NCJ Number
185107
Journal
Criminology Volume: 38 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2000 Pages: 931-964
Date Published
August 2000
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This is a meta-analysis of the empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime.
Abstract
This article reports a meta-analysis of existing empirical studies to determine the empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) "general theory of crime." Regardless of measurement differences, low self-control was an important predictor of crime and of analogous behaviors. Also, low self-control had general effects across different types of samples. Contrary to Gottfredson and Hirschi's position, however, the effect of low self-control was weaker in longitudinal studies, and variables from social learning theory still received support in studies that included a measure of low self-control. Although the general theory is not beyond criticism and qualification, the meta-analysis of the extant literature indicates that Gottfredson and Hirschi's core proposition that low self-control increases involvement in criminal and analogous behaviors is empirically supported. In addition, the article argues that meta-analysis is an underused tool in discerning the relative empirical merits of criminological theories. Notes, tables, references, appendix