullman, WA 99164–4880; Tel. + 00 1 509 335–2544; Fax + 00 1 509 335–7990; E-mail tpratt@mail.wsu.edu Received: 3 March 2002; accepted July 2002 Travis C. Pratt PhD University of Cincinnati, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science/Criminal Justice at Washington State University. Previously, he was on the faculty of the School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers Uni- versity. His research focuses on institutional cor- rections, criminal justice policy, and structural and macro-level theories of crime. His recent publications have appeared in Criminology, Crime and Delinquency , the Journal of Criminal Justice, and Justice Quarterly. Francis T. Cullen PhD Columbia University, is Distinguished Research Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology at the University of Cin- cinnati. His most recent books include Combat- ing Corporate Crime: Local Prosecutors at Work, Criminological Theory: Context and Consequen- ces, and Criminological Theory: Past to Present — Essential Readings. His current research interests include the use of meta-analysis to organise criminological knowledge, the impact of social support on crime, the measurement of sexual victimisation, and rehabilitation as a cor- rectional policy. Kristie R. Belvins is a PhD student in Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati, where she also serves as the Assistant Director of the Divi- sion of Criminal Justice’s distance learning MS Programme. She has previously published in the area of capital punishment. Her current research interests include public attitudes toward the death penalty, explaining inmate adaptations to imprisonment, and the empirical adequacy of deterrence theory. Leah E. Daigle is a PhD student in Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. She has previously published on women’s reporting of sexual victimisation to law enforcement officials and the factors affecting a victim’s definition of an assault as a rape. Currently, she is investigat- ing the impact of family factors on delinquency and, in particular, the relative causal importance of parents in criminal behaviour across the life course. James D. Unnever PhD Duke University, is Pro- fessor of Sociology at Radford University. His current research investigates the dynamics of schools having a culture of bullying and the impact of ADHD and low self-control on bullying and juvenile delinquency. He also has recently completed research testing coercion theory, examining the relationship between various forms of coercion and criminal involvement. ABSTRACT In recent years, criminologists have begun to focus more closely on how certain biosocial and/or neuropsychological factors may influence criminal and delinquent behaviour. One factor that is International Journal of Police Science and Management, Vol. 4 No. 4, 2002, pp. 344–360. © Vathek Publishing, 1461–3557 International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume 4 Number 4 Page 344