NCJ Number
240247
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 40 Issue: 6 Dated: November/December 2012 Pages: 452-462
Date Published
December 2012
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined the factors that affect adolescents' changes in self-control as they move through their teen years.
Abstract
This study produced two major findings. First the study found that within the sample of adolescents, self-control continued to be malleable during adolescence with substantial variations noted in an individual's own course of self-control. The second major finding was that changes within an individual's level of self-control and levels of self-control between individuals were affected by changes in the average levels of self-control among the individual's peers and the average delinquency level of the individual's peers. The main objectives of this study were to examine the extent to which adolescents experience changes in self-control at the individual and between-individual levels, and to determine whether these changes were affected by changes in peer self-control and peer delinquency levels. Data for the study were obtained from three waves of the NSCR School project, a Netherlands-based longitudinal study begun in 2002. Data were collected for the years 2002-2004 for students aged 12-17. Study participants completed a survey that included questions on peer self-control, respondent self-control, peer delinquency, and parental social control. The findings suggest that self-control in adolescences continues to change not only within individuals but between individuals and that these changes are affected by the levels of self-control and delinquency of an individual's peers. Study limitations are discussed. Tables, figure, appendixes, notes, and references