Self-Control Capacity, the Desire to Control “Low Self-Control”, and Crime/Deviance

• In Event: New Directions in Research on Self-Control Theory

Abstract

Previous research suggests that the desire to control low-self-control should be considered an independent predictor of criminal and analogous behavior beyond the effect of self-control capacity (e.g. Tittle, Ward & Grasmick, 2004). This argument challenges Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990, p. 232) general theory of crime, which states that self-control capacity is “the” individual cause of crime/deviance. A weakness of earlier studies is that they use indirect indicators to measure the desire to control low self-control. In this research, a direct indicator for such “desire” is operationalized. Unlike previous research, it is hypothesized that the direct measure will not significantly predict a crime/deviance index beyond the effect of self-control capacity. This hypothesis is supported. Respondents’ desire to control low self-control measured at present does not significantly predict the crime/deviance index (which includes questions about involvement in crime/deviance at earlier time points). Also, as expected (and unlike earlier research), the direct indicator is found to be insignificantly associated with self-control capacity, which supports that the desire to control low self-control may be a separate independent causal agent. Both the theoretical causal model used in previous research and the potential importance of the desire to control low self-control for criminological theory are discussed.

Author

• Bruce J. Arneklev, Florida Atlantic University