Modern Control Theory and the Limits of Criminal Justice
Abstract
Modern Control Theory and the Limits of Criminal Justice updates and extends the authors’ classic general theory of crime (sometimes referred to as “self-control theory”). In Part I, contemporary evidence about the theory is summarized. Research from criminology, psychology, economics, education, and public health substantially supports the lifelong influence of self control as a significant cause of problem behaviors, including delinquency and crime, substance abuse, school problems, many forms of accidents, employment instability, and many poor health outcomes. Contemporary evidence is supportive of the theory’s focus on early socialization for creation of higher levels of self control and other dimensions of the theory, including the roles of self control, age and the generality or versatility of problem behaviors, as well as the connections between self control and later teen and adult problem behaviors. The book provides methodological assessments of research on the theory, contrasting the control theory perspective with other developmental perspectives in criminology. The role of opportunity, the relationship between self and social control theory, and the role of motivation are addressed. In Part II, control theory is taken to be a valid theory and is used to explore the role of criminal sanctions, especially policing and prisons, and policies about immigration, as methods to impact crime. Modern control theory provides an explanation for the general lack of effectiveness of formal, state sanctions on crime and instead provides substantial justification for prevention of delinquency and crime by a focus on childhood. The theory effectively demonstrates the limits of criminal sanctions and the connection between higher levels of self control and positive life-course outcomes.
... Young people have various capacities to avoid the temptations offered by such situations (Wikström, 2019). One capacity involves their level of self-control: those with low self-control are less likely than others to eschew these temptations and are thus more prone to illicit behaviors (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019). In general, then, the social amplification model proposes that misbehavior is most likely to occur among youth with low self-control who associate with deviant peers (Hirtenlehner et al., 2022). ...
... The second model, dual systems framework, argues that peers have little influence among those with low self-control. As noted by Gottfredson and Hirschi (2019), these youth do not need a social "push" from friends to misbehave. Rather, since they are disposed toward acting on impulse with little regard for consequences, they are more likely than those with high self-control to misbehave in most situations (Thomas & McGloin, 2013;Yim, 2021). ...
... It might also provide a promising avenue for reducing the risk of illicit substance use among youth. Contrary to the claims of some scholars (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019), selfcontrol is malleable during adolescence and several programs have shown promise in helping youth develop stronger self-control and manage related traits such as impulsiveness, self-regulation, and sensation seeking (Koning et al., 2011;Tang et al., 2015). If better self-control can also attenuate peer influences that encourage substance use, then these programs might also be beneficial in minimizing the risks of use. ...
Background
Adolescent substance use continues to be a global concern. Research has shown that two consistent predictors of this behavior are self-control and peer substance use. The objective of this study was to determine if these two variables interact to affect the frequency of substance use among young people.
Methods
The analysis utilized three years of data from the Second International Self-Report Delinquency study (2005-2007) (ISRD-2), which gathered information from youth, ages 12-17, residing in 30 nations (n = 72,206). Illicit substance use included cannabis, ecstasy, stimulants, and other substances. A zero-inflated negative binomial model that adjusts for selection effects was estimated to predict the frequency of substance use.
Results
The results showed that adolescents with low self-control who associated with substance using peers tended to be the most frequent substance users. Yet, youth with higher levels of selfcontrol were likely to report no or low frequency use regardless of the number of their friends who used illicit substances.
Conclusions
Self-control affects substance use among adolescents and can attenuate the influence of peer substance use. Research using longitudinal data is needed to disentangle changes in self-control, peer substance use, and one’s own substance use.
... In other words, there appears to be a higher likelihood that victims of violence have relatively low levels of self-control themselves, as do perpetrators, as well as low levels of social control in the sense of social barriers surrounding them to prevent victimization. They further note that "MCT argues that aspects of situations or settings have direct effects in causing crime and violence (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2020;Gottfredson, 2021aGottfredson, , 2021b. The presence of "capable guardians" (monitors, parents or teachers, others in the household, security personnel, etc.) in some settings (schools, homes, playgrounds, etc.) can affect the likelihood that individuals with very low self-control will act on their immediate self-interest with force or fraud and the presence of drugs or alcohol and of weapons can greatly alter the situational determinants" (p. ...
... As recently summarized by Gottfredson and Nielsen, this would include providing support to at risk youth for violence prevention and the ability to disrupt trajectories of deviance (targeting the perpetrator), thus reducing the risk for victimization in victims. They also highlight the importance of providing significant resources to at risk families in the form of early education programs which have shown to be both effective and cost effective (see Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2020). ...
Informed by self-control theory and victimization theory, as well as evidence supporting lifelong consequences of childhood neglect, the present study sought to test the direct and indirect effects of childhood emotional and physical neglect on violence victimization, as mediated by low self-control (total score, impulsivity, simple tasks, risk seeking, physical act, self-centered, and temper). Data were collected from two national samples of late adolescent, college-age women, one from the Czech Republic (N = 1,002) and one from the United States (N = 1,143). The main research questions investigated whether there was an association between (1) emotional and physical childhood neglect and violence victimization; (2) emotional and physical childhood neglect and low self-control; (3) low self-control and violence victimization; and whether low self-control mediated these associations. The study also tested whether culture moderated these latter links. Results provided evidence of positive associations among childhood neglect, low self-control, and violence victimization. They also indicated that some low self-control subscales (impulsivity, risk seeking, temper, and physical activity [emotional neglect only]), but not the total score, meditated the links between childhood emotional and physical neglect and violence victimization. Finally, culture did not moderate these mediated links. The present findings have important implications for theory as well as for prevention and intervention work.
... Of course, some criminological theories acknowledge the contingency of criminal behavior (Felson, 1998(Felson, , 2006Wikström, 2014;Gottfredson and Hirschi, 2020). Gottfredson and Hirschi (2020) argue that "most criminal behaviors are highly opportunistic, momentary, or adventitious (p. ...
... Of course, some criminological theories acknowledge the contingency of criminal behavior (Felson, 1998(Felson, , 2006Wikström, 2014;Gottfredson and Hirschi, 2020). Gottfredson and Hirschi (2020) argue that "most criminal behaviors are highly opportunistic, momentary, or adventitious (p. 12). ...
Although their perspectives and approaches vary, existing criminological theories are all based on the deterministic optimism that the crucial causes of criminal behavior must exist and can be uncovered. However, no key factor can fully explain the causes of criminal behavior. All factors that directly affect the occurrence of criminal behavior are important, and contingency is always at work. More feasible crime prevention and control measures can be proposed only considering the contingency factor. The aim of this study is to point out the limitations of the deterministic view of existing criminological theories that explain the causes of crime after knowing the results, and simultaneously to propose the contingency model with viable alternative solutions.
... Theoretically, religiosity is expected to inhibit deviance via the imposition of moral constraints that strengthen individuals' commitment to conventionality and inform situational decision-making (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2020;Hirschi, 1969;Stark & Bainbridge, 1996;Wikström et al., 2012). In light of these expectations, some scholars have noted the importance of distinguishing the various dimensions of religiosity, as the importance of religion in one's life, attendance at religious services, religious affiliation, and other facets of spirituality may exert heterogeneous effects on delinquent behavior (Johnson et al., 2000;Salas-Wright et al., 2012;Sumter et al., 2018). ...
... Closely mirroring much of the work conducted in the decades following the publication of Hirschi and Stark's (1969) influential study, the first key finding from these analyses is that religious salience exerts an inhibiting influence on all four of the substance use outcomes examined. As might be expected by social bond theory, situational action theory, and some relevant extensions to these perspectives, this pattern suggests that religious commitment is important for strengthening adolescents' bond to the conventional social world (Hirschi, 1969;Stark & Bainbridge, 1996) and for constituting the "moral filter" that can inform situational decision-making (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2020;Wikström & Treiber, 2009;Wikström et al., 2012). Further, the present findings provide additional empirical support for the anti-ascetic hypothesis, which suggests that, unlike moral norms concerning acts that cause clear social harm, "ascetic standards have less persuasiveness to the secularly oriented individual" (Middleton & Putney, 1962, p. 143). ...
An abundance of research has revealed that religious salience is negatively associated with delinquent behavior, including illicit substance use. However, absent from prior work is a consideration of whether youths’ participation in personal religious rituals and acts of devotion might amplify the protective effects of religiosity. Theoretically, it may be expected that these private expressions of belief and identity can strengthen religious commitments and reaffirm membership within specific moral communities. Using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion on a nationally representative sample of adolescents ages 13-17 (N = 3,170), these findings reveal that religious salience inhibits cigarette use, alcohol use, drunkenness, and marijuana use, but only among youth who engage in at least some pious practices.
... One potential trait with a long criminological history is self-control: youth reporting low self-control or higher impulsivity are at heightened risk of delinquent behaviors. The origins of self-control are found in early childhood experiences (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2020), so it is not surprising that research on ACEs has shown that facing more adverse events tends to effectuate lower self-control Meldrum et al., 2020). Yet studies that explicitly linked ACEs, low self-control, and delinquency to determine if they are jointly associated are rare. ...
... Once self-control is established, variations in its levels during late childhood influence risk-taking and delinquent behavior during adolescence (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2020). Youth with high self-control tend to consider the full consequences of their acts, recognize that misbehaviors risk more pain than gain, and are thus deterred by the delayed formal and informal consequences of delinquent behaviors. ...
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.
... These measures have been criticized for being tautological, since assessing a characteristic supposedly correlated with crime and victimization through deviant behaviors reduces the theory to the assertion: "those predisposed to deviance commit more deviant acts" (Akers, 1991). To counter this problem, behaviors indicative of low self-control have traditionally been assessed through self-reported scales (Burt, 2020) or psychometric tests focused on the impulsivity trait (e.g., J. L. White et al., 1994) which is only part of the construct of selfcontrol as developed through the years by Gottfredson and Hirschi (2019;Hirschi, & Gottfredson, 1993). The most used measure of the concept of self-control is the scale developed by Grasmick et al. (1993) which Gottfredson and Hirschi never completely accepted (2019;Hirschi, & Gottfredson, 1993). ...
... Information about threat comes from all manner of sources, like other people, cues in the environment, and from experience (Hale, 1996). But people also have attributes that lead them to notice what they want to notice in the external environment (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019), and to reject information that imposes costly restrictions on other valued interests, as they define these interests. They also exercise choice, which sometimes leads them toward or away from information that might provoke a threat reaction of some kind. ...
Victimization threat appraisals contain both cognitive and emotive components. Ideally for precautionary choices, both components support one another; however, an imbalance has been a persistent concern in the fear of victimization literature, but there is little theory to account for why. We explore a theory that might account for (1) the sources of variation in the extent of threat reactions, and (2) imbalances between cognitive perceptions of risk and emotional worry. Our method employs an item response theory (IRT) approach to measurement in a multilevel regression framework (Osgood & Schreck, 2007) using a national sample of 1,500 adults from the United States. Results show significant evidence of variation in the balance of cognition and emotion in threat reactions, and these imbalances are predictable.
... The main criticisms of the tough-on-crime approach are that it ignores the root causes of criminality, overlooks the socioeconomic and cultural contexts of the gang and organized crime phenomenon, and relies solely on repression, which cannot solve the problem ( Van der Borgh & Savenije, 2015). Criminologists have long argued that achieving a genuine reduction in criminal behavior depends on managing the antecedents thereof; education, employment, trauma, and addiction are often cited as factors that lead to or exacerbate delinquent behavior (Glaser & Rice, 1959;Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019;Tannenbaum, 1938;Thrasher, 1933). A multisystemic prevention plan that focuses on rehabilitation, at least in part, is more likely to result in crime reduction than a strict repression-only model (MacKenzie & Farrington, 2015). ...
... This field focuses on examining the characteristics of individuals who are TaTyana P. Budyakova, EkaTErina v. MikhEEva vicTiM PErsonaliTy TyPEs in EldErly PEoPlE russian Psychological Journal, 21(3),2024 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY, PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY more likely to become victims of crime (victim profile). Researchers have identified several characteristics of victim proneness, including low self-esteem, lack of self-control and self-regulation, and a tendency toward engaging in high-risk behaviors and making impulsive decisions (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019;Nakagawa, 2019). Other characteristics include dominance of negative emotions, such as angry rumination, which reduce selfcontrol (Denson et al., 2011), and a short-term mindset -"an orientation toward the hereand-now at the expense of considering the future" (Kübel, Deitzer, Frankenhuis, & Ribeaud, 2023, p. 1). ...
Introduction. Legal psychology rarely examines elderly crime victims, which limits the effectiveness of psychological crime prevention strategies for elderly people. Methods. The study included 50 participants aged 55 to 74. Biographical interviews, court case materials, and judicial and investigative practice documents were used for data collection. We analyzed instances of victim and anti-victim behavior among elderly participants, including behaviors not typically disclosed in autobiographical accounts. The data were processed using content analysis, descriptive statistics, and Student’s t-test. Results. The hypothesis that victimization is not directly caused by the personality type of older individuals was partially supported. Depending on the circumstances, the same personality type can both contribute to victimization and prevent it. Victimization is not solely determined by personality traits, as characteristics such as aggressiveness, passivity, activity, initiative, and neutrality can contribute both to victim and anti-victim behavior. However, the hypothesis was not supported for one personality type in D.V. Rivman’s victim typology: the non-critical type. Discussion. In our view, an anti-victim personality is one that exhibits specific behavioral responses and is able to choose an appropriate reaction to a pre-crime situation, one that aligns with the criteria for victimization, regardless of how they typically respond in other social contexts.
... In addition to Social Learning, Bandura's Theory of Modeling, or "Observational Learning," states that humans can control their behaviors through self-observation, self-judgment, and self-response (Bandura, 1991). Various authors (Astray et al., 2011;Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019;Becker, 2021) use the concept of Social Learning Theory in criminological research, specifically in criminal engagement and prisoner rehabilitation. Relatively, the police officers and religious leaders act as models and are observed by the offenders. ...
This research disclosed the narrative of a police evangelist facilitating the moral recovery among offenders. Researchers utilized a qualitative single-case study design, employing one police officer who conducts spiritual services inside jail facilities chosen through a purposive sampling technique. This study aimed to motivational factors, experiences, and insights of the police-evangelist in journeying towards moral recovery among offenders. Researchers gathered the data through an in-depth interview and analyzed the data using thematic analysis to create themes and core ideas. Three emerging themes were created on the motivational factors of the police evangelist: driven by faith and compassion, responding to the call, and PDL's eagerness to be taught. Four themes emerged from the experiences of the police evangelist: conduct of spiritual services, getting support, joy in changing one's life, happiness and fulfillment, and dealing with PDL's different emotions. Three emerging themes were found in the insights of the police evangelist: volunteerism in sharing God's words, God's words change lives, and doing what you learned. This study substantiates the Social Learning Theory. Practical implications for the police officers, police stations, jail facilities, religious groups, and local government units were presented.
... Self-Control Theory developed by Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) has been widely tested in the study of crime and deviance over the past three decades. It is regarded as one of the most important and influential theories in criminology (Piquero et al., 2010) and has also generated a substantial body of research in related social and behavioral science disciplines, including psychology, sociology, education, and public health (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2020;Moffitt et al., 2013;Vazsonyi et al., 2017). The main tenet of the theory centers on the importance of low self-control in predicting norm and law violating behaviors (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). ...
Purpose: The present study tested the pattern of developmental changes in self-control during early adolescence, and whether maternal and paternal closeness, support, monitoring, and disciplinary inconsistency were associated with developmental changes in deviance, indirectly through developmental changes in self-control. Methods: Five assessments part of the Brno Longitudinal Study of Youth on 582 early adolescents (58.4% female; Mage=12.34 years, SD=0.89 at baseline) were used for the study. A latent growth model tested the growth of self-control over two years in early adolescence. Associations between parenting and developmental changes in self-control as well as deviance were tested using structural equation modeling with latent constructs. Results: Self-control declined over time; individuals varied both in initial levels and rates of change. Full mediation through developmental changes in self-control were found; more specifically, more maternal monitoring was associated with increases in self-control, which, in turn, was associated with less deviance. Results also provided evidence of direct effects, where more maternal closeness at age 12 was associated with less deviance at age 14. Conclusions: Self-control decreased during early adolescence, thus supporting continued malleability. Both maternal closeness and monitoring were associated with less deviance, where the effect of monitoring was mediated through self-control.
... The issue begins with an article by Michael R. Gottfredson and Mikaela S. Nielsen that provides a strong theoretical foundation and raises relevant issues for research and policy on the topic under study. The authors make a case for the relevance of Gottfredson and Hirschi's MCT (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019) in understanding and preventing IPV and femicide through and analysis of empirical patterns and theoretical assumptions. They argue that general theories like MCT provide valuable explanations that are more comprehensive than those proposed by crime-specific theories focused solely on these offenses. ...
... Self-control theory proposes that variability in various problem behaviors can be partially explained by differences in self-control. Because individuals with low self-control cannot resist gratification, that is, they cannot postpone it, which causes them to follow short-term goals without considering long-term outcomes (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019). Individuals with low self-control and high sensation-seeking are prone to internet addiction (Slater, 2003). ...
Main Points • The present study examines the relationships among resilience, self-control, and internet addiction. • Females have higher resilience and self-control levels, while males are more prone to internet addiction. • Young adults' internet addiction levels increase as age decreases. • Self-control has a mediating effect on the association between resilience and internet addiction. • The current study shows that the improvement of self-control through psychological resilience might be a reliable and practical way to address internet addiction problems effectively among young adults. Abstract Examining the protective factors that may reduce the possibility of individuals' internet addiction is important in almost every aspect of an individual's life. The present study aimed to explore the association between psychological resilience and internet addiction through self-control. Data were collected from 422 young adults with a mean age of 21.26 years (SD = 2.28) in Türkiye. Our analyses shed light on the gender and age differences in the variables of the study. The current paper also revealed that psychological resilience was negatively associated with internet addiction, and self-control mediated the decrease of internet addiction by psychological resilience among young adults. This suggests that the improvement of self-control through psychological resilience may be a highly reliable and practical way to address internet addiction problems effectively among young adults or other youth around the world. The findings of this study are of great importance in terms of preventing and intervening in internet addiction in young adults.
... The self-control construct consists of six elements: (1) impulsive, in a way that they pursue immediate gratification; (2) desire simple and easy tasks (3) involved in risky, exciting, and physical behaviors; (4) are easily angered; (5) are drawn to actions and seeking out sensations; and (6) are self-centered and insensitive towards other people. Referring to Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990), individuals having poor self-control favor behaviors that give them immediate gratification and are less worried about the possible long-term effects of their choices (see also Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019). Other than that, Gottfredson & Hirschi (1990) later highlight that these characteristics possess a strong inclination to co-occur in the same individuals. ...
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 The increasing incidence of criminal and delinquent behaviour has received a lot of attention. The Low Self-Control Scale (LSCS) developed by Grasmick et al. (1993) has been significant in our understanding of the role of self-control in that behaviour. The purpose of this study is to look into the psychometric properties of the Malay language modified multidimensional LSCS among 181 property crime convicts in Malaysia prisoner. The validity and reliability of the LSCS second-order reflection measurement model were investigated using the partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method. The findings demonstrate that the six LSCS constructs (temper, easy tasks, self-centered, risk seeking, physicality, and impulsivity), as well as the 23 indicators, can explain the concept of low self-control. This research proved the construct reliability, discriminant validity, and convergent validity of the LSCS's Malay version. In addition, this research also demonstrated that prisoners disclosed themselves high on each LSCS's constructs, having the highest ratings on impulsivity and the lowest on temper. In conclusion, the psychometric evidence of LSCS in this study will be catalyzed for future studies of individual self-control in delinquent or criminal behavior.
... The result is also in agreement with Gottfredson and Hirschi (2019) [54] . They asserted that youth who fail to develop self-control are more likely to commit crimes and criminally equivalent non-criminal acts, such as smoking, skipping school, suffering accidents, and early death. ...
... First, immigrants are a self-selected group rather than a random cross-section of a sending country's population. They uproot their lives and relocate to the U.S. with strong motivations to improve their life chances and make good on opportunities the U.S. presents to them Van Hook and Bean 2009;Gottfredson and Hirschi 2020). Immigrants are unlikely to put those opportunities at risk by engaging in crime. ...
This chapter reviews theories on the immigration–crime link, some macro-level, some micro-level, including those that pose a positive relationship between immigration and crime as well as those that pose a negative relationship between immigration and crime.
... There are different theoretical perspectives on the nature of the relationship between morality and self-control. One line of theorizing sees self-control as a moral dimension in itself (Hofmann et al., 2018), another conceptualizes morality as a component of self-control (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2020), and still another line of theorizing conceptually distinguishes between morality and self-control with the former a relevant factor in the process of perceiving crime as a behavioral option and the latter a relevant factor in the process of decision-making . The relationship between morality, operationalized as individualizing and binding moral motives, and self-control, operationalized as an individual-level trait, was explored by Silver and Silver (2020). ...
... Hence, those first bonds within the household nucleus, as well as the quality of such bonds, are a crucial determinant of the trajectories of individuals and can have consequences across the life course. It is no accident that control theories, life course included, place such a strong emphasis on the earliest stages of life, when individuals are most amenable to change, are most susceptible to the influence of their families, and when each experience can be highly consequential (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019). As importantly, individuals who accumulate disadvantages across their life course will tend to transmit those disadvantages to subsequent generations, fueling an intergenerational continuation of risk (Thornberry, Knight, & Lovegrove, 2012). ...
Background
Brazil is one of the world’s most violent countries, and much of that violence is perpetrated by juveniles. A common judicial sanction for the riskiest delinquents is commitment to facilities which perform the dual role of caring for and incapacitating these youth.
Objective
Our study describes the disadvantages to which detained youths are exposed and investigates the association between these youth’s household configuration and their prior delinquency history.
Participants and Setting
We analyze novel survey data of 281 juveniles who are detained in facilities throughout São Paulo—the most populous state of Brazil.
Methods
We use negative binomial regression models to estimate the association between youth’s household configuration and the (1) frequency, (2) severity, and (3) duration of their delinquency history.
Results
The presence of any caretaker is a key protective factor against delinquency. Fathers are a rare element in delinquents’ households, but their presence has a strong negative effect on delinquency. We also found similar effects for the presence of extended family and of configurations that do not involve a family member. However, single mothers and stepparents are less protective for reasons described in the literature.
Conclusions
Findings highlight the importance of the presence of a caretaker, but show that the specific configuration through which this guardianship operates (whether by a parent, grandparent, or other) carries less importance. Implications are discussed.
... For situational crime prevention, it could be argued that people are driven by either calculation and/or hedonism (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019) and are hence motivated to commit crime given the immediate choices and decisions offered by the physical environment (Wortley & Townsley, 2016). This way of reasoning could even be applied to the macro level explaining the enormous increase of crime in most Western societies starting right after World War II (Cohen & Felson, 1979). ...
In order to address crime, it is popular to use situational crime prevention with its focus on immediate opportunities for offending. If targets become less suitable and if capable guardians are present, then crime is less likely to take place in the here and the now. This logic often translates into placing greater distance between targets and motivated offenders. For industrial security, this comes down to deterring, denying, detecting and delaying (“the four D’s”) any type of intrusion in order to protect assets. For public security, this comes down to surveillance, access control, territoriality, maintenance and activity support in order to prevent crime. While considering public security, this article will reflect on the possibilities of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).
... These individual characteristics have repeatedly been found to be associated with a great variety of norm violating and deviant behaviors, including sexual aggression (Winfree et al., 2007). Gottfredson and Hirschi (2020) also poignantly note: "A theory of crime is a theory about the social order because unfettered self-interest places the interests of others at risk. Social bonds, as described in control theory (Hirschi 1969), serve the interests of collectivities (expressed initially in life as the interests of 5 caregivers) in preserving the rights and welfare of everyone against usurpation by the selfish, the strong, the more powerful" (p. ...
This study tested the direct and indirect effects of low self-control on sexual aggression and violence, mediated through rape myth acceptance, date rape attitudes, and promiscuous sexual norms among college-aged men. Self-report data were collected from 369 male college students attending a large university in the southeastern United States. The final model with all three mediators indicated significant mediated effects through date rape attitudes as well as promiscuous sexual norms on sexual aggression; it explained 16% (Cox & Snell) and 23% (Nagelkerke) of the variance. Study findings support the importance of low self-control on sexual aggression among male college students.
According to the Risk-Need-Responsivity model, criminogenic needs are important in predicting violent behavior. Eight criminogenic needs are considered strong predictors: history of antisocial behavior, antisocial personality traits, criminal attitudes, criminal associates, substance abuse, family problems, poor work performance, and lack of involvement in prosocial leisure/recreation activities. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether seven criminogenic needs predict institutional misconduct in the first year of admission of Dutch patients who were admitted to a forensic hospital. Hospital records of 234 male patients were used to retrieve criminogenic needs assessed with the HCR-20 V3 , with exception of criminal associates which was coded based on file review. The frequency of institutional misconduct was rated for verbal aggression, physical aggression, and sexual aggression. Exploratory analyses examined whether there was a (predictive) relation between psychopathy facets (PCL-R factors) and HCR-20 V3 clinical and risk management scales, and institutional misconduct. This study finds that criminogenic needs did not predict physical and sexual institutional misconduct, but a history of antisocial behavior and criminal attitudes were negative predictors for verbal aggression. Psychopathy facets and HCR-20 V3 scales did not predict institutional misconduct.
A growing body of research suggests that the development of preschoolers’ self-control in intergenerational coparenting families is related to the parent-grandparent coparenting relationship. However, little is known about their bidirectional association and the mechanism. This study aimed at investigating the longitudinal interrelationship between mother-grandmother coparenting relationship and preschoolers’ self-control, and exploring the role of mother-child attachment. A total of 280 Chinese intergenerational coparenting families involved in this study with a one-year cross-lagged design. Mother-grandmother coparenting relationship, preschoolers’ self-control, and mother-child attachment were measured at each stage of the year (T1, T2, and T3). Results indicated that mother-grandmother coparenting relationship positively predicted mother-child attachment, and mother-child attachment positively predicted preschoolers’ self-control. Although we did not find the direct association between mother-grandmother coparenting relationship and preschoolers’ self-control, our findings indicated that mother-grandmother coparenting relationship was indirectly related to preschoolers’ self-control through mother-child attachment. Additionally, we found a longitudinally bidirectional relationship between mother-child attachment and preschoolers’ self-control. This study extends our understanding of the relationship between intergenerational coparenting relationship and child development and provides implications for improving the parenting quality in intergenerational coparenting families.
We extend scarce research on the age-crime relationship involving Global South countries by investigating age-arrest patterns in the African countries of Botswana and Namibia. Our analysis included comparisons of Botswana age-crime distributions with (a) the reverse J-shaped invariance curve proposed by Hirschi and Gottfredson; (b) US age-arrest curves; and (c) Taiwan and South Korea age-arrest curves. On the one hand, the findings revealed considerable divergence in Botswana age-crime patterns compared with the HG invariance projection. On the other hand, there was considerable similarity of Botswana age-arrest distributions with those observed in Taiwan and South Korea (i.e., collectivist countries) as reported recently by Steffensmeier and colleagues. Within all these nations, we find “older” age-crime curves yielded by low prevalence of adolescent and young-adult crime combined with higher midlife rates (30–49), as opposed to US age patterns and the HG invariance premise that display high adolescent rates in combination with smaller young-adult rates and shrinking midlife rates. Future directions for studying “why” societies differ in age-crime patterns entail going beyond the study of adolescence (only) to also address what happens in peoples’ lives past adolescence—i.e., what pressures, strains, temptations, circumstances, and crime opportunities are faced by peoples during the 30 s and 40 s, the midlife stage.
Social changes in industrialized societies have prolonged adolescence, postponing entry into adult roles. We use U.S. age-arrest data to investigate whether this delay has contributed to higher crime rates among emerging adults, altering population age-arrest curves. We compare parameters for multiple offenses from 1980 to 2019 to answer: (1) Have there been recent shifts toward older, less adolescent-spiked curves; (2) If so, do emerging adults today exhibit higher offending levels than historical counterparts; or (3) Do proximate age-groups drive these distributional alterations? We find peak age remains in the late teens, but today’s age-curves for minor offenses are more symmetrical compared to preceding adolescent-spiked iterations. Given contemporary emerging adults’ relatively low offending levels, more symmetrical age curves are the product of precipitous declines in teen arrest rates coupled with higher mid-life adult rates. Tracking future age-arrest trends is important, but data collection challenges related to the UCR-NIBRS transition may hinder those efforts.
Self-control, perceived procedural justice, and moral foundations are prominent theoretical constructs in the criminological literature. However, existing measures of each are long. Long scales crowd questionnaires, increase cognitive burden, and lengthen completion times. Using a set of heuristic guidelines for scale construction , we develop short measures of self-control, procedural justice, and moral foundations and then test experimentally whether they can replace the existing longer versions. We conducted a series of split-ballot experiments with a national sample of American adults (N = 1191). Respondents were randomly assigned to receive the existing long scale or our shorter version. We then compared the scales on factor structure, reliability, and validity. The short scales performed as well, and sometimes better than, the longer versions. Our results suggest that researchers can use our short scales of self-control, procedural justice, and moral foundations in lieu of the existing long scales while maintaining data quality.
Youth aggression is an international public health problem that has major consequences for victims and perpetrators. Given the social nature of aggression, understanding the situational role of peers is critical for informing effective prevention strategies. However, traditional research on situational peer influence has been limited by the neglect of the person–environment interaction and the failure to theorise the action decision making process. This article responds to these challenges by applying and developing situational action theory (SAT) to theorise the situational mechanisms and conditions of peer influence. The situational model of peer influence presented in this article moves beyond traditional rational choice approaches by integrating interdisciplinary research on situational peer effects with SAT's dual-process model. This model specifies how and why the presence of aggressive peers influences the action decision making process that leads to aggressive behaviour. This article also describes the Peer Relations and Social Behaviour (PEERS) space-time budget method which is a recent methodological innovation that can be used to test this theoretical model. It concludes by outlining the main practical implications for the prevention of youth aggression.
Criminological macro-theories offer valuable insights into terrorism (Lafree, Freilich (eds), The handbook of the criminology of terrorism. Wiley-Blackwell, 2017). Particularly noteworthy, given their robust empirical support in elucidating general criminal behaviour and violence, are social control theory, self-control theory, and social learning theory (Akers, 1985; Akers, Social learning and social structure: a general theory of crime and deviance. Northeastern University Press, 1998). Specialised literature on terrorism also underscores the significance of grievances (Saucier et al, Perspect Psychol Sci 4(3):256–271, 2009), aligning with General Strain Theory (Agnew, 2010).
In this chapter four macro-theories are tested: social bond; self-control; general strain and social learning on three French soil terrorism cases perpetrated in recent years. Several factors drawn from the most robust specialist theoretical models such as ideology, identity and the need for closure are also added. We find that combining the four theories holds considerable explanatory power. However, depending on the case, some seem to hold better explanatory power than others. Indeed, some individuals are driven essentially by a lack of self-control, others by emotions, whilst others still are clearly influenced by circumstances and their environment. However, perhaps because it is broader, social bond theory sheds light on all the cases.
Compliance has become key to our contemporary markets, societies, and modes of governance across a variety of public and private domains. While this has stimulated a rich body of empirical and practical expertise on compliance, thus far, there has been no comprehensive understanding of what compliance is or how it influences various fields and sectors. The academic knowledge of compliance has remained siloed along different disciplinary domains, regulatory and legal spheres, and mechanisms and interventions. This handbook bridges these divides to provide the first one-stop overview of what compliance is, how we can best study it, and the core mechanisms that shape it. Written by leading experts, chapters offer perspectives from across law, regulatory studies, management science, criminology, economics, sociology, and psychology. This volume is the definitive and comprehensive account of compliance.
Devastating incidents in which children have accessed their parents’ unsecured guns and used them to kill themselves or others have occurred with alarming frequency across the United States. Although strong evidence exists that safe-storage laws decrease firearm-related child deaths and suicides, the United States does not regulate gun storage at the federal level, and few states have gun storage laws. In this context, the current study examines public support for safe-storage laws, and the association of such support with racial and political attitudes. Using survey-experimental data from a population-matched national sample recruited by YouGov (n=1,018), we find widespread support among the American public for safe-storage legislation, both globally and in the specific case of criminalizing parents’ unsafe gun storage. Public support for holding parents accountable is highest when young children obtain especially deadly guns (AR-15) and shoot others. Our findings further reveal that public attitudes toward safe-storage laws are racialized and politicized. White nationalists report lower support for safe-storage laws, and this association is mediated by right-wing political views.
Intimate partner violence (IPV), including intimate partner homicide (IPH) and femicide, raises issues for general theories of crime, such as control and opportunity theories, that see close relationships among friends and family as barriers to interpersonal crimes. Crime-specific studies of both correlates and trends in IPV, including recent interrupted trend studies that examine the effects of COVID restrictions, often test opportunity theories absent considerations of theoretically driven images of actors. Review of empirical research on IPV and IPH reveals strong compatibility between the predictions of modern control theory and consistent findings from trend data. Barriers to understanding of the explanatory power of general theories of crime (including, for example, control theories and feminist perspectives) in contemporary research include use of poor definitions of intimacy, misspecification of age effects, failure to consider the versatility of offending behavior, neglecting the importance of trends in analogous behaviors, neglecting the role of situational factors in violence, and the limitations in the measurement of repetitive victimization. Theories such as routine activity and situational crime prevention that fail to explicitly include characteristics of actors can go only a limited way in providing meaningful policy. Research supports the potential policy effects of investments in early childhood and attention to situational barriers (including limitations on alcohol use and firearm availability) to reduce IPV. Although modern control theory is used to illustrate these issues, other general theories, like feminist theories, can make similar arguments.
Gun violence significantly threatens tens of thousands of people annually in the United States. This paper proposes a multidisciplinary approach to address this issue. Specifically, we bridge the gap between criminology and computer vision by exploring the applicability of firearm object detection algorithms to the criminal justice system. By situating firearm object detection algorithms in situational crime prevention, we outline how they could enhance the current use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems to mitigate gun violence. We elucidate our approach to training a firearm object detection algorithm and describe why its results are meaningful to scholars beyond the realm of computer vision. Lastly, we discuss limitations associated with object detection algorithms and why they are valuable to criminal justice practices.
Much prior research has established an inverse relationship between religiosity and delinquency among adolescents, with particularly noteworthy effects observed for illicit substance use. These patterns correspond with the expectations of social bond theory and situational action theory, which posit that commitment to conventional religious norms can reduce youths' exposure to, and inform their experiences with, delinquent opportunities. However, little empirical attention has been given to youths' beliefs surrounding the nature of morality itself, which are theoretically expected to moderate the protective effects of religious salience. Specifically, while religious salience might have a general controlling influence on adolescents' use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana, holding beliefs in moral relativism (i.e., the absence of definitive rights and wrongs) or moral contextualism (i.e., that rights and wrongs are fluid and dynamic) might weaken these inhibiting effects. Using data on a nationally representative sample of adolescents from the National Study of Youth and Religion (N = 3,170), this study's analyses reveal that the association between religious salience and substance use is conditioned by moral contextualism but not moral relativism, though this interactive relationship is found only for alcohol use and drunkenness.
It is well-established that unstructured unsupervised socializing with peers (UUS) motivates deviance while in that specific context. In this article, we extend this situational view by arguing that repeated UUS may also gradually shape adolescents’ norms and decision making beyond the situation. Specifically, we argue that UUS promotes short-term mindsets, i.e., an increased focus on present rewards at the expense of considering future consequences. We test this hypothesis with fixed-effects models, using longitudinal data from a representative sample of 1,675 adolescents from Zurich, Switzerland. Consistent with our preregistered predictions, more frequent UUS is associated with increased short-term mindsets. Thus, our finding suggests that the effects of UUS on later deviance might be driven by becoming more present-oriented. This link offers new insights into the developmental pathways toward adolescent delinquency and offers a potential target for intervention.
The idea of differential deterrence suggests that deterrent effects vary across individuals and settings. However, the pertinent research is poorly integrated and lacks a coherent theoretical conceptualization. This is why the present article seeks to (a) reconcile the empirical findings obtained for the most frequently investigated moderators of the magnitude of the deterrent effect, (b) introduce a novel model of a subsidiary relevance of deterrence, and (c) provide a first test of the new model. A narrative review of the previous research on differential deterrence forms the basis of theoretical efforts to build a model of subsidiary deterrent effects that is consistent with the available evidence. The proposed model synthesizes the conditioning roles of the strength of the moral filter and the level of trait self-control. In detail, it is assumed that the total strength of the moral filter governs whether controls affect behavior (because it determines whether crime is actually being pondered) and that, given a permeable moral filter, deterrence matters particularly for individuals with lower self-control ability. Following the presentation of the new model, we report the results of its first empirical examination. Analyzing a self-report survey on adolescent shoplifting activity yields supportive findings. There is evidence of a moderated moderation relationship according to which a poor capacity for self-control increases the association between the perceived risk of getting caught and the level of shoplifting delinquency mainly under conditions of a weak moral filter.
Research attempting to uncover sources of nonshared environmental influences on behavioral development has highlighted the importance of differential parenting. One way in which parenting may be conceived of as a nonshared environment but has yet to be fully examined in the literature, is through sibling social comparisons. The current study addresses this gap by conducting a series of sibling barricade models examining whether adolescents are affected by their parents’ behaviors toward their siblings. Analyses of the Add Health data supported findings of prior research indicating that parenting is not consistent across siblings, but rather is individualized. Results of the sibling barricade models revealed that differences in parenting toward one child did not, however, explain differences in antisocial behavior between siblings.
Victim data reveals that persons in romantic relationships experience fewer violent victimizations at the hands of non-intimates. In this study, we investigate the effect of relationship quality and structure on victimization risk in combination with mechanisms a social control perspective would suggest as theoretically possible. We also consider the independent contributions of both romantic partners toward this apparent protective effect. We use two waves of adult data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which include data from both respondent and their partner and adjust for treatment selection a series of models. The protective benefits of relationship quality for the individual respondent appeared to have: (1) functioned irrespective of their partner’s perception of relationship quality, (2) were negated or related to even greater victimization risk if the relationship quality was poor, and (3) were explained by reductions in lifestyle choices associated with risk of victimization.
This study examined predictors of individual general deviance (i.e., substance use, risk-taking, property crime, and interpersonal conflict/violence) within the context of COVID-19, focusing on the role of prior deviance, opportunities for crime, and levels of COVID-19- related stress. Our study showed that while some predictors relating to opportunity and strain were predictive of general deviance during the pandemic, few maintained statistical significance once controls for deviant behavior before the pandemic were included in the analyses, indicating the importance of within-individual behavioral stability over time. Further, respondents who participated in deviance prior to the pandemic were more likely to engage in other forms of criminal and high-risk activities during the pandemic. The close connections between criminal and high-risk behavior may imply that even if overall crime rates decreased during the pandemic, within-person behavioral patterns remained stable.
Objectives
The present study tested the efficacy of parenting program components in reducing disruptive or delinquent child behaviors at first post-treatment for families with children in early versus middle childhood.
Methods
Eighty-five studies were identified, containing five parenting components (Psychoeducation [PE], Behavior management [BM], Relationship enhancement [RE], Parental self-management [SM], and Parent as a coach [PC]).
Results
For both early and middle childhood, four parenting program components were effective, namely (1) BM, (2) BM with RE, (3) BM with SM, and (4) BM with PE and RE and SM and PC. However, BM with RE and SM, as well as BM with PE and RE and SM, were effective during early childhood. BM with RE appeared to be the most beneficial intervention during early childhood, while BM was most effective during middle childhood.
Conclusion
The evidence highlights the need to implement different programmatic components developmentally, during early versus middle childhood.
Background: Predominant explanations of the victim-offender overlap tend to focus on shared causes, such as (low) self-control or risky lifestyles. Such explanations bypass the possibility of a causal link between victimization and offending. We draw on evolutionary developmental psychology and criminological research to propose and test the hypothesis that victimization induces what we refer to as a short-term mindset, i.e., an orientation towards the here-and-now at the expense of considering the future, which in turn increases offending.
Methods: We test this mediation hypothesis using structural equation modeling of longitudinal data from a representative sample of urban youth from the city of Zurich, Switzerland (N = 1675).
Results: In line with our preregistered predictions, we find that short-term mindsets mediate the effect of victimization on offending, net of prior levels of offending and short-term mindsets, and other controls.
Conclusions: We discuss implications for criminological theory and interventions.
This chapter considers the role of immigration policies and practices, particularly those that reflect what scholars refer to as “crimmigration,” or the broader integration of civil immigration enforcement and the criminal justice system (Stumpf 2006). We pay special attention to recent policies and practices related to the devolution of immigration enforcement, and describe the implications for the immigration–crime association across places. We conclude that recent policies have largely been ineffective in enhancing community public safety and may create more costs than benefits in the long run.
Callous-unemotional traits have been consistently tied to non-violent and violent criminal involvement among adolescents and adults. However, research has yet to fully explore potential underlying mechanisms that explain how and why these associations exist. The current study addresses this gap by analyzing data drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being I (NSCAW I) to examine violence exposure as a potential moderator to the association between callous-unemotional traits and delinquent and aggressive behaviors. Our analyses revealed that callous-unemotional traits were significantly associated with both delinquent and aggressive behaviors. However, we found no evidence to suggest that violence exposure moderates this association. We conclude by discussing the implications of our study for future research.
We conducted an empirical test of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s, 1990 A General Theory of Crime in this exploratory study to introduce the concept of curiosity to criminological theory. Specifically, we tested whether self-control was significantly associated with curiosity and whether curiosity significantly predicted a crime/deviance index beyond the effects of self-control. An original eight item curiosity scale was created that measured both an attitudinal curiosity dimension and a behavioral curiosity component and compared the ability of this new measure with the capability of the most commonly used self-control scale in predicting a crime/deviance index. Data was derived from a convenience sample of college students. As theoretically predicted, self-control was significantly correlated with curiosity, and the curiosity scale significantly predicted the crime/deviance index, beyond the effects of the self-control scale. More conservative tests demonstrated that curiosity also significantly predicted involvement in more specific illegal/deviance measures, including those involving somewhat serious delinquent/criminal conduct. The findings led us to conclude that curiosity may be another additional cause of crime/deviance beyond the effects of self-control, curiosity explains more than just involvement in exploratory types of illegal/deviant behavior, and that curiosity has been an overlooked concept in the crime/deviance decision-making process.
Für Jugendliche stellen Kontakte mit der Polizei im Rahmen von Kontrollen oft deren ersten unmittelbaren persönlichen Kontakt mit dem System des Strafrechts dar. Die Theorie der prozeduralen Gerechtigkeit nach Tyler postuliert, dass das Verhalten der Polizei bei solchen Kontrollen, die dabei praktizierte Fairness und der den Jugendlichen gegenüber erkennbar gezeigte Respekt im sozialen Umgang, wichtige prozedurale Qualitätsmerkmale sind, welche die Bereitschaft junger Menschen zur Normkonformität ebenso wie zu normabweichendem Verhalten in hohem Maße beeinflussen. Auf Basis von Daten aus zwei regional repräsentativen schulbasierten Befragungen Jugendlicher in Großbritannien und Frankreich (n=2 508), die im Rahmen der dritten Welle der Internationalen Studie zu selbstberichteter Delinquenz junger Menschen (ISRD-3) erhoben wurden, werden diese zentralen Annahmen der Theorie der prozeduralen Gerechtigkeit empirisch überprüft. Die vorliegende Studie geht über bisherige Analy-sen insoweit hinaus, als dass erstmals alle Elemente der Theorie simultan erfasst und in einem gemein-samen Mediatormodell getestet werden. Zentrale Kritikpunkte an der Methodik der bisherigen Forschung werden dabei gezielt aufgegriffen. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass die prozedurale Qualität des Verhaltens von Polizeibeamten bei Kontrollen, wie von der Theorie postuliert, die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Bereitschaft junger Menschen zur Normabweichung signifikant beeinflusst: Geringe Fairness und geringer Respekt bei polizeilichen Kontrollen gehen mit deutlich erhöhter Delinquenzbereitschaft der Jugendlichen einher. Ein positiver, die Delinquenzbereitschaft reduzierender Effekt hoher prozeduraler Qualität polizeilichen Handelns lässt sich jedoch nicht zeigen. Polizeikontrollen haben vielmehr einen in ihrem Ausmaß zwar nach dem Grad der prozeduralen Fairness abgestuften aber generell die Delinquenzbereitschaft polizeilich kontrollierter Jugendlicher erhöhenden Effekt.
The first encounters that young people have with the criminal justice system are usually police contacts. According to Tyler's procedural justice theory, the quality of such contacts, especially in terms of fairness and respect practised by police officers, significantly affects young people's willingness to comply with the law. Based on data from two regionally representative school surveys in the United Kingdom and France (n=2,508), which were collected as part of the third wave of the International Self-Reported Delinquency (ISRD-3) Study, central assumptions of the theory of procedural justice are empirically tested. This study extends previous analyses by including all the main elements of procedural justice theory simultaneously in a single model. The results of multivariate analyses support the mediator model derived from procedural justice theory. Furthermore, the analyses show that young people's contacts with the police in the context of 'stop and search' generally increase intentions to offend. However, the higher the level of fairness and respectfulness shown by police officers, the lower the deviance increasing effect of police controls.
This chapter discusses the limitations of the current study and potentially fruitful avenues for future research. Attention is placed on both theoretical and methodological challenges.KeywordsStrengthsLimitationsTheoretical challengesMethodological challenges
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