Neo-cognitive learning theory: implications for prevention and early intervention strategies with at-risk youth.

A new perspective has emerged in psychological learning theory which provides a more precise understanding of the relationship between cognition, emotion, and delinquent behavior. These new assumptions about learning have now been formalized in the literature as neo-cognitive learning theory. The objectives of the present paper are to describe the theory's major principles and assumptions, cite contemporary research evidence which supports each assumption of this new perspective, distinguish how this model of learning offers a significant advance over first-generation cognitive and reciprocal social learning models of deviance, and discuss the implications of the neo-cognitive learning perspective for prevention and early intervention strategies with at-risk youth.