NCJ Number
216422
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 50 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2006 Pages: 630-653
Date Published
December 2006
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study tested the robustness of institutional anomie theory (IAT) at the individual level by comparing the cheating behaviors of a sample of American-born college students to a sample of international college students.
Abstract
The results indicated that location of birth had the strongest impact on student cheating behavior, with American-born students significantly more likely to cheat than foreign-born students. Students that adhered to American economic goal orientations were also more likely to cheat. On the other hand, students who were employed while attending school and who demonstrated greater commitment to their families and greater involvement in their communities were less likely to cheat. Researchers were also interested in the role of statistical modeling in testing IAT at the individual level and found that techniques such as hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) allowed them to nest the individual-level variables under examination into community structural variables, permitting a multilevel analysis. The use of techniques such as HLM could provide greater empirical support for traditionally macro-level theories such as social disorganization theory. IAT holds that crime in the United States can be explained by examining the exaggerated emphasis that American culture places on economic success, which has created a “cheating orientation” that pervades the major institutions of society, including academia. The authors tested this theory at the individual-level by examining the impact of American culture on student cheating. Participants were 114 American-born students and 48 foreign-born students at a midwestern university who volunteered to complete self-report surveys that focused on demographic information, self-control, cheating behavior, cultural values, and participation in major societal institutions, such as family, education, employment, and community service. The analysis focused on a series of logistic regression models to examine whether the IAT variables were predictive of student cheating behavior. Future studies should extend the individual level IAT analysis by including different types of crimes and larger and more heterogeneous samples. Tables, notes, references