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Self-Control and Social Bonds: A Combined Control Perspective on Juvenile Offending

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Abstract

With longitudinal data from a sample of 359 adolescent offenders, we tested three measures of social bonding (conventional moral belief, attachment, and commitment/involvement) and deviant peer association as outcomes of low self-control and as mediators of the effect of low self-control on juvenile offending. Low self-control was negatively related to each bonding measure, positively related to deviant peer association, and positively related to offending at follow-up. Its effect on offending was fully mediated by conventional moral belief and attachment. These results provide modest support for a combination of self-control and social bonding perspectives on juvenile offending.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RAND Drug Policy Research Center, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA, 90407, USA

    Douglas Longshore

  2. UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, Los Angeles, CA, 90025, USA

    Douglas Longshore, Eunice Chang & Nena Messina

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  1. Douglas Longshore
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  2. Eunice Chang
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Correspondence to Douglas Longshore.

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Longshore, D., Chang, E. & Messina, N. Self-Control and Social Bonds: A Combined Control Perspective on Juvenile Offending. J Quant Criminol 21, 419–437 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-005-7359-2

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