NCJ Number
131888
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1991) Pages: 287-304
Date Published
1991
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The psychosocial control characteristics of 103 pairs of official delinquents and nondelinquents matched for social background were examined in Canberra, Australia.
Abstract
Using a questionnaire, social and person control was assessed. The personal control variables examined were impulsiveness and emotional empathy as measured by Eysenck and Eysenck's (1978) 24-item Impulsiveness and 19-item Empathy Scales, respectively. The components of social control evaluated were attachment to parents, attachment to school, commitment to educational and occupational goals, and belief in the moral validity of the law. Delinquents were found to have lower levels of personal and social control than nondelinquents. Delinquents were also more impulsive, less attached to their parents, liked school less, and had lower educational and occupational aspirations as well as weaker beliefs in the moral validity of the law. This comparative analysis supports the expansion of Hirshci's 1969 social control theory to include personal control characteristics, particularly impulse control. There is also some evidence that delinquent girls have lower levels of emotional empathy, another aspect of personal control, than nondelinquent girls. The results suggest that the psychosocial control perspective adds to the understanding delinquency. 5 tables, 1 note, and 57 references (Author abstract modified)