An Empirical Test of a General Theory of Crime: A Four-Nation Comparative Study of Self-Control and the Prediction of Deviance

Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Lloyd E. Pickering, Marianne Junger, Dick Hessing

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic

278 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The current investigation examined the psychometric properties of Grasmick et al.'s self-control measure and its relationship with deviance on large, representative adolescent samples ( N = 8,417) from Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Important findings indicate that (1) the self-control measure is multidimensional; (2) the self-control measure is tenable for males, females, five different age groups (15-, 16-, 17-, 18-, and 19-year-olds), and adolescents from four different countries; (3) deviance as assessed by the Normative Deviance Scale (NDS) can be reliably measured in different countries; (4) self-control accounts for 10 to 16 percent of the total variance explained in different types of deviance and for 20 percent in total deviance; and (5) developmental processes involving self-control and deviance are largely invariant by national context. The investigation provides further support for the multidimensional self-control measure and its relationship with deviance independent of national context
Original languageUndefined
Pages (from-to)91-131
JournalJournal of research in crime and delinquency
Volume38
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2001

Keywords

  • IR-95362

Cite this

Vazsonyi, Alexander T. ; Pickering, Lloyd E. ; Junger, Marianne ; Hessing, Dick. / An Empirical Test of a General Theory of Crime: A Four-Nation Comparative Study of Self-Control and the Prediction of Deviance. In: Journal of research in crime and delinquency. 2001 ; Vol. 38, No. 2. pp. 91-131.
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Vazsonyi, AT, Pickering, LE, Junger, M & Hessing, D 2001, 'An Empirical Test of a General Theory of Crime: A Four-Nation Comparative Study of Self-Control and the Prediction of Deviance' Journal of research in crime and delinquency, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 91-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427801038002001

An Empirical Test of a General Theory of Crime: A Four-Nation Comparative Study of Self-Control and the Prediction of Deviance. / Vazsonyi, Alexander T.; Pickering, Lloyd E.; Junger, Marianne; Hessing, Dick.

In: Journal of research in crime and delinquency, Vol. 38, No. 2, 2001, p. 91-131.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic

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T1 - An Empirical Test of a General Theory of Crime: A Four-Nation Comparative Study of Self-Control and the Prediction of Deviance

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AU - Hessing, Dick

PY - 2001

Y1 - 2001

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AB - The current investigation examined the psychometric properties of Grasmick et al.'s self-control measure and its relationship with deviance on large, representative adolescent samples ( N = 8,417) from Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Important findings indicate that (1) the self-control measure is multidimensional; (2) the self-control measure is tenable for males, females, five different age groups (15-, 16-, 17-, 18-, and 19-year-olds), and adolescents from four different countries; (3) deviance as assessed by the Normative Deviance Scale (NDS) can be reliably measured in different countries; (4) self-control accounts for 10 to 16 percent of the total variance explained in different types of deviance and for 20 percent in total deviance; and (5) developmental processes involving self-control and deviance are largely invariant by national context. The investigation provides further support for the multidimensional self-control measure and its relationship with deviance independent of national context

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Vazsonyi AT, Pickering LE, Junger M, Hessing D. An Empirical Test of a General Theory of Crime: A Four-Nation Comparative Study of Self-Control and the Prediction of Deviance. Journal of research in crime and delinquency. 2001;38(2):91-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427801038002001

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