Parenting, Self-control, and Neighborhood Context as Explanations of Delinquency: A Case of Moderated Mediation?

• In Event: Explaining Delinquency and Drug Use in the Context of Neighborhood

Abstract

Theorists and empirical researchers have long argued that effective parenting leads to higher levels of self-control among juveniles, and that self-control at least partly explains the effect of parenting on juvenile delinquency. More recently, research has shown that the importance of effective parenting to the development of self-control is greater for children living in adverse neighborhood conditions, and a separate body of work has found that the influence of self-control on delinquency is, itself, conditioned by neighborhood context. The first process is one of mediation, while the second two processes represent moderation. Together, these three processes, supported by three separate bodies of work, suggest that the influence of parental effectiveness on juvenile delinquency may operate through a process of moderated mediation, whereby the mediating influence of self-control is moderated by neighborhood context. We test this proposition using individual- and community-level data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. We examine the conditioning effects of several neighborhood characteristics, including collective efficacy, neighborhood delinquency, and moral cynicism. The results expand our understanding of individual-level and community-level influences on self-control and delinquent behavior.

Authors

• Brian Stults, Florida State University

• Nic Swagar, Florida State University

• Gyeongseok Oh, Florida State University