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Attachment, masculinity, and self-control: A theory of male crime rates
Abstract
Attachment theory and research from developmental psychology suggest that disruptions in attachments to primary caregivers in early childhood have long-term negative consequences. Scholars in the emerging field of men’s studies argue that boys disproportionately experience these disruptions of early attachment and that these disruptions are causally related to elements of what is often described as the masculine gender role. These two bodies of theory and research are combined with Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) theory of low self-control in a new theory of disproportionate male offending.
... Criminology has uncovered robust gender differences in self-control (Chapple, Vaske, & Hope, 2010;Gibson, Ward, Wright, Beaver, & DeLisi, 2010a;Jo & Bouffard, 2014); yet, research on what causes these differences has lagged. We ground our research within the existing literature on gender differences in self-control and, in particular, Hayslett-McCall and Bernard (2002) suggestion that attachment disruptions lead to boys' lower levels of self-control. According to Haslett-Hayslett-McCall and Bernard (2002), boys exhibit lower levels of self-control due to early caregiving disruptions which are uniquely gendered and align with traditional gender role socialization. ...
... In particular, while Chapple et al. (2010) and Jo and Bouffard (2014) modeled a host of positive family and school experiences as potential causes of self-control, neither study examined a variety of ACEs and their effect on inhibiting the development of self-control. The empirical research on gender differences in self-control aligns, in part, with the theoretical suggestions of Hayslett-McCall and Bernard (2002) in which they suggest that boys have lower self-control due to gendered expectations of masculinity that disrupt attachment bonds and results in more adverse parenting for boys. While their theoretical mechanisms have not been tested, our analyses on ACEs taps into potential conditions that may cause attachment disruptions for boys and girls and may help explain the gender-gap in self-control. ...
Purpose
Grounding our work within the larger gender and self-control literature, the purpose of this paper is three-fold: to examine the relative effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on self-control for boys and girls, whether gender differences in self-control can be explained by exposure to ACEs, and the extent to which ACEs differentially influence empathy and impulsivity for boys and girls, two components of self-control with notable gender differences.
Methods
Using data from the Fragile Families and Childhood Wellbeing Study, we examine our three questions using stepwise, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and generalized linear models (GLM) to explain the relationship between ACEs and gender differences in self-control.
Results
We found that as ACEs increased, self-control declined for boys and girls. Higher numbers of ACEs were associated with increased impulsivity for boys but, ACEs were not significantly related to empathy for either boys or girls.
Conclusions
We found that ACEs significantly impaired the development of self-control for boys and girls. We also found that the relationship between ACEs and impulsivity was only significant for boys. As such, delinquency prevention and intervention efforts should screen for ACEs, their relationship to deficits in self-control and, in particular, should address the significant connection between ACEs and boys' impulsivity. Finally, self-control development programs should focus on addressing past, childhood trauma for boys and girls.
... Disrupted connection between a child and a parent or caregiver may occur in one of three phases, according to Bowlby's theory of attachment. Hayslett-McCall and Bernard (2002) explain that the first stage is the protest. The second stage is despair while detachment is the term used by Bowlby to describe the third stage. ...
تتناول الدراسة نظرية التعلق لجون بولبي في رواية باتريشيا هايسميث الموهوب السيد ريبلي (1955) "الموهوب السيد ريبلي" هي الرواية الأولى في سلسلة من خمس روايات تعرف بأسم روايات ريبلي. تبحث النظرية في الآثار السلبية عندما يُحرم الطفل من رعاية الأم ، علاوة على ذلك ، يهتم بولبي بشكل خاص بالطرق التي تتأثر بها شخصية الطفل بمرور الوقت بسبب نوع الروابط مع مقدم الرعاية. يعتبر الارتباط الوثيق بين المولود الجديد ومقدم الرعاية أمرًا ضروريًا لنمو الطفل السليم ، وفقًا لبولبي. من ناحية أخرى ، يؤدي الارتباط المشوه بين الوليد ومقدم رعايته إلى الإصابة بالعُصاب. يقوم علماء النفس بفحص شخصية توم ريبلي في رواية باتريشيا هايسميث لاكتشاف كيف تتأثر صحته العقلية بغيابه عن مقدم رعاية مؤثر. تقدم نظرية التعلق إطارًا مفيدًا لمعرفة كيفية تأثير تجارب الحياة المبكرة على نمو الفرد
... Girls also tend to score lower than boys on measures of impulsivity (Chapple & Johnson, 2007), risk-taking, and self-centeredness (Gibson et al., 2010), but higher on empathy (O'Neill, 2020). Some researchers have proposed that boys exhibit lower self-control due to early caregiving disturbances that are uniquely gendered and associated with traditional gender role socialization (Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002). It seems likely that ACEs are one striking example of early caregiving disturbances. ...
Considerable research has shown that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with the development of self-control and delinquent behaviors. Still, no studies have explicitly examined ACEs, low self-control, and delinquency to determine if they are jointly associated, including whether this relationship varies by gender. The current study examines this important gap in existing literature. Using data from the Fragile Families and Childhood Wellbeing Study (FFCW; n = 3,232), we uncover that low self-control mediates the relationship between early ACEs and delinquency and that this relationship exists for both girls and boys.
... Perhaps gendered expectations inhibit the development of criminal thinking patterns, accounting for the difference in the prevalence of offending as well as the similarity in profiles among individuals on probation. Alternatively, masculinity may promote or at least facilitate the adoption of criminogenic patterns of thinking among men (Hayslett-Mccall & Bernard, 2002). ...
In the mid-1970s, scholars theorized that as women’s lives grew beyond traditional gendered constraints their involvement in crime would come to resemble that of men. Key to some arguments was that women’s increasing involvement in workplaces would provide criminal opportunity. Yet, there has been limited attention paid to the issue of gender in white-collar research. This article discusses the implications of the research in this special issue and also identifies a number of important theoretical issues that white-collar scholars should be attentive to moving forward. It is critical that research should continue to problematize not only the incidence of female involvement in white-collar crime but also the qualities of that involvement. Further, scholars should also be reflective and consider the degree to which their hypotheses related to women’s involvement in crime inherently assume that white masculine identities are the baseline to which women’s behavior will adapt.
... Adolescent gender. Research on gendered socialization (Gerson, 1985;Hagan, Simpson, & Gillis, 1987;Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002) suggests that the processes shaping self-control may differ by gender. For instance, parents may tolerate certain behaviors (e.g., hanging out with friends at night) from boys that would be quickly curtailed if displayed by girls. ...
Self-control plays a significant role in positive youth development. Although numerous self-control challenges occur during adolescence, some adolescents control themselves better than others. Parenting is considered a critical factor that distinguishes adolescents with good self-control from those with poor self-control, but existing findings are inconsistent. This meta-analysis summarizes the overall relationship between parenting and self-control among adolescents aged 10 to 22 years. The analysis includes 191 articles reporting 1,540 effect sizes (N = 164,459). The results show that parenting is associated with adolescents’ self-control both concurrently (r = .204, p < .001) and longitudinally (r = .157, p < .001). Longitudinal studies also reveal that adolescents’ self-control influences subsequent parenting (r = .155, p < .001). Moderator analyses show that the effect sizes are largely invariant across cultures, ethnicities, age of adolescents, and parent and youth gender. Our results point to the importance of parenting in individual differences in adolescent self-control and vice versa.
... The results obtained show how emotional dependence acts as a mediator in the relationship between security and impulsivity, parental authority and impulsivity, parental permission and impulsivity, selfsufficiency and resentment against parents and impulsivity, childhood trauma and impulsivity. These results could be explained by the fact that emotional dependence has been linked to affective deficits in childhood (Castelló, 2012), as well as impulsive behavior, with previous studies mentioning how impulsivity levels vary depending on the parenting style received by attachment figures (Chapple & Johnson, 2007) and how low self-control would be the result of attachment disruptions during childhood (Hayslett-Mccall & Bernard, 2002). Because of this, these are novel results in mentioning emotional dependence as a mediating variable in the relationship between attachment and impulsivity. ...
The emotional dependence has been related with the problems in the impulse control and with the preoccupied attachment style. The objectives of this study are to analyze the relation between the emotional dependence, attachment and the impulsive behavior, as well as, to analyze if these final two can predict the emotional dependence. Furthermore, it analyze if the emotional dependence mediate in the relation between attachment and impulsivity and, finally, it studies the differences of gender in the three mentioned variables. The sample is formed by 1533 teenagers (707 women and 826 men), with ages between 14-18 years old (M = 15.76; SD = 1.25). The results showed of positives relations between the emotional dependence and the parental permission, childhood trauma and impulsive behavior. Moreover, the impulsivity is positively related with the fact to avoid to be alone, asymmetric relation, the need to please others, parental permission and childhood trauma. In the same way, it proves how the parental permission, self-sufficiency and resentment against parents and childhood trauma can predict the emotional dependence. Finally, it observes how the relation between the attachment and the impulsive behavior is mediated with the emotional dependency and it appreciates differences between the three variables in gender basis.
... Research, for example, suggests that females across dozens of cultures from six continents tend to value the social status of prospective male mates more than males tend to value the social status of prospective female mates (Buss, 1989). Similarly, from a sociological perspective, patriarchal societies may be characterized not only by structural gender inequality in the family (e.g., Hagan et al., 1985;Blackwell and Piquero, 2005;Hayslett-McCall and Bernard (2002), but also by a broader culture of gendered behavioral expectations (Heimer and De Coster, 1999). Drawing on existing theory and research (e.g., Burke, 1989;Messerschmidt, 1993;Jackman, 1994), Heimer and De Coster (1999:282 [emphasis in original]) assert that "in patriarchal society, femininity often is equated with a high capacity for nurturance, a tendency toward passivity rather than aggressiveness, and physical and emotional weakness; by contrast, masculinity, tends to be equated with competitiveness, independence, rationality, and strength." ...
Existing research finds adolescent popularity to be correlated with risk-taking. While a subset of this research uses longitudinal methods to examine whether part of this correlation may reflect the influence of popularity on risk-taking, research has paid insufficient attention to examining the reverse relation. Drawing on literature from a range of disciplines, we argue that a portion of the correlation reflects the positive influence of risk-taking on popularity. Using longitudinal data from a northeastern sample of adolescents, we test this argument. Net of statistical controls, we find that risk-taking among males, but not females, is associated with higher popularity, but that this relation is curvilinear, such that progressively higher levels of risk-taking yield diminishing returns in male popularity. Results provide one explanation for why male adolescents tend to take more risks in the presence of peers. Likewise, they suggest that attempts to prevent adolescent risk-taking, particularly among males, may require practitioners to move beyond conceiving of adolescent risk-taking as purely irrational behavior reflecting an ostensible inability to perceive potential consequences. Instead, results suggest that male risk-taking should be understood in the context of the salient social rewards that may make it rational from an adolescent perspective.
... Compared with boys, girls are found to be more attached to parents (Li, Delvecchio, Miconi, Salcuni, & Di Riso, 2014;Song, Thompson, & Ferrer, 2009) and have higher levels of self-control (Chapple, Vaske, & Hope, 2010;Tittle, Ward, & Grasmik, 2003). In addition, due to gendered socialization (Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002), the influence of attachment to parents on self-control may differ between boys and girls. For instance, parents are more likely to tolerate certain behaviors that may lead to deviance among boys than that among girls, resulting in the relation between familyrelated variables (e.g., attachment to parents) and self-control appears stronger among girls than boys (Evans, Simons, & Simons, 2012;Larsen et al., 2012). ...
Aggressive perpetration and victimization among Polish adolescents are a salient problem. Based on the general theory of crime, this study explored the associations between attachment to parents and self-control with perpetration and victimization among Polish adolescents (N=355, 146 boys and 209 girls) aged 16-18 years. Results of path analyses showed that: (1) secure attachment to father was related to less perpetration and victimization among boys and girls; whereas secure attachment to mother was associated with less perpetration and victimization among girls; (2) secure attachment to father was related to better self-control for boys and girls; and (3) self-control was related to reduced victimization and mediated the “attachment to father – victimization” association among girls. These findings highlight the importance of attachment to parents (father, in particular) in explaining perpetration and victimization among Polish adolescents (girls, in particular). The generalizability of the general theory of crime in Polish adolescents is limited.
... Viewed through a gendered lens, they are men seeking to define themselves as men. Hayslett-McCall and Bernard (2002) have examined the link between attachment, masculinities and male crime rates. Their study revealed that there is a correlation between disrupted attachments in boys that leads to negative outcomes for men. ...
This paper situates education as an integral component of the overall prison rehabilitation process. The article discusses how an educational practitioner's knowledge of attachment theory and masculinities can be utilized to develop a secure methodological teaching environment in the classroom of a prison education unit and create a space where transformative learning can take place. The link between attachment theory and the social and institutional composition of masculinities are considered for their influence on perceptions and concepts of the masculine self and masculine identity in general. The practitioner who is cognizant of these issues has the potential to develop secure methodological frameworks that focus on creating a nurturing learning environment that has the potential to provide students with a space to safely reflect, examine and potentially transform their learning experiences and thus their sense of self.
... Some support has been found for these theories. For example, in line with social control theory, empirical findings have suggested that attachment to conventional values (Liu & Kaplan, 1999), parental involvement and monitoring (Bell, 2009;Svensson, 2003), disruptions of early attachment (Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002), and selfcontrol (e.g., Kim & Kim, 2015;LaGrange & Silverman, 1999;Tittle, Ward, & Grasmick, 2003) can account for the gender gap in offending. Consistent with the differential association theory explanation, higher levels of exposure to delinquent peers have been found among males, which may account, at least in part, for the gender gap (Bell, 2009;Liu & Kaplan, 1999;Jensen, 2003;Mears, Ploeger, & Warr, 1998;Simons, Miller, & Aigner, 1980;Svensson, 2003). ...
Despite increasing awareness of the contributions of biological sciences in criminology, the extent to which biological variables are incorporated in criminological research and theories remains limited. This dissertation consists of five papers that examine biological factors in conjunction with social environmental and psychological variables to gain a more complete understanding of the etiology of antisocial behavior. Paper 1 examined whether a biological mechanism may help to explain why social environmental factors that are identified in many criminological theories are associated with antisocial behavior. The finding that low heart rate partly mediated the relationship between early social adversity and antisocial behavior in children gives rise to a social neurocriminology perspective whereby social environmental factors influence biology to in turn lead to crime. Paper 2 expanded on this empirical proof of concept by proposing a biopsychosocial model to demonstrate how autonomic arousal can be incorporated into extant criminological theories. Paper 3 employed a biological perspective to explain an important phenomenon in criminology regarding the higher rate of male crime. Using longitudinal mediation analysis, the study is the first to document that lower heart rates in males at age 11 years partly explain their higher levels of offending in adulthood. Findings support the consideration of biological processes in theoretical accounts of the gender gap. Paper 4 examined whether a nutritional factor, vitamin D, confers resilience to childhood antisocial behavior. The finding that meeting vitamin D sufficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration ≥ 30 ng/mL) nullified the social adversity-antisocial behavior relationship documents for the first time, a protective effect of vitamin D on antisocial behavior. Paper 5 examined the neural mechanisms underlying antisocial behavior using transcranial direct current stimulation. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, stratified, randomized trial on healthy adults provided the first experimental evidence that increasing activity in the prefrontal cortex can reduce intentions to commit aggression. This effect was account for, in part, by enhanced perceptions of moral wrongfulness regarding the aggressive acts. Together, these studies have the potential to advance the field of criminology at conceptual and theoretical levels, as well as knowledge on the development of prevention and intervention programs for such behavior.
... Theories explicitly focusing on the gendered nature of criminal activity are rare (e.g.,Hagan, 1989;Hayslett- McCall & Bernard, 2002;Messerschmidt, 1993;Steffensmeier & Allan, 1996). ...
Although shoplifting is one of the crimes with the smallest gender gap among all offense types, most studies still conclude that males steal from shops more frequently than females. The roots of the gendered distribution of shoplifting have not yet been satisfactorily explained. This work investigates whether situational action theory (SAT) can account for males’ greater involvement in shoplifting compared to females and if the propensity–exposure interaction that is at the heart of the theory applies to both genders. Results from a large-scale student survey conducted in Austria suggest that SAT generalizes to both genders and that it is well suited to explain why males are more likely to shoplift than females.
... Some support has been found for these theories. For example, in line with social control theory, empirical findings have suggested that attachment to conventional values (Liu and Kaplan, 1999), parental involvement and monitoring (Bell, 2009;Svensson, 2003), disruptions of early attachment (Hayslett-McCall and Bernard, 2002), and self-control (e.g., Kim and Kim, 2015;LaGrange and Silverman, 1999;Tittle, Ward, and Grasmick, 2003) can account for the gender gap in offending. Consistent with the differential association theory explanation, higher levels of exposure to delinquent peers have been found among males, which may account, at least in part, for the gender gap (Bell, 2009;Liu and Kaplan, 1999;Jensen, 2003;Mears, Ploeger, and Warr, 1998;Simons, Miller, and Aigner, 1980;Svensson, 2003). ...
Although it is well established that males engage in more crime compared with females, little is known about what accounts for the gender gap. Few studies have been aimed at empirically examining mediators of the gender–crime relationship in a longitudinal context. In this study, we test the hypothesis that a low resting heart rate partly mediates the relationship between gender and crime. In a sample of 894 participants, the resting heart rate at 11 years of age was examined alongside self-reported and official conviction records for overall criminal offending, violence, serious violence, and drug-related crime at 23 years of age. A low resting heart rate partially mediated the relationship between gender and all types of adult criminal offending, including violent and nonviolent crime. The mediation effects were significant after controlling for body mass index, race, social adversity, and activity level. Resting heart rate accounted for 5.4 percent to 17.1 percent of the gender difference in crime. This study is the first to produce results documenting that lower heart rates in males partly explain their higher levels of offending. Our findings complement traditional theoretical accounts of the gender gap and have implications for the advancement of integrative criminological theory.
... The theory explains that self-control is formed by age eight, and lack of self-control is due to poor parenting. More recently, Hayslett-McCall and Bernard (2002), in their examination of attachment theory, suggest that "'detachment' is a response to a traumatic failure of the environment to meet the child's attachment needs and that this state of detachment is related to later negative developments in a child's life" (p. 8). ...
Purpose
Several studies have reported the impact of paternal incarceration and criminal behavior on childhood delinquency; however, fewer studies have addressed the influence of maternal criminality on children’s behavioral outcomes. Integrating self-control and attachment theoretical frameworks, the purpose of this paper is to address the impact of mothers who have been stopped, arrested, convicted, and incarcerated in relation to their children’s delinquent behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing data set was used to better understand this relationship. By using binary logistic regression, two types of delinquent behavior were assessed: destroying property and fighting.
Findings
The results revealed that mothers’ criminal behavior affected children’s fighting tendencies but did not significantly impact children’s tendency to destroy property. Furthermore, certain childhood antisocial traits and demographic characteristics revealed to also impact children’s delinquent behavior. From the results, implications and prevention strategies were drawn describing techniques to combat delinquency.
Originality/value
This research lays a foundation for future researchers to explore mother-child attachment and the transmission of low self-control from mother to child in relation to criminality. The current research is one of the first studies to specifically address how maternal criminal behavior affects their children’s tendency to engage in delinquency, specifically examining property destruction and fighting.
... 2. For example, in Germany, 50% of all incidents of shoplifting reported to the police in 2011 involved stolen goods worth less than ?15 (Bundeskriminalamt, 2012). 3. Theories explicitly focusing on the gendered nature of criminal activity are rare (e.g., Hagan, 1989;Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002;Messerschmidt, 1993;Steffensmeier & Allan, 1996). 4. Situational action theory's (SAT) conceptualization of self-control is similar to that of Hay and Meldrum (2016, p. 7) who define trait self-control as capability "of overriding immediate impulses to replace them with responses that adhere to higher-order standards that typically follow from values, social commitments, and interests in long-term well-being." 5. Some of the core insights of SAT have already been anticipated in Klemke's (1992, p. 112) Sociology of Shoplifting: "When a vulnerable individual is exposed to social influences ( . . . ) that make shoplifting attractive, there is a greater likelihood that shoplifting will be ( . . . ) chosen." 6. Gangl (2010, p. 38-39) makes it very clear that nonmanipulable factors such as gender and race have causal significance because they place individuals into socialization patterns and opportunity structures. ...
Although shoplifting is one of the crimes with the smallest gender gap among all offense types, most studies still conclude that males steal from shops more frequently than females. The roots of the gendered distribution of shoplifting have not yet been satisfactorily explained. This work investigates whether situational action theory (SAT) can account for males’ greater involvement in shoplifting compared to females and if the propensity–exposure interaction that is at the heart of the theory applies to both genders. Results from a large-scale student survey conducted in Austria suggest that SAT generalizes to both genders and that it is well suited to explain why males are more likely to shoplift than females.
... In 2013, approximately 83% of the correctional population was male (Glaze & Kaeble, 2014), while roughly 71% of crimes against persons (e.g., assault, homicide) were perpetrated by men (FBI, 2013). Explanations of this disparity range from social-cognitive (Bennett, Farrington, & Huesmann, 2005) to developmental (Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002) differences between men and women. Whatever the cause, the strong association between males and crime may have consequences for legal decision-making. ...
Previous research has established that the appearance of criminal suspects and defendants can affect subsequent legal decisions. Specifically, researchers have proposed that (1) masculine suspects are believed to commit more stereotypically male crimes (e.g., burglary), (2) masculine suspects are believed to commit more violent crimes (e.g., assault), and (3) masculinity is a general cue for committing crime. The current study sought to test these competing hypotheses regarding masculine appearance and perceived criminality. Across three studies, participants read a brief crime scenario and were asked to select out of a lineup the suspect they believed had committed the crime. Suspect masculinity and type of crime were manipulated to determine whether the degree of masculinity influenced whether participants believed they had committed the crime. Results showed that participants consistently associated masculinity with committing violent crime and showed some evidence for the general criminality hypothesis on secondary measures. These findings have important implications regarding law enforcement, eyewitness and juror bias, and legal decisions.
... Among the control variables in this model, boys displayed a statistically significant increase (b = 0.621) in impulsivity compared with girls in this sample. This is consistent with a significant body of research that finds girls to have higher levels of self-control than boys (Chapple & Johnson, 2007;Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002;Hope & Chapple, 2005;Nofziger, 2010;Tittle, Ward, & Grasmick, 2003) . African Americans associate with statistically significant decrease (b = −1.196) in impulsivity/low selfcontrol compared with the Whites reference group. ...
The current study provides a comprehensive test of differential social support and coercion (DSSC) theory of crime as proposed by Colvin, Cullen, and Vander Ven. DSSC suggests that social interactions are either coercive or supportive in nature and that these interactions figure prominently into the development of self-control and delinquent behavior. Data drawn from the Evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) assess four DSSC research hypotheses. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression suggests that parental support reduces impulsive behavior whereas coercive relationships correlate with increased impulsivity. Logistic regression indicates that parental support associates with reduced violent offending odds and that interpersonal coercion and low self-control increase violent offending. Beyond testing micro-level DSSC theory, these findings have important implications for criminal justice responses to juvenile offending.
... Attempts to explain why males commit more crimes than females usually draw on traditional criminological theories. Theories explicitly focusing on the gendered nature of criminal behavior are rare (e.g., Hayslett-McCall and Bernard 2002;Messerschmidt 1993;Steffensmeier and Allan 1996), with Hagan's power-control theory (PCT) serving as one of the most prominent theoretical accounts of the gender divide, particularly of common forms of juvenile delinquency (Hagan 1989;Hagan et al. 1987). PCT posits that power differentials between parents, derived from their relative occupational positions, determine familial control strategies and levels. ...
There is plenty of evidence that boys commit more crime than girls. A prominent theory that seeks to explain the gender gap in juvenile delinquency is John Hagan's Power-Control Theory. It posits that work-related power differentials between parents determine levels of control levied over sons and daughters. Gender-specific differences in parental control are linked to higher risk preferences and lower risk perceptions of boys compared to girls, which result in boys being more delinquent than girls. In this study, a test of the Power-Control Theory is performed, based on a student survey conducted in Upper Austria. The results support both the power and the control related elements of the theory.
... Further, evidence indicates that this pathway may need to be added to the tripartite model, in light of findings demontrating that high levels of maternal non-physical punishment and high-quality mother-child relationships were linked to high levels of later self-regulation for boys but not girls during early adolescence (Chapple, Vaske, & Hope, 2010). Conceptually, boys may be more sensitive than girls to disrupted maternal relationships, which has implications for the development of self-regulation (Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002). These possibilities were considered in the present research. ...
The purpose of the present study was to explore the degree to which short-term longitudinal change in adolescent self-regulation was attributable to maternal parenting and mother-child relationship quality. A total of 821 mother-adolescent dyads provided data in the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 (52.5% male; 24.2% Hispanic, 36.7% African American, 39.1% European American; adolescents’ initial age range = 10-12 years). Consistent with hypotheses, longitudinal improvements in young adolescents’ self-regulation were associated with high levels of mother-child relationship quality and low levels of maternal discipline. The association between self-regulation in 1992 and 1994 was moderated by child sex and maternal discipline. Thus, this study provides further evidence favoring the exploration of the parent-child relational context in addition to discrete parenting behaviors in studies on self-regulation during the early adolescent years.
... Conversely, insecure attachment has been associated with lower social skills and popularity and increased behaviour problems (Karen, 1998: 180-96). Disorganized attachment has been associated with poorer performance in deductive reasoning, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and aggression; self-harm, borderline personality disorder, crime and violence; psychopathology; eating disorders in women; and certain kinds of disease (Feeney, 2000;Fonagy, n.d.;Hayslett-McCall and Bernard, 2002;Jacobsen et al., 1994;Lyons-Ruth, 1996;Maunder and Hunter, 2001;Troisi et al., 2005;Ward et al., 2006, for reviews.) These, then, are examples of emergent outcomes at multiple levels, in multiple systems, manifesting over history and thus demonstrating the complexity principle of historicity. ...
This is the second of a two part article examining the use of complexity-consistent theory in a realist investigation. The first article (Evaluation 18[4]) introduced the idea of complexity-consistent theory. It argued that complexity-consistent theories are likely to be useful for understanding complex processes of change and therefore useful in many kinds of evaluation. Further, it argued that theories can be organized within a hierarchy to reflect the different levels of reality involved in a change program. This was described as 'layering' theories. This second article describes the use of these concepts in a realist investigation. The purpose of the investigation was to develop a realist, middle-range theory to explain how and why some early intervention programs which 'work' on average for disadvantaged families do not work for the most disadvantaged. The investigation combined a small-scale realist evaluation of a family support program in Adelaide, South Australia with a modified form of realist synthesis. The work was undertaken as part of a PhD, supervised by Professor Nick Tilley, co-author of Realistic Evaluation.
... 98 Results in Table 4 shows that boys (22.2%) have a higher prevalence of being identified as HSD than girls (17.0%), which is in alignment with findings of similar studies (Strambler & Weinstein, 2010;Fredricks, Blumenfeld & Paris, 2004;Rosenblum, Goldblatt & Moin, 2008). Attachment theory and research from developmental psychology suggest that disruptions in attachments to primary caregivers in early childhood may result in long-term consequences and the effect may be more pronounce among boys, and one of the consequences is that boys have a higher tendency to be detached from their surroundings than girls (Hayslett-Mccall & Bernard, 2002). ...
School dropout has become a serious problem in many places around the world. However, before students actually dropout from school, they normally exhibit some symptoms of disengagement from the social life and emotional involvement of school. Thus, hidden school disengagement or avoiding school psychologically may be an early stage of school dropout. This article examines the phenomenon of hidden school disengagement among students aged 12-16 in China. 14,563 students in 11 provinces and 2 administrative regions participated in a Youth Health Behaviors Survey conducted in 2010. Based on the Index of Hidden Disengagement, 2,854 students (19.6%) were identified as having multiple symptoms of disengagement. Further analysis suggested that students who were identified as hidden disengaged students had a significantly higher ratio of being involved in health-related risk behaviors, suffered from psychosomatic symptoms, and had a pessimistic outlook of their health and their lives. Personal and contextual factors, such as students with one or more siblings in the family, non-intact families, low family economic background, migrant families, left-over children, schools located in rural areas, and non-model schools, all contributed to a higher prevalence of hidden school disengagement.
... High levels of testosterone linked to increased aggression in males (Ellis, 2005;Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002;Schmalleger & Volk, 2006) Maternal stress, causing elevated levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in the fetus is associated with increases in behavioural disturbance in animals through inhibition of development of nervous system causing damage to brain resulting in permanent disorders (Mulder et al., 2002;O"Connor et al., 2005)while may be caused by multitude of factors, has been associated with appearance of emotional problems with hyperactivity, attention deficit, Tourette"s Syndrome, higher incidences of schizophrenia, depression, and drug abuse (Champagne & Meaney, 2006;Merlot, Couret, & Otten, 2008;Mulder et al., 2002;Weinstock, 2005). ...
... Attempts to explain why males commit more crimes than females usually draw on traditional criminological theories. Theories explicitly focusing on the gendered nature of criminal behavior are rare (e.g., Hayslett-McCall and Bernard 2002;Messerschmidt 1993;Steffensmeier and Allan 1996), with Hagan's power-control theory (PCT) serving as one of the most prominent theoretical accounts of the gender divide, particularly of common forms of juvenile delinquency (Hagan 1989;Hagan et al. 1987). PCT posits that power differentials between parents, derived from their relative occupational positions, determine familial control strategies and levels. ...
Shoplifting is one of the crimes with the smallest gender gap among all offense types. Contrary to common stereotypes, males commit shoplifting more frequently than females. Apart from the insight that the share of female offenders is highest for crimes that are well compatible with the prevailing female role, the roots of the gendered distribution of shoplifting have not been extensively studied. Its focus on gender roles and gendered socialization processes makes power-control theory an obvious explanatory approach, yet it has never specifically been utilized to examine the gender gap in shoplifting. This study attempts to close this research gap. Based on a large-scale student survey from Austria, this study scrutinizes the theory's potential to account for the gender divide in juvenile shoplifting. Results provide somewhat more support for the control and risk-related parts of the theory than for its power component.
... It is this latter typically masculine version of narcissism that is more associated with aggression and violence (Lewis 1987, Cartwright 2002). There are accounts of masculine development influenced by Chodorow's (1978) feminist reading of Freudian theory that suggests that modern social conditions present particular developmental problems for boys (Diamond, 2004; Hayslett McCall and Bernard 2002, Minsky 1998) that might well result in difficulties in coping with feelings of shame that can underpin the kind of narcissistic disorders described Kernberg (1975). Firstly, because boys are encouraged to 'disidentify' with their mothers, but secondly they are often left without a close, caring relationship with an adult with whom they can identify as they grow up. ...
... It is this latter typically masculine version of narcissism that is more associated with aggression and violence (Lewis 1987, Cartwright 2002). There are accounts of masculine development influenced by Chodorow's (1978) feminist reading of Freudian theory that suggests that modern social conditions present particular developmental problems for boys (Diamond, 2004; Hayslett McCall and Bernard 2002, Minsky 1998) that might well result in difficulties in coping with feelings of shame that can underpin the kind of narcissistic disorders described Kernberg (1975). Firstly, because boys are encouraged to 'disidentify' with their mothers, but secondly they are often left without a close, caring relationship with an adult with whom they can identify as they grow up. ...
The widespread incidents of rioting and looting across England in August 2011 have
drawn attention to debate about the links between ‘consumer culture’ and criminality.
This association has particular theoretical resonance as there has been a detectable
cultural turn in criminological theory, most clearly enunciated by the school of ‘cultural
criminology’ (Ferrell, Hayward and Young 2008). Despite the vibrancy of such theoretic
debates there is a danger that the mistakes of previous schools of criminological
thought be repeated through the exclusion of the internal psychological worlds of
individuals from consideration. It is argued here that culture, and in this case particular
‘consumer culture’ needs to be understood as being, at least in part, constructed by an
within the internal worlds of the individuals who make up that culture. The case is mad
for a more psychosocial criminology (Jones 2008; Gadd and Jefferson 2007). This is one
that regards the cultural as being indivisible from the sociological and psychological.
... Conversely, insecure attachment has been associated with lower social skills and popularity and increased behaviour problems (Karen, 1998: 180-96). Disorganized attachment has been associated with poorer performance in deductive reasoning, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, and aggression; self-harm, borderline personality disorder, crime and violence; psychopathology; eating disorders in women; and certain kinds of disease (Feeney, 2000;Fonagy, n.d.;Hayslett-McCall and Bernard, 2002;Jacobsen et al., 1994;Lyons-Ruth, 1996;Maunder and Hunter, 2001;Troisi et al., 2005;Ward et al., 2006, for reviews.) These, then, are examples of emergent outcomes at multiple levels, in multiple systems, manifesting over history and thus demonstrating the complexity principle of historicity. ...
This article draws on two recent traditions in evaluation methodology, one grounded in complexity theory and the other in a realist philosophy of science. Sometimes seen as incompatible, it is argued here that complexity theory and realist evaluation are ‘natural bedfellows’. Because of their similarities and differences, evaluators can usefully draw on both perspectives within the same evaluation. One way to do so is to draw on key concepts from each in the selection and use of substantive theory. The article introduces the concept of ‘complexity-consistent’ substantive theories and suggests that this is useful for the evaluation of policies and programs in complex adaptive systems. It demonstrates how substantive theories can be analysed in complexity terms, how multiple theories can be ‘layered’ to reflect multiple levels of systems, and how such theories can be used within evaluation design and analysis.
... With attachment needs thus unmet, the child becomes emotionally vulnerable and will exhibit a predictable pattern of protest and despair and—without the intervention of loving and attuned adults—detachment (Ainsworth, 1972; Bowlby, 1973; Margolin & John, 1997). This need for connection influences the course of the child's later development, with much research demonstrating that detachment in childhood is associated with long-term negative outcomes (Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2002). The detached child may psychically wall off her needs, even as her yearning for connection continues or she may still cling to those who have caused the trauma because her terror of being abandoned exceeds her terror of the abuser. ...
We examine effects of the Crack Cocaine Era on two generations of females. Interviews
were conducted (1996-2001 for separate National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded
projects) with 58 women and 24 girls born into distinct drug eras (Crack Generation
and Marijuana Generation). Using attachment theory as a framework, we analyze each
cohort’s drug involvement and family relationships. Women’s crack use contributed
to disrupted attachments and girls’ marijuana and alcohol use and violence. Findings
extend the generational thesis of drug eras and counter suppositions that rejection of
crack might enhance future prospects. Interrupting intergenerational transmission of
drug-related problems requires mother–daughter bonds be addressed.
... Nevertheless, structured action theory is credited with introducing several insights about the utility of a contemporary sociological conception of gender as a means to theorize about crime. Furthermore, this work may be credited with helping introduce masculinity research to criminology (Cope & Hochstetler, 2003;Hayslett-McCall & Bernard, 2005;Simpson & Ellis, 1995). ...
This article employs a gender-as-social-practice perspective to explain patterned differences in the situational context of delinquency by sex. Using data on juvenile offenders from the Philadelphia Birth Cohort II study, criminal events, rather than individuals, are used as the unit of analysis. The events approach decenters individuals from the analysis and provides a window through which to explore how gender influences certain characteristics of crime. Findings suggest that male and female juveniles, alone and in groups, become involved in crime that is concentrated in different types of physical space. In particular, boys are more likely to be involved in crimes that occur outdoors and in a larger variety of places than are girls. The context of criminal events provides a place where the practices of gender and the distribution of delinquent opportunities appear to intersect.
... Margt bendir til þess að upplausn aeskuheimilis fari verr með stráka en stúlkur, strákarnir saeti frekar líkamsrefsingum í aesku en stelpurnar og uppeldi þeirra sé kaldranalegra en kvenna (Hayslett-McCall og Bernard 2002). Allt eru þetta þaettir sem gera að verkum að líklegra er að karlar beiti of beldi en konur, baeði almennt í tilverunni og einnig í nánum samböndum. ...
... From the opposite angle, it has been said that the key role of parental management is inconsistent with a purely individualistic explanation of crime (Kissner 2008). Critics have also missed an explicit treatment of the link between crime and power, in particular to the detriment of women (Miller and Burack 1993), they have argued that disruptions of parental attachment in early childhood should be acknowledged as an additional cause of crime (Hayslett-McCall and Bernard 2002), and that the theory should account for the fact that most antisocial children do not turn into adult criminals 1 Google Scholar lists 4696 citations, as of Feb 19, 2012. ( Cohen and Vila 1996). ...
Self-control theory is one of the best studied criminological paradigms. Since Gottfredson and Hirschi published their General Theory in 1990 the theory has been tested on more than a million subjects. This meta-study systematizes the evidence, reporting 717 results from 102 different publications that cover 966,364 original data points. The paper develops a methodology that makes it possible to standardize findings although the original papers have used widely varying statistical procedures, and have generated findings of very different precision. Overall, the theory is overwhelmingly supported, but the effect is relatively small, and is sensitive to adding a host of moderating variables.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan antara keberfungsian keluarga dengan kontrol diri remaja. Kontrol diri yang dimiliki siswa pada fase remaja memengaruhi remaja untuk bersikap disiplin dan berperilaku sesuai dengan norma serta nilai yang berlaku, sehingga siswa dapat mencapai keberhasilan yang diinginkan. Kontrol diri remaja dalam mengatur dan mengendalikan perilaku tidak terlepas dari peran keluarga. Keluarga yang dapat berfungsi secara efektif memengaruhi remaja dalam mengembangkan kontrol dirinya dengan baik. Populasi dalam penelitian ini berjumlah 26 kelas (960 siswa) dengan sampel penelitian sebanyak 10 kelas (346 siswa). Teknik pengambilan sampel yang digunakan yaitu teknik cluster random sampling. Alat ukur yang digunakan adalah skala keberfungsian keluarga yang diadaptasi dari Family Assessment Device (43 aitem, α= 0,922) dan skala kontrol diri remaja (25 aitem, α= 0,866). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat hubungan positif yang signifikan antara keberfungsian keluarga dan kontrol diri remaja sebesar rxy=0,555; dengan p=0,000 (p<0,01). Keberfungsian keluarga memberikan sumbangan efektif sebesar 30,8% terhadap kontrol diri remaja.
In the research field, there are many different theories that try to understand and explain IPH
Research has consistently shown that teachers’ epistemological beliefs have a significant impact on their teaching and teacher effectiveness in the teaching- learning process. This study investigated epistemological beliefs (EBs) of teacher educators in higher education institutions and teacher education institutes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The study aimed at identifying teacher-centered and learners’ centered EBs, examine the relationship of EBs and gender, find out the relationship of teachers’ qualification with the EBs of teacher education, and explore differences between the EBs of teacher educators of public universities and RITEs. Of the 212 teacher educators of the study population, the data were collected through stratified random sampling from 145 respondents. Epistemological beliefs questionnaire (EBQ) and a scale for demographics were used for gathering data from the research participants. Percentages, Mean, One way ANOVA and Pearson r was used for data analysis. Findings of the study show that a majority of the teacher educators believed that the structure of knowledge is simple, half of the teacher educators believed that knowledge is certain. Similarly, a majority of the teachers did not believe in authority as a source of knowledge and considered that the ability to learn is not innate. A majority of the respondents did not agree that learning is a quick process. There was no significant difference in the EBs of male and female teacher educators; there was no significant difference in the EBs of teachers from universities and RITES, except in the dimension of the stability of knowledge, wherein educators from RITEs have unsophisticated beliefs and there is no significant effect of experience on the epistemological beliefs of teacher educators.
While parenting factors are commonly included as early risk markers for sexual aggression, data specific to paternal impacts on sexual offending are scattered. This review provides a thorough and systematic account of what is known regarding the fathers of sexual offenders. Thirty-four studies were categorized according to four distinct research questions, each addressing theoretical mechanisms by which fathers may influence the violent sexual behavior of their sons. The results suggest that the strongest impacts occur when sons are witness to their fathers engaging in acts of sexual abuse or domestic violence, in accordance with social learning theory. Father–son attachment or relationship quality also appears to have a measurable impact on the son’s engagement in sexual violence. However, paternal demographics and characteristics were generally ineffective at predicting sons’ sexual offenses. Finally, the differences between fathers of adult and juvenile sexual offenders are explored. Implications of those findings for research and applied interventions are included as they may be informative for prevention programming.
Presents the control model of criminal lifestyle development. The principal goal of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with the antecedents, core construct, central components and processes, and major mediators of the control model, where low self-control serves as the core construct and reactive criminal thinking is the principal mediator. In addition, the nonlinear dynamic systems theory principles of iterations, sensitive dependence on initial conditions, fractals, and self-organization are used to explain relationships between variables in the control model.
In the current era of mass incarceration, juvenile justice policies in the USA criminalise youthful behaviours, even youths themselves. Motivated by fears of supposed ‘super-predators’ in the 1990s, legislators some 25 years since continue to target poor children and children of colour for harsh punishment and exclusionary sanctions. Policy makers across the country have responded to populist demands to get ‘tough on crime’, setting an agenda that has effectively removed thousands of youths, among them an increasing number of girls and young women, from their families and communities. The assumption that juvenile delinquency has reached such an exceptionally high level that punitive action—in the form of removal—is required is not new, but represents a longstanding practice in the cyclical pattern of American justice reform (Bernard and Kurlychek 2010; Rothman 1990, 2002). For over 200 years, public and private organisations have rallied to clear the streets of vagrant and delinquent youth, and have erected institutions to contain the unfortunates caught in the clean-up operation.
Dieser Beitrag stellt einen Versuch dar, mehrere, üblicherweise getrennte, Perspektiven auf soziale Einflussfaktoren auf Jugenddelinquenz zusammen zu führen: Zusätzlich zur Geschlechterperspektive soll auch die ethnische Dimension thematisiert werden und beide Perspektiven sollen mit einem besonderen Fokus auf die Lebensbedingungen in Wohnquartieren mit hohen Konzentrationen sozialer Benachteiligungen verbunden werden. Was spricht fir die Verquickung dieser unterschiedlichen Aspekte der Delinquenzforschung? Zunächst kann jede der genannten Perspektiven für sich mit relativ gesicherten Erkenntnissen zu den sozialen Korrelaten von Jugenddelinquenz und — gewalt aufwarten. Jungen sind — nicht nur im Hellfeld der Polizeilichen Kriminalstatistik, sondern auch im Dunkelfeld — im Schnitt delinquenter als Mädchen und dies gilt besonders fir physische Gewalt (Moffitt et al. 2001). Gleichfalls ist bekannt, dass Jugendliche bestimmter ethnischer Minderheiten delinquenter sind als deutsche Jugendliche und dies gilt wiederum auch für das Dunkelfeld und besonders für Gewaltdelinquenz (Enzmann/Wetzels 2000; Naplava 2003). Schließlich gehört es seit langem zu den Gewissheiten von Kriminologen, Polizisten und Sozialarbeitern, dass sich Probleme mit Jugenddelinquenz in den so genannten sozialen Brennpunkten innerhalb der Großstädte, in denen viele Arme, Arbeitslose und Ausländer sowie viele kinderreiche Familien wohnen, besonders massieren (Braun et al. 1990; Eisner 1997; Frehsee 1979; Oberwittler, im Druck a, b; von Trotha 1974).
The Epidemiological Criminology (‘Epi-Crim’) framework works from the fundamental hypothesis that criminal behaviours and poor health behaviours share an underlying aetiological dimension. That is, the factors that underlie individuals’ engagement in behaviours that are defined as criminal are likely to be the same factors that promote poor health outcomes among those same individuals. We hypothesize this to be one of the reasons we find so much poor health among those who are processed through the criminal justice systems. In the context of violence prevention, Epi-Crim proposes ways of linking knowledge about the aetiology and epidemiology of violent behaviour gained from criminology with the emphasis on the prevention of injury outcomes favoured by public health. Epi-Crim posits that there are structural and organizational factors that get translated into individual behaviours through a process of socialization that allows individuals to engage in violent behaviour to achieve desired ends. These socialization processes not only allow, and sometimes encourage, the use of violence, but are the same processes that lead to poor decision-making and risk-taking in regard to other health behaviours. By understanding the common aetiological domains that underlie criminal behaviours we can also understand the development of poor health-related behaviours such as substance use and risky sexual behaviours.
Gottfredson and Hirschi acknowledge that there are sex differences in levels of self-control, with males exhibiting lower levels of self-control compared to females. There remains a gap in the empirical literature, however, as to whether differential parental treatment can explain differences in levels of self-control across the sexes. Using siblings of opposite sex from the Add Health study (N = 356, brother-sister pairs) and following a within-family research design, the current study examines whether differences in parenting behaviors within the home are associated with sex differences in self-control between siblings and whether these differences in self-control explained sex differences in delinquency. The results revealed that differential maternal attachment and differential maternal rejection were significantly related to sex differences in self-control. Sex differences in self-control, in turn, were significantly associated with sex differences in delinquency. The findings also showed that sex differences in self-control mediated the association between differential maternal rejection and delinquency, but that differential maternal attachment was indirectly associated with higher levels of delinquency for boys via lower levels of self-control. The impact of nonshared environmental factors on behavioral differences in opposite-sex siblings within the home is discussed. © Georgia State University, College of Health and Human Sciences 2011.
Two empirically unresolved areas of study of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) self-control theory are personality and gender. The theory states that personality is unrelated to self-con- trol and crime, and prior studies have found that self-control operates differently for males and females. Using data from confi ned delinquents in the California Youth Authority (n = 791) and measures derived from the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory which is a superordi- nate measure of personality, the current study explored the linkages between self-control and institutional misconduct. MANOVA and negative binomial regression models showed that wards with lower self-control/self-restraint had greater levels of diverse institutional miscon- duct. However, self-control was predictive of misconduct in only three of ten multivariate models and only among males. Self-control was unrelated to institutional misconduct among females. Implications for theory and research on the general theory are provided. Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi's self-control approach in A General Theory of Crime (1990) has emerged as an infl uential theoretical perspective in crimi- nology evidenced by more than 2,000 citations and many empirical tests. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990), an individual's level of self-control is the outcome of
Through an attachment lens, the case study reviews the treatment of a 4-year-old boy in foster care with the diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder. A three-stage treatment was described to illustrate how an attachment informed conceptualization was translated into intricate steps of interventions leading to a successful clinical outcome. The case study emphasizes and highlights the importance to recognize and understand emotional dynamics that are rooted in attachment experiences and expectations. It offers important clinical insight into the emotional and psychological process this boy went through to finally reach the territory of recovery.
Psychosocial and feminist criminologies produce a complex etiology of adolescent
female violence, and advance understanding of much female behavior that juvenile
authorities formally address: mental health disturbances. When girls’ violent behaviors are
considered within a psychodynamic theoretical framework, policy problems are dramatically
redefined, resulting in a reformulation of the social problem, newly contextualized,
and the collective responses to the troubled girls it has defined. This paper places known
etiologies of violent behaviors, including case study material, in a context of extant social
policies that impact and determine the social location and control of violent girls. We argue
that efficacious policy responses would be psychosocially informed, and focus upon a more
holistic mental health praxis, rather than criminal justice practices alone.
Public discourse often presumes a common understanding of girls' violence-as if we all know it when we see it. Our perceptions, however, are shaped by powerful media images drawing attention to the latest sensationalized case, be it a "baby-faced butcher" (Lovett, 2004), inner-city "gangstas" (Begum, 2006; Maher & Curtis, 1995), or "mean" suburban brawlers (Simmons, 2003; Burns, 2007; Scelfo, 2005). Such images garner authority from almost instantaneous video feeds and constant repetition, but are devoid of social or personal context. While some scholars reject girls' violence as a meaningless phrase dependent upon a universal or "generic construction of girlhood" (Batacharya, 2004:62), others continue to debate what counts as violence, and by extension, whether it is going up or down (for discussion see Pollock & Davis, 2005; Steffensmeier et al., 2005). Terminology in these latter discussions is typically legalistic, relying on codified definitions of specific offenses enacted by individual girls. Such a narrow focus ignores the context of enacted violence as well as its antecedents, and in particular, fails to take into account the perspective of girls themselves. Moreover, by their nature such legalistic accounts lack a theoretical framework for understanding the violence.
The purpose of our article is to explore the relationship between masculinities and crime within the hip-hop (HH) and electronic dance music (EDM) nightclub scenes in Philadelphia. Given extant theory and research showing gender is a situated performance,the social context of the nightclub setting offers an important opportunity to contribute to the ever-growing masculinities and crime literature because it is an understudied setting populated by atypical offenders. Direct observation of 33 club events and interviews with 24 male clubbers yielded three important patterns: (a) Men with consistently high masculinities (hypermasculine types) reported the most frequent involvement in nightclub crime, (b) men with consistently low masculinity scores reported the least involvement, and (c) men with variable masculinity scores put on a more hypermasculine identity while clubbing, leading them to engage in nightclub crime. Contextual factors, such as excessive alcohol use, heightened sexuality, competitiveness, and commercialism, explain this more nuanced relationship between masculinity and crime.
Criminological theories have often stressed the importance of impulsivity in the etiology of delinquency. Whether this construct is termed impulsivity, self-control, or low constraint/ negative emotionality, the theoretical importance of impulsivity is clear. What is also clear is that boys and girls differ significantly on impulsivity; however, research is ambiguous on why this occurs. Some researchers suggest that socialization and parenting create different levels of impulsivity, whereas others suggest that cognitive and/or motor deficits early in life may be the source. Using longitudinal National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79)–Child data and variables derived from past research on impulsivity, the authors investigate whether biological, structural, and familial predictors of impulsivity differ by gender. Through multiple group path analysis, the authors find that the relationships between discipline and impulsivity and attachment and impulsivity differ significantly by gender. The authors discuss the implications of this finding for the etiology of impulsivity.
The study of criminal careers is of increasing interest in criminology. It is now generally recognised that it is important to try to understand criminal behaviour across the life-course rather than focusing on fragmented incidents which provide only a partial picture. This is an accessible text which clarifies the crucial theoretical and methodological debates surrounding the study of criminal careers.
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The book opens with a comprehensive description of what a theory is, and explains how theories are created in the social sciences. Following on, each subsequent chapter is dedicated to describing an individual theory, broken down and illustrated within four distinct sections. Initially, each chapter tells the tale of a delinquent youth, and from this example a thorough review of the particular theory and related research can be undertaken to explain the youth’s delinquent behaviour. The third and fourth sections of each chapter critically analyze the theories, and provide a straightforward discussion of policy implications of each, thus encouraging readers to evaluate the usefulness of these theories and also to consider the relationship between theory and policy.
Previous research has documented connections between adults' working models of childhood attachment relationships and the quality of parent-child relationships, but less attention has been devoted to examining such links for intimate adult relationships. Twenty-seven married couples were given George, Kaplan, and Main's Adult Attachment Interview and each person was rated as either secure or insecure with respect to attachment. Self-report measures of satisfaction with couple communication and marital relations and laboratory observations of couple interactions were collected. Results showed that self-reported marital satisfaction was not related to adult attachment classifications for either husbands or wives. However, observational ratings of couple interaction yielded differences for husbands. As compared to husbands classified as insecure, secure husbands were likely to be in better-functioning couples who engaged in more positive and fewer conflictual behaviors. In addition, couples' joint attachment classifications were related to observed couple behavior. Insecure-secure and secure-secure dyads did not differ, but both groups showed less conflict and were rated as better functioning than were insecure-insecure dyads. These findings suggest that a secure partner may buffer the negative effects of insecure attachment on the marital relationship.
In this essay we sketch core elements of feminist thought and demonstrate their relevance for criminology. After reviewing the early feminist critiques of the discipline and the empirical emphases of the 1970s and early 1980s, we appraise current issues and debates in three areas: building theories of gender and crime, controlling men's violence toward women, and gender equality in the criminal justice system. We invite our colleagues to reflect on the androcentrism of the discipline and to appreciate the promise of feminist inquiry for rethinking problems of crime and justice.
In the past 15 years, a major advance in the study of early social development has been the conceptual distinction between attachment (the relationship between infant and caregiver) and dependency (the reliance of the child on adults for nurturance, attention, or assistance). Having made this distinction, it is possible to ask questions anew concerning the relationship between infant-caregiver relations and later overdependency of the child. In this study such a tie was examined by assessing children with varying attachment histories in a preschool setting. It was found that groups of children classified at 12 and 18 months as avoidant (Ainsworth Group A) and resistant (Ainsworth Group C) both were highly dependent in the preschool, based on teacher ratings, rankings and Q sorts, observed physical contact seeking, and observed guidance and discipline received from teachers. Children who had been securely attached (Group B) were significantly lower on all these measures and significantly higher on "seeking attention in positive ways." The high dependency of both anxiously attached groups, despite their differences in manifest behavior in the attachment assessments, suggests that the roots of overdependency lie in the quality of the early infant-caregiver relationship.
Criminologists agree that the gender gap in crime is universal: Women are always and everywhere less likely than men to commit criminal acts. The experts disagree, however, on a number of key issues: Is the gender gap stable or variant over time and across space? If there is variance, how may it best be explained? Are the causes of female crime distinct from or similar to those of male crime? Can traditional sociological theories of crime explain female crime and the gender gap in crime? Do gender-neutral or gender-specific theories hold the most explanatory promise? In this chapter we first examine patterns of female offending and the gender gap. Second, we review the “gender equality hypothesis” as well as several recent developments in theorizing about gender differences in crime. Third, we expand on a gendered paradigm for explaining female crime first sketched elsewhere. We conclude with recommendations for future work.
present an overview of the . . . debate about male gender role strain in the research and theoretical literatures of the last dozen years / distinguish the 3 major arguments inherent in the gender role strain model and describe how they have faired in recent research / develop the construct of masculinity ideology as a central "co-factor" in male gender role strain / analyze and respond to the criticisms on the gender role strain model made by a more recent theoretical perspective on masculinity, social constructionism / consider the recent revival of "male identityism" (the older dominant theory of masculinity) and reflect on the broader cultural contention between the strain and identity models of masculinity (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The relation of patterns of attachment and psychiatric status was studied in 82 nonpsychotic inpatients and 85 case-matched controls using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). AAI transcripts rated (masked to case vs. control status and treatment) were classified using M. Main and R. Goldwyn's (unpublished manuscript) system. Psychiatric patients, diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview for
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.) I and II structured interviews, were more likely to be classified as preoccupied and unresolved with respect to loss or abuse. On Axis 1, anxiety was associated with unresolved status, and AAI scales were able to discriminate depression and eating disorder. On Axis II, borderline personality disorder (BPD) was linked to experience of severe trauma and lack of resolution with respect to it. BPD patients were also rated significantly lower on a scale measuring awareness of mental states. Preliminary outcome results suggest that individuals rated as dismissing on the AAI are more likely to show improvements in psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
review what is known about the relations between attachment and externalizing problems in the preschool years and provide new findings from ongoing research / pose the following questions: what can attachment theory contribute to the understanding of externalizing problems in preschoolers; and how can attachment theory and research contribute to more effective models for diagnosis and treatment of these disorders (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
2 strategies were used to investigate the continued impact of early experience and adaptation given subsequent experience and/or developmental change in a poverty sample (N = 190). Groups were defined whose adaptation was similar during the preschool years but consistently different earlier; then these 2 groups were compared in elementary school. In addition, a series of regression analyses was performed in which variance accounted for by near-in or contemporary predictors of adaptation in middle childhood was removed before adding earlier adaptation in subsequent steps. Children showing positive adaptation in the infant/toddler period showed greater rebound in the elementary school years, despite poor functioning in the preschool period. Regression analyses revealed some incremental power of early predictors with intermediate predictors removed. The results were interpreted as supporting Bowlby's thesis that adaptation is always a product of both developmental history and current circumstances. While this research cannot resolve such a complicated issue, it does point to the need for complex formulations to guide research on individual development.
The present paper operationalizes and empirically tests the most recent theoretical speculations of Hirschi and Gottfredson regarding an individual level characteristic of self-control and its relation to earlier specifications of control theory as well as the literature on personality. Linkages are drawn between their broad delineation of self-control and personal disorders of hyperactivity, impulsivity, attention deficits, and minor conduct problems. Psychologists disagree about whether such disorders represent single or multiple traits and whether both behavioral and cognitive measures can appropriately depict personality characteristics. Employing structural equation techniques, support for several propositions derived from Gottfredson and Hirschi's thesis is found: Self-control subsumes several personality disorders and is significantly comprised by early behavioral indicators of aggression and fighting, is inversely related to other elements of the social bond, is moderately stable over a short period of time, and significantly predicts criminal convictions. However, questions remain regarding the ubiquity of self-control, the magnitude and meaning of stability, and the power of this perspective to explain all forms of self-reported delinquency.
We offer some thoughts about the roots of habitual violence in patients who are not part of the 'cycle of abuse'. We suggest that both self-harm and mindless assaults on others may reflect inadequate capacity to mentalise. Poor functioning of this capacity tend; to lead to mental states being experienced as physical, in both the self and others, and the violence is seen as an attempt to obliterate intolerable psychic experience. This experience is felt to belong to somebody else, originally to mother or father. The problem can be traced back to a crucial stage of the development of the self when the child searches the face of his primary object for a representation of his own states of mind. Failure to find this forces him into pathological solutions to achieve an containing organisation. We explore the meaning of the gender difference in the direction of aggression, and the way in which the child has a second chance to foster a secure psychological self through his relation to the father, even when the mother has been unable to support this and to separate successfully. These issues and others of technique are explored in the treatment of a violent young man.
Although much work has focused on the definition, course, and treatment of hyperactivity and related behavior disorders in children (see Campbell & Werry, 1986; Ross & Ross, 1982, for recent reviews), surprisingly little attention has been paid to the social development and socialization of hyperactive children (but see Whalen & Henker, 1985). This partly reflects the once-prevalent view that hyperactivity (or minimal brain dysfunction as it was called) resulted from cerebral injury and that socialization was not particularly relevant to an understanding of the problem (see Werry, 1986). A second reason for the relative neglect of this issue is the lack of a developmental focus in most research on childhood disorders.
A nursery school teacher brought a little girl to a psychologist’s attention when the girl was being made the focus of contemptuous looks by her peers and playmates. “Why do they look at her that way?” asked the teacher. “She’s attractive and bright and she wants to play with the other children.” The psychologist looked over at the child. “What little girl?” she asked. “That’s a boy.” The psychologist was wrong and that was the problem. This 4-year-old girl had the lower brow ridge of a boy, the smaller mouth and the gestures of a boy. She did not often smile; she stood obliquely and she gestured expansively. She engaged in rough-and-tumble play. She also nurtured dolls and was learning to read early. The children in playschool did not know what to make of her. The adults said, “There’s something strange about the nice child over there, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.” That last sentence sums up what our research in nonverbal behavior is all about. We are putting our fingers on the important things that people have few words for—the barely conscious gestures that separate and identify the sexes.
This article explores the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process--a biosocial process by which affectional bonds are formed between adult lovers, just as affectional bonds are formed earlier in life between human infants and their parents. Key components of attachment theory, developed by Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others to explain the development of affectional bonds in infancy, were translated into terms appropriate to adult romantic love. The translation centered on the three major styles of attachment in infancy--secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent--and on the notion that continuity of relationship style is due in part to mental models (Bowlby's "inner working models") of self and social life. These models, and hence a person's attachment style, are seen as determined in part by childhood relationships with parents. Two questionnaire studies indicated that relative prevalence of the three attachment styles is roughly the same in adulthood as in infancy, the three kinds of adults differ predictably in the way they experience romantic love, and attachment style is related in theoretically meaningful ways to mental models of self and social relationships and to relationship experiences with parents. Implications for theories of romantic love are discussed, as are measurement problems and other issues related to future tests of the attachment perspective.
In the rat, a new olfactory-based association emerges between mother and young at about 14 days postpartum. The mother begins to excrete a pheromone in her feces that strongly attracts the young. Both the pheromone and the young’s responsiveness to it remain in evidence only about two weeks—a relatively brief time even in the life span of the rat. But although obviously short-lived, this pheromonal bond, as it has been called, serves important developmental ends, some of which have come to light recently in our laboratory. What we want to deal with first, however, are not the adaptive advantages that accrue to the young in responding to the pheromone, but how the pheromonal relationship comes to be formed.
A New Psychology of Men. Ronald F. Levant & William S. Pollack (Eds.). New York: Basic Books. 1995. 402 pp. Hardcover ISBN 0-46508656-X. $40.00. There was a time when male psychology was seen as the model of health, and female psychology was seen as pathological. Assertive, active masculinity was contrasted with passive, dependent femininity. But those days are gone. As Pollack (1995) states, "The monuments built of men, by men, and for men are tumbling.... Even their virtues are suspected as vices." Although the pace of change is slow, men's roles at home and at work are being redefined, and the psychology of men-how they develop and how they function psychologically as adults-is also changing. Perhaps the rate of change in men's roles crossed a threshold in the 1990s, triggering a surge of new interest in men's needs, their responsibilities, and the roles they have entered in post-industrial, post-feminist, post-modern America. For example, the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, DC, brought attention to African American men, along with a public debate about their roles in families, the economy, and the community. Several national conferences have made fatherhood the central focus for the year. National debates have centered on the responsibilities of single and divorced fathers, as well as the rights of gay men. Robert Bly's Men's Movement continues to attract new warriors, despite the attacks by critics. On many fronts, men and women are actively redefining what it means to be male. To understand the changes in men and to become current with some of the most solid research programs aimed at both the old style masculinity and the emerging new psychology of men, Levant and Pollack's edited volume is essential reading. It is a readable collection of theoretical papers on male development and psychological functioning, reviews of research on men, clinical approaches to men's changing roles, as well as analyses of the diverse developmental experiences of minority males. The papers present a refreshing social-scientific approach to men's roles, without the ideological cliches of either radical feminists or neo-masculinists. The chapters document a 15-year program of theory development, research, and applications spawned by Joseph Pleck's (1981) gender rolestrain paradigm. Pleck's theory was one of the earliest attempts to integrate the emerging critical views of traditional male roles, and it laid the groundwork for the social constructionist perspectives on gender roles that emerged in the 1980s. He argued that the traditional ideals of masculinity-which include the demands for achievement, aggressiveness, toughness, sexual prowess, and psychological autonomy-were bad for men's health. First, the standards were inconsistent with human needs and were so unachievable that many men felt they never lived up to them. Second, in trying to live up to the self-destructive standards, many boys and young men went through traumatizing experiences that damaged them psychologically. …
In this cross-cultural study of manhood as an achieved status, the author finds that a culturally sanctioned stress on manliness - on toughness and aggressiveness, stoicism and sexuality - is almost universal, and deeply ingrained in the consciousness of men who otherwise have little in common.
This article examines the theoretical links between socioeconomic status and violent delinquency. The arguments draw on work
on social structure and personality and learning theories of crime and delinquency. Hypotheses derived from the resulting
explanation are tested using covariance structure models and panel data from a national sample of males. Consistent with these
arguments, the results show that violent delinquency is a product of learning definitions favorable to violence, which itself
is determined directly and indirectly by association with aggressive peers, socioeconomic status, parenting practices, and
prior violent delinquency. The article concludes that explanations of violent adolescent behavior must take into account the
joint contributions of social stratification and culture.
A meta-analysis was performed of concurrent and longitudinal studies on the relation of family factors to juvenile conduct problems and delinquency. Analyses of longitudinal data show that socialization variables, such as lack of parental supervision, parental rejection, and parent-child involvement, are among the most powerful predictors of juvenile conduct problems and delinquency. Medium-strength predictors include background variables such as parents' marital relations and parental criminality. Weaker predictors are lack of parental discipline, parental health, and parental absence. The effect of these factors seems to be about the same for boys and for girls. Analyses of concurrent studies comparing delinquents with nondelinquents, and aggressive children with nonaggressive children, largely parallel these findings. Data from concurrent normal samples, however, show less importance for parental child socialization practices and relatively more importance for the child's rejection of the parent and the parent's rejection of the child. A small proportion of families produces a disproportionate number of delinquents. The presence of one child with delinquency, aggression, or covert conduct problems increases the probability that other children in the family will exhibit those behaviors. Deficiencies in parenting skills are associated with the seriousness of the child's delinquency. Treatment studies demonstrate that systematic changes in parenting behaviors can lessen the frequency of a child's conduct problems and that of siblings and, to a lesser extent, reduce involvement in delinquent activities.
Though seldom considered together, class and gender are among the most frequently analyzed correlates of delinquency today. This paper formulates and test a neo-Marxian, class-based, power control theory of gender and delinquency. Using this theory and a prediction made by Bonger more than a half-century ago, the article demonstrates that the relationship between gender and common forms of delinquency declines with each step down the class structure. Furthermore, where this relationship is strongest, it can be statistically removed by taking theoretically predicted variables into account. A power-control theory does much to specify and explain the class structure of gender and delinquency, and in doing so it demonstrates the social bases of this relationship.
Social control theory has been one of the most influential explanations of crime and delinquency for many years. Gottfredson and Hirschi propose a new general theory of crime that includes individual restraints on behavior, or “self‐control,” as distinguished from social restraints. The elements of self‐control include an ability to defer gratification, the tendency to be cautious and diligent, cognitive ability, and sensitivity toward others. In this paper we analyze the construct of self‐control and its relationship to official and self‐reported measures of juvenile delinquency.
The influence of infant-mother attachment pattern on the development of peer interaction from 2 to 3 years of age was examined longitudinally. Attachment was assessed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation at 18 months. 8 avoidant, 8 secure, and 8 ambivalent focal children were each paired with a same-sex, securely attached unfamiliar playmate. Although frequency of positive initiations did not change with age, the children were more responsive to their peers at age 3, engaged in longer interactive episodes, initiated fewer agonistic encounters, and exhibited less resistance to peer agonism. While attachment pattern did not predict developmental changes in sociability or responsiveness to peers, it did predict changes in the responses directed to the focal child by the playmate. By age 3, secure focal children were receiving the greatest number of positive responses. Among the anxiously attached children, avoidant children were eliciting fewer positive responses, whereas ambivalent children were receiving more disruptive responses, agonistic initiations, and resistance from the peer. Thus, in an initial encounter with an unfamiliar peer, attachment pattern appears to be related more to the child's attractiveness as an interactive partner than to the child's own active interest in engaging in peer interaction.
In an attempt to assess the effects of labeling on socially mediated sex differences in infancy, 204 male and female subjects rated the same infant's emotional responses to 4 different arousing stimuli: half of the subjects were told they were observing a "boy" and the other half, a "girl." The same infant in a particular situation was seen as displaying different emotions and significantly different levels of emotional arousal depending on the sex attributed to the infant, the sex of the rater, and the rater's experience with young children. The results suggest a healthy caution be exercised in interpreting studies of sex differences obtained by observers who know the sex of the child being rated.
This article argues that existing delinquency theories are fundamentally inadequate to the task of explaining female delinquency and official reactions to girls' deviance. To establish this, the article first reviews the degree of the androcentric bias in the major theories of delinquent behavior. Then the need for a feminist model of female delinquency is explored by reviewing the available evidence on girls' offending. This review shows that the extensive focus on disadvantaged males in public settings has meant that girls' victimization and the relationship between that experience and girls' crime has been systematically ignored. Also missed has been the central role played by the juvenile justice system in the sexualization of female delinquency and the criminalization of girls' survival strategies. Finally, it will be suggested that the official actions of the juvenile justice system should be understood as major forces in women's oppression as they have historically served to reinforce the obedience of all young women to the demands of patriarchal authority no matter how abusive and arbitrary.
This article builds upon a symbolic interactionist model of delinquency (Matsueda 1992) by assessing whether an interactionist
model can account for the gender gap in delinquent behavior. We argue that delinquency is determined in part by the self as
conceived by symbolic interactionists, which in turn is determined by a process of labeling by significant others. We estimate
a cross-gender model of delinquency using data from the National Youth Survey and find that, for both males and females, parental
appraisals significantly affect youths' reflected appraisals, which in turn predict delinquency. Nevertheless, we find some
gender interactions: for males, parental labeling and reflected appraisals have a larger effect on delinquency, and males
are more likely to be falsely accused by parents. When we take into account gender differences in both levels of independent
variables and the magnitude of effects of those variables, our model explains a substantial portion of the gender gap in delinquency.
This paper develops an interactionist explanation of gender differences in the processes leading to juvenile delinquency. Drawing on principles of symbolic interactionism and on research on gender differences in interactions, the paper specifies a theoretical model that generates predictions about similarities and differences across gender in the relationships between commitment to reference groups, role-taking, and delinquency. It then tests hypotheses using data from a national sample of youths, and finds that an interactionist theory of delinquency is supported for both females and males. The findings also show gender differences in the role-taking process leading to delinquency; indeed, these findings suggest an important difference in the process by which group social controls are transformed into self-control in delinquent situations among girls as compared with boys.
The study of criminality will benefit from a developmental perspective that employs analyses of within-subject changes. A review of the evidence shows continuity in offending between adolescence and adulthood and continuity between prepubertal conduct problems and later offending. Three developmental processes of offending include activation, aggravation, and desistance. A variety of documentation indicates that developmental sequences can be identified for conduct problems, substance use, and delinquency. Quantitative and qualitative changes occur in the course of offending. Understanding developmental processes provides valuable insights into formulating strategies for longitudinal studies that can help to discriminate better between correlates and causes of crime. Examining developmental processes as youngsters grow older, such as increases in physical strength and motor skills, the emergence of personality traits, sexual maturation, and greater opportunities for crime commission, provides important co...
Although “social support” is present as a theme in many criminological writings, it has not been identified explicitly as a concept capable of organizing theory and research in criminology. Drawing on existing criminological and related writings, this address derives a series of propositions that form the foundation, in a preliminary way, for the “social support paradigm” of the study of crime and control. The overriding contention is that whether social support is delivered through government social programs, communities, social networks, families, interpersonal relations, or agents of the criminal justice system, it reduces criminal involvement. Further, I contend that insofar as the social support paradigm proves to be “Good Criminology”—establishing that nonsupportive policies and conditions are criminogenic—it can provide grounds for creating a more supportive, “Good Society.”
This study examined perceived parental neglect and overprotection as correlates of self-reported delinquency in 405 male and 387 female Australian secondary school students under the age of 18. Consistent with the research hypotheses, correlations obtained show that perceptions of low care and high protection, from either fathers or mothers, were associated with higher levels of both male and female delinquency. Results from analyses of variance confirm that adolescents reporting the parental style of affectionless control (neglect plus overprotection) were more delinquent than those with optimal parental bonding (care plus permission of independence). A regression analysis including various parental bonding interactions further shows that maternal care was the most important predictor of delinquency, that paternal care was another significant correlate, and that an interaction effect of paternal neglect and overprotection was found among male adolescents.
1 of the crucial components of the acquisition of morality, the understanding of the other's point of view, crucially depends on a background of secure attachment / illustrate the complex relationship between early disruptive behavior and attachment on the 1 hand and its longitudinal sequelae, delinquent behavior, on the other / suggest that the developmental challenge of creating a coherent internal working model of relationships may be compromised by suboptimal parenting and the difficulty thus created for the child may result in disruptive behavior
marshall evidence suggestive of an attachment disorder in delinquent groups / the transition of attachment in adolescence highlights its abnormalities and causes a developmental surge in criminality / draws on work from a related psychiatric group, borderline personality disorder, which manifests a combination of disordered attachments, sexual or physical maltreatment, and a reduced capacity to envision the mental states of others / draw the threads together and propose an attachment model of delinquent behavior which assumes that adverse psychosocial environments can undermine the creation of coherent working models of attachment relations and the development of the capacity to understand others psychological states (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Do parents have any important long-term effects on the development of their child's personality? This article examines the evidence and concludes that the answer is no. A new theory of development is proposed: that socialization is context-specific and that outside-the-home socialization takes place in the peer groups of childhood and adolescence. Intra- and intergroup processes, not dyadic relationships, are responsible for the transmission of culture and for environmental modification of children's personality characteristics. The universality of children's groups explains why development is not derailed by the wide variations in parental behavior found within and between societies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Research is presented that supports the thesis of the special significance of bonding for females. Although investigators of neonatal behavior have written of the importance of bonding for both male and female infants, there are data suggesting that its salience is more compelling for female infants. Neonatal bonding is more immediate and sustaining and allows for interactive experiences earlier and more frequently in females than males. The research findings cited are considered in relation to Freud's developmental views of women and his psychoanalytic writings on penis envy, the Oedipus complex, and object relations. The concept of autonomy in psychoanalysis is also considered from the vantage point of female development. It is argued, in this context, that the powerful bonding proclivities of females often have been viewed as a developmental failure that serves as a constraint on psychoanalytic theorizing about females and that can handicap women in psychoanalytic treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined the impact of secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment styles on romantic relationships in a longitudinal study involving 144 dating couples. For both men and women, the secure attachment style was associated with greater relationship interdependence, commitment, trust, and satisfaction than were the anxious or avoidant attachment styles. The anxious and avoidant styles were associated with less frequent positive emotions and more frequent negative emotions in the relationship, whereas the reverse was true of the secure style. 6-mo follow-up interviews revealed that, among those individuals who disbanded, avoidant men experienced significantly less post-dissolution emotional distress than did other people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
To examine antecedents of infant–father attachment security, 126 fathers and their sons were seen in the Strange Situation. Questionnaire measurements obtained 3 mo earlier of constructs implicated by J. Belsky's (1984) model of the determinants of parenting were examined as correlates of attachment classifications (i.e., father personality, infant temperament, marital quality, social support, work–family relations). Fathers of secure infants were more extroverted and agreeable than fathers of insecure infants, tended to have more positive marriages, and experienced more positive emotional spillover between work and family. Infants classified as insecure–avoidant received more positive temperament ratings than insecure–resistant sons. Overall, the more infant, parent, and social-contextual assets the family had, the greater the probability of a secure attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Three studies were conducted to examine the correlates of adult attachment. In Study 1, an 18-item scale to measure adult attachment style dimensions was developed based on Hazan and Shaver's (1987) categorical measure. Factor analyses revealed three dimensions underlying this measure: the extent to which an individual is comfortable with closeness, feels he or she can depend on others, and is anxious or fearful about such things as being abandoned or unloved. Study 2 explored the relation between these attachment dimensions and working models of self and others. Attachment dimensions were found to be related to self-esteem, expressiveness, instrumentality, trust in others, beliefs about human nature, and styles of loving. Study 3 explored the role of attachment style dimensions in three aspects of ongoing dating relationships: partner matching on attachment dimensions; similarity between the attachment of one's partner and caregiving style of one's parents; and relationship quality, including communication, trust, and satisfaction. Evidence was obtained for partner matching and for similarity between one's partner and one's parents, particularly for one's opposite-sex parent. Dimensions of attachment style were strongly related to how each partner perceived the relationship, although the dimension of attachment that best predicted quality differed for men and women. For women, the extent to which their partner was comfortable with closeness was the best predictor of relationship quality, whereas the best predictor for men was the extent to which their partner was anxious about being abandoned or unloved.
Thirty pairs of primiparous parents, fifteen with sons and fifteen with daughters, were interviewed within the first 24 hours postpartum. Although male and female infants did not differ in birth length, weight, or Apgar scores, daughters were significantly more likely than sons to be described as little, beautiful, pretty, and cute, and as resembling their mothers. Fathers made more extreme and stereotyped rating judgments of their newborns than did mothers. Findings suggest that sex-typing and sex-role socialization have already begun at birth.
Attempts to understand women's participation in violence have been plagued by a tendency either to overemphasize gender differences or to downplay the significance of gender. The goal of this research is to reconcile these approaches through an examination of the experiences of female and male street robbers in an urban setting. Based on in-depth interviews with active offenders, the study compares women's and men's accounts of why they commit robbery, as well as how gender organizes the commission of the crime. The research suggests that while women and men articulate similar motives for robbery, their enactment of the crime is strikingly different—a reflection, in part, of practical choices women make in the context of a gender-stratified street setting.
Low self-control theory will have an impact on criminological theory. G&H's arguments are too forcefully and intelligently made to be ignored. I anticipate that the theory will inspire a great deal of attention and research (and much of it may be in an attempt to prove them wrong). The value of self-control theory would be advanced even more, however, if G&H would grapple with the tautology problem, attend to theoretical linkages with prior control theory, and ease off a bit from the oppositional strategy in comparing their theory with other theories.
Shaw and McKay's influential theory of community social disorganization has never been directly tested. To address this, a community-level theory that builds on Shaw and McKay's original model is formulated and tested. The general hypothesis is that low economic status, ethnic heterogeneity, residential mobility, and family disruption lead to community social disorganization, which, in turn, increases crime and delinquency rates. A community's level of social organization is measure in terms of local friendship networks, control of street-corner teenage peer groups, and prevalence of organizational participation. The model is first tested by analyzing data for 238 localities in Great Britain constructed from a 1982 national survey of 10,905 residents. The model is then replicated on an independent national sample of 11,030 residents of 300 British localities in 1984. Results from both surveys support the theory and show that between-community variations in social disorganization transmit much of the effect of community structural characteristics on rates of both criminal victimization and criminal offending. Sociology
By articulating a general theory of crime and related behavior, the authors present a new and comprehensive statement of what the criminological enterprise should be about. They argue that prevalent academic criminologyâwhether sociological, psychological, biological, or economicâhas been unable to provide believable explanations of criminal behavior. The long-discarded classical tradition in criminology was based on choice and free will, and saw crime as the natural consequence of unrestrained human tendencies to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. It concerned itself with the nature of crime and paid little attention to the criminal. The scientific, or disciplinary, tradition is based on causation and determinism, and has dominated twentieth-century criminology. It concerns itself with the nature of the criminal and pays little attention to the crime itself. Though the two traditions are considered incompatible, this book brings classical and modern criminology together by requiring that their conceptions be consistent with each other and with the results of research. The authors explore the essential nature of crime, finding that scientific and popular conceptions of crime are misleading, and they assess the truth of disciplinary claims about crime, concluding that such claims are contrary to the nature of crime and, interestingly enough, to the data produced by the disciplines themselves. They then put forward their own theory of crime, which asserts that the essential element of criminality is the absence of self-control. Persons with high self-control consider the long-term consequences of their behavior; those with low self-control do not. Such control is learned, usually early in life, and once learned, is highly resistant to change. In the remainder of the book, the authors apply their theory to the persistent problems of criminology. Why are men, adolescents, and minorities more likely than their counterparts to commit criminal acts? What is the role of the school in the causation of delinquincy? To what extent could crime be reduced by providing meaningful work? Why do some societies have much lower crime rates than others? Does white-collar crime require its own theory? Is there such a thing as organized crime? In all cases, the theory forces fundamental reconsideration of the conventional wisdom of academians and crimina justic practitioners. The authors conclude by exploring the implications of the theory for the future study and control of crime.
We investigated the constructs of attachment and anxiety in inpatient conduct-disordered and dysthymic adolescents. Texture, diffuse shading, and pure human content (Exner, 1986) Rorschach indices were compared between 48 subjects who met the criteria for conduct disorder and 30 subjects who met the criteria for dysthymia, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R]; American Psychiatric Association, 1987). We also compared mild, moderate, and severe conduct-disorder groups on the three selected Rorschach variables and investigated certain family characteristics for the two groups. We found a lower frequency of texture and pure human content responses in conduct-disordered subjects and a greater frequency of diffuse shading responses in the dysthymic subjects. The conduct-disordered subjects also came from homes in which the mother figure was significantly less present. Our psychometric findings of lessened attachment and diminished anxiety in the conduct-disordered adolescents are similar to adult psychopaths. We urge that an attachment or socialization disturbance criterion be reintroduced into the forthcoming DSM-IV conduct-disorder diagnosis.
A new 4-group model of attachment styles in adulthood is proposed. Four prototypic attachment patterns are defined using combinations of a person's self-image (positive or negative) and image of others (positive or negative). In Study 1, an interview was developed to yield continuous and categorical ratings of the 4 attachment styles. Intercorrelations of the attachment ratings were consistent with the proposed model. Attachment ratings were validated by self-report measures of self-concept and interpersonal functioning. Each style was associated with a distinct profile of interpersonal problems, according to both self- and friend-reports. In Study 2, attachment styles within the family of origin and with peers were assessed independently. Results of Study 1 were replicated. The proposed model was shown to be applicable to representations of family relations; Ss' attachment styles with peers were correlated with family attachment ratings.
From a sample of high risk children, groups of acting out, withdrawn, and normal preschool children were identified and followed through first, second, and third grade. A high degree of stability of developmental adaptation was found for each group. Examination of the exceptions to predicted outcomes indicated that discontinuity of development was accounted for by level and change in maternal depressive symptomatology, life circumstances, stressful life events experienced by the family, and quality of the home environment. Level of maternal depression appeared to directly affect the quality of care she provided her child, and indirectly affected the quality and organization of the home environment.
2 strategies were used to investigate the continued impact of early experience and adaptation given subsequent experience and/or developmental change in a poverty sample (N = 190). Groups were defined whose adaptation was similar during the preschool years but consistently different earlier; then these 2 groups were compared in elementary school. In addition, a series of regression analyses was performed in which variance accounted for by near-in or contemporary predictors of adaptation in middle childhood was removed before adding earlier adaptation in subsequent steps. Children showing positive adaptation in the infant/toddler period showed greater rebound in the elementary school years, despite poor functioning in the preschool period. Regression analyses revealed some incremental power of early predictors with intermediate predictors removed. The results were interpreted as supporting Bowlby's thesis that adaptation is always a product of both developmental history and current circumstances. While this research cannot resolve such a complicated issue, it does point to the need for complex formulations to guide research on individual development.