A Reconceptualized Model of Self-Control and Crime: Specifying the Role of Self-Control Variability. (June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pratt, Travis C.
• Is Part Of: Criminal justice and behavior. Volume 42:Number 6(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 662
• Page End: 679
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Subjects: self-control -- crime -- deviance; Correctional psychology -- Periodicals; 364.6
• DOI: 10.1177/0093854814557888
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0093-8548

Abstract

In this article an argument is developed that criminologists' focus on individuals' levels of self-control has caused us to miss another key component within this theoretical tradition: within-individual situational variability in self-control. Accordingly, in the present study, self-control variability is treated as an important theoretical construct that should explain criminal behavior independent of one's level of self-control. This proposition is tested empirically on a sample of young adults, using measures of both self-control and situational self-control variability in a series of multivariate regression models. The results demonstrate that both self-control and self-control variability exert significant and independent effects on criminal behavior. These results reveal support for a reconceptualized model of self-control that incorporates both static and dynamic dimensions.