Expertise
Adolescent Development
Biography
Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at Temple University, is one of the world’s leading experts on adolescence. He received his A.B. in Psychology from Vassar College and his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University. His research has focused on a range of topics, including adolescent brain and psychological development, risk-taking and decision-making, family and peer relationships, juvenile justice, school achievement, and part-time employment. He is former President of the Division of Developmental Psychology of the American Psychological Association and of the Society for Research on Adolescence. Dr. Steinberg was a member of the National Academies’ Board on Children, Youth, and Families, chaired the Academies’ Committee on the Science of Adolescence, and directed the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice.
He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was the first recipient of the Jacobs Foundation Research Prize for Productive Youth development, of the largest prizes ever awarded to a social scientist, as well as the recipient of numerous lifetime achievement awards from the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Society for Research on Adolescence. Dr. Steinberg is the author or co-author of nearly 500 articles and essays on development during the teenage years, and the author, co-author, or editor of 18 books, including You and Your Adolescent, When Teenagers Work, Crossing Paths, Beyond the Classroom, The 10 Basic Principles of Good Parenting, Age of Opportunity, Rethinking Juvenile Justice, You and Your Adult Child, and Adolescence, the leading college textbook on the subject, now in its 14th edition.
He has also written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, and is a frequent guest on NPR. Dr. Steinberg frequently provides expert testimony on adolescent development in civil and criminal court cases.
Selected Publications
- Steinberg, L. (2025). The developmental perspective on juvenile justice policy and practice. Family Court Review, 63, 435-445.
- Steinberg, L., & Icenogle, G. (2019). Using developmental science to distinguish adolescents and adults under the law. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 1, 21-40.
- Steinberg, L., Icenogle, G., Shulman, E., Breiner, K., Chein, J., Bacchini, D., . . . Takash, H. (2018). Around the world, adolescence is a time of heightened sensation seeking and immature self-regulation. Developmental Science, 21, 1-13.
- Steinberg, L. (2017). Adolescent brain science and juvenile justice policymaking. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 23, 410-420.
Courses Taught
- Adolescent Development (graduate and undergraduate)
