The Impact of Societal Vulnerability and Violent Values on Self-Control in a Belgium Sample of Youth: A Gender Comparison. (February 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gavray, Claire; Vettenburg, Nicole; Pauwels, Lieven; Brondeel, Ruben
• Other Names: Marshall Ineke Haen guest-editor.; Maljevic Almir guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of contemporary criminal justice. Volume 29:Number 1(2013)
• Page Start: 13
• Page End: 31
• Publication Date: 2013-02
• Subjects: self-control -- societal vulnerability -- violent values -- gender socialization -- ISRD-2; Criminal justice, Administration of -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- United States -- Periodicals; 364.973
• DOI: 10.1177/1043986212471178
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1043-9862

Abstract

The present study contributes to the study of self-control among adolescents by testing how self-control is affected by societal vulnerability and violent values and by investigating how (in)variant this relationship is for boys and girls. The Belgian International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD-2) data were used to assess to what extent positive attitudes toward violence can be seen as mediators in the relationship between societal vulnerability and self-control. The findings suggest that violent values mediate the relationship between societal vulnerability and self-control. Despite results indicating higher self-control among females, when conducting the analyses separately by gender, we found that the relationship between societal vulnerability and self-control was very similar for boys and girls. It is concluded that societally vulnerable boys and girls are equally affected by the intermediate mechanism of violent values.