Self-control in Global Perspective: an Empirical Assessment of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory within and across 32 National Settings*
نویسندگان
چکیده
Research concerning Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) General Theory of Crime has paid inadequate attention to the reliability and validity of self-control measures in non-Western settings, to the relationship between parenting and self-control in non-Western settings, and to Gottfredson and Hirschi’s assertion that macro-level cultural forces have little or no influence on criminal behavior. The present study addresses each of these issues using a six-item self-control scale and two separate crime measures among young adult respondents from 32 Western and non-Western settings on all six humanly habitable continents. Across Western and non-Western settings, results suggest that (1) the six-item self-control scale demonstrates reliability comparable to that of prior self-control scales in the existing criminological literature; (2) the scale is associated significantly with both violence and property crime, and (3) an eight-item parental neglect scale is associated with self-control in both Western and nonWestern settings. At the same time, HLM (Hierarchical Linear and Nonlinear Modeling) analysis suggests that there exists a macro-level contextual effect, unanticipated by Gottfredson and Hirschi, of aggregate parental neglect on individual-level self-control. Results further suggest a robust individual-level association, also unanticipated by Gottfredson and Hirschi, between personal and peer crime that tends to remain independent of adjustments for self-control.
منابع مشابه
Self-control in Cross-national Perspective: an Empirical Assessment of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory within and across 25 National Settings*
While Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime has generated extensive research over the past decade, three issues concerning its cross-national applicability remain underresearched. First, research has paid inadequate attention to the reliability and validity of selfcontrol measures in non-Western cultures. Second, research has yet to examine the relationship between parenting ...
متن کاملABSTRACT Title of Thesis: CAN THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME ACCOUNT FOR COMPUTER OFFENDERS: TESTING LOW SELF-CONTROL AS A PREDICTOR OF COMPUTER CRIME OFFENDING
Title of Thesis: CAN THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME ACCOUNT FOR COMPUTER OFFENDERS: TESTING LOW SELF-CONTROL AS A PREDICTOR OF COMPUTER CRIME OFFENDING David Robert Foster Master of Arts, 2004 Thesis directed by: Professor Sally Simpson Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice Using self-report measures of attitudinal and behavioral self-control, this study tests the applicability of Gottfre...
متن کاملThe General Theory of Crime and Computer Hacking : Low Self - Control Hackers ?
Though in recent years, a number of studies have been completed on hackers’ personality and communication traits by experts in the fields of psychology and criminology, a number of questions regarding this population remain. Does Gottfredson and Hirschi’s concept of low self-control predict the unauthorized access of computer systems? Do computer hackers have low levels of self-control, as has ...
متن کاملFractal Population Ecology Theory
Abstract Purpose - The aim of this paper is to describe the population ecology theory through fractal thinking, an emergent human operating system that is creative, adaptive, healthy, and evolutionary; furthermore, a parallel is drawn between the population ecology model and the fractal structure. Top-down hierarchies are typically characterized by command and control systems of the authority t...
متن کاملTitle : PARENTING AND STABILITY OF SELF - CONTROL
Title: PARENTING AND STABILITY OF SELFCONTROL Ying Tian, M.A., 2006 Directed By: Professor Denise Gottfredson, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice The present study examined the stability of self-control and the relationship of parenting and self-control based on Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. By using a four-wave longitudinal data coming from the D.C Family Stren...
متن کامل