NCJ Number
205543
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 48 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2004 Pages: 298-312
Date Published
June 2004
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Using data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents (the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), this study examined the relationships between parental efficacy, children's self-control, and delinquent behavior as a means of testing Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) proposition that parenting is the primary influence on children's levels of self-control.
Abstract
According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, parents who do not monitor their children's behavior, recognize deviant behavior when it occurs, and then punish such deviance are expected to raise children who are low in self-control and thus exhibit more deviant, delinquent, and criminal behaviors over the life-course. The data for this study were obtained from the first wave of the Add Health study, which used a strategic random sample of all high schools in the United States. The first wave collected data from the in-home sample, which included data on adolescents and their parents. The Delinquency Scale measured delinquency, and the measurement of self-control focused on five of Gottfredson and Hirschi's following six self-control dimensions: impulsivity, a preference for simple tasks, the favoring of physical over mental activities, self-centeredness, and a temper component. The measure of parental efficacy focused on parental effectiveness in recognizing problem behavior and responding to this behavior in an effective manner. To isolate the effects of parental efficacy on self-control and the effects of parental efficacy and self-control on delinquency, the study controlled for a host of additional demographic and social characteristics for each respondent. A series of ordinary least squares regression models were used to assess self-control and delinquency as outcome variables. The study found that parental efficacy is a major precondition for self-control in youth; however, measures of race and family structure, along with age and sex, were also significantly related to youths' self-control. Another major conclusion of the study is that the ability of self-control to mediate the relationship between parental efficacy and delinquency was, at best, limited. Thus, when taken together, apparently parental efficacy affects delinquency in ways that are not easily explained by Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory. Suggestions for future research are offered. 76 references