University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 2003 Self-control vs. social control as an explanation for delinquency. Marcel Joseph Parent University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Parent, Marcel Joseph, "Self-control vs. social control as an explanation for delinquency." (2003). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3415. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/3415 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). Under this license, works must always be attributed to the copyright holder (original author), cannot be used for any commercial purposes, and may not be altered. Any other use would require the permission of the copyright holder. Students may inquire about withdrawing their dissertation and/or thesis from this database. For additional inquiries, please contact the repository administrator via email ([email protected]) or by telephone at 519-253-3000ext. 3208. SELF-CONTROL VS. SOCIAL CONTROL AS AN EXPLANATION FOR DELINQUENCY by Marcel Parent Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research through Sociology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University o f Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2003 © 2003 Marcel Parent Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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Neither the droit d'auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes reproduced without the author's ou aturement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION APPROVED BY: dvisor, Dr. Reza Nakhaie .U..C3Lw.^ .-O.c . L. 2nd Reader, Dr. Danielle Soulliere Outside Reader, Dr. Rosanne Menna Psychology Chair of Defense, Dr. Daniel O’Connor Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Self Control Vs. Social Control as an Explanation for Delinquency Marcel Parent (ABSTRACT) Although Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) General Theory of Crime has received much more attention over the last decade than that of Hirschi’s (1969) Social Control Theory, it is imperative that the latter theory’s contribution not be overlooked. Social Control Theory posits that delinquent acts result when an individuals bond to society is weak or broken. Hirschi proposed that the four elements comprising the social bond are attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. Due to the shortcomings of Social Control Theory’s ability to explain delinquency, Gottfredson in collaboration with Hirschi (1990) formulated the General Theory of Crime. At the heart of the authors’ theory rests the assertion that all illegal activity is the manifestation of a single underlying cause, that being “low self control.” Outlined in their theory are six dimensions, which they argue, come to comprise a uni-dimensional trait of low self-control. This thesis was developed in part to test the utility of each theory and to determine which theory has better explanative power in regards to delinquency. Coupled with this, the dimensions of each theory were analyzed to determine which best explained delinquency. Utilizing the National Longitudinal Survey for Children and Youth, individual questions were formulated into scales comprising the dimensions of each theory. The dependent variable, delinquency, was measured by a total of 21 questions which came to formulate an overall delinquency scale as well as III Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. drug involvement, theft, vandalism and violent scales. The sample consists of 1144 children aged 12-13 years. The findings from this research provide partial support for this researchers’ hypothesis that Self-Control Theory is more apt at explaining delinquency than Social Control Theory. However, the two theories taken together are stronger yet. The second hypothesis that behavioural measures of self-control would be more apt at explaining delinquency as compared to attitudinal measures of self-control was confirmed. Results from this research support the incorporation of a physical response dimension when measuring the concept of self-control. Overall, this research attests to The General Theory’s competence in explaining overall delinquency, vandalism and violence, while Social Control Theory is more apt at explaining drug involvement and theft. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis in loving memory of my father, Gerald Parent who passed away suddenly on July 27, 2002. My dad was a loving husband/father who worked extremely hard for everything and everyone in his life. For his sake and in his name, I will live on and do all things the same. Dad, you were my hero and inspiration and always will be. I would also like to dedicate this work to my fiancee Lana Seeger and my family. Without their support, love, and assistance, none of this would have been possible. I admire, love, and thank you all for standing beside me throughout this work and difficult time in my life. Together we accomplished this goal. Thank you so much. Gerald Parent “Gerry " September 25, iuiy 27, 20W2 hfttrn. t l . deuce Jject... [fhtrtt t must leave you for a Hide w hile- Please Jo >iot grieve and died wild tearj And hag -.our vnrnnv to mu through the years. Hut star! out bravely h ilk a gallant smile, iitd lor my take and m mi name Live oji and do ail things die same. Feed not your loneliness on empty ditvs. fSui nil eueh waking hour in useful » ui Beaidi out your hand id eomfort and in iiheer ar.d ! in atm will comfort m u and hold you near. in ti never- never he afraid w die. lor 1 am waiting for ton in the sk\! Idelett dtiener RiceAi V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT III DEDICATION V LIST OF TABLES VIII CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Historical Overview of Control Theories 1 Overview of Social Control Theory 3 Theoretical Roots of Self-Control Theory 5 H. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 12 Importance of Control Variables on Self-Control Theory 20 Criticisms which Plague the General Theory of Crime 22 Novelty of this Thesis 38 Hypotheses 41 HI. METHODOLOGY Sample 42 Research Objective 44 Research Design 45 Factor Analysis: 52 Social Control (Independent variable) 53 Self-Control (Independent variable) 54 Delinquency (Dependent variable) 55 Recoding 55 Scale Construction 60 Reliability Analysis 60 Bivariate Analysis 62 Multiple Regression 64 Model Development 66 IV. RESULTS Bivariate Analysis 71 Regression Analysis for Overall Delinquency 72 Regression Analysis for Delinquent Drug Involvement 76 Regression Analysis for Delinquent Theft 80 Regression Analysis for Delinquent Vandalism 83 Regression Analysis for Delinquent Violence 86 Regression Analysis for Overall Social and Self Control on 89 Overall Delinquency Interactions 93 VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V. DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS Discussion 98 Limitations 107 Conclusion 112 APPENDIX A: 115 Social Control, Self-control, Delinquency, and Control Scales 116 APPENDIX B: 122 Lists of Tables 123 APPENDIX C: 129 Summary Tables 130 APPENDIX D: 135 NLSCY Coding Scheme for Socio-economic Status 136 REFERENCES 137 VITA AUCTORIS 142 VII Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Means Table for Social and Self-Control and the Various Indexes of Delinquency by Socio-demographics Table 2.1 Unstandardized and Standardized Regression Coefficients of Overall Delinquency on Independent Variables Table 2.2 Unstandardized and Standardized Regression Coefficients of Overall Delinquent Drug Involvement on Independent Variables Table 2.3 Unstandardized and Standardized Regression Coefficients of Overall Delinquent Theft on Independent Variables Table