The posited important role of the family in the genesis of self-control is consistent with substantial bodies of research, although some researchers argue in favor of important genetic components for self-control. These relationships appear to be strong throughout life, among most groups of people, types of crime, in the United States and other countries, and over time.
Most reviews find substantial empirical support for the principal positions of the theory, including the relationship between levels of self-control and delinquency, crime, and other problem behaviors. As a result, self-control theory is likely the most heavily researched perspective in criminology during the past 30 years. Self-control theory applies to a wide variety of illegal behaviors (most crimes) and to many noncrime problem behaviors, including school problems, accidents, and substance abuse.Ī considerable amount of research has been undertaken on self-control theory and on Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. As such, it acknowledges the general decline in crime with age, versatility in types of problem behaviors engaged in by delinquents and offenders, and the generally stable individual differences in the tendency to engage in delinquency and crime over one’s life-course. Self-control theory was initially constructed to reconcile the age, generality, and stability findings of criminological research with the standard assumptions of control theory. Persons with relatively high levels of self-control do better in school, have stronger job prospects, establish more stable interpersonal relationships, and attain higher income and better health outcomes. Once established, differences in self-control affect the likelihood of delinquency in childhood and adolescence and crime in later life. An individual’s level of self-control is influenced by family or other caregiver behavior early in life. Self-control is defined as the ability to forego acts that provide immediate or near-term pleasures, but that also have negative consequences for the actor, and as the ability to act in favor of longer-term interests. Gottfredson and Hirschi advanced self-control theory in 1990 as part of their general theory of crime.
0 kommentar(er)
