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Self-Control and Variability Over Time: Multivariate Results Using a 5-Year, Multisite Panel of Youths

New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, twinfree{at}nmsu.edu

Terrance J. Taylor

Georgia State University, tjtaylor{at}gsu.edu

Ni He

Northeastern University’s College of Criminal Justice, n.he{at}neu.edu

Finn-Aage Esbensen

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri—St.Louis, esbensen{at}umsl.edu

Gottfredson and Hirschi claimed, as part of their general theory of crime, that a child’s criminal propensity, what they called level of self-control, is fairly fixed by age 10. Low self-control children, they further claimed, exhibit greater proclivities for delinquency and analogous behaviors than children with high levels of self-control. They see self-control levels for children at both ends of the spectrum—and their propensities for crime and analogous behaviors—as immutable over the life course. The authors explore the self-control levels, self-reported illegal behavior, and supporting attitudes exhibited by a panel of youths from in six cities at five points in time. Some of our findings substantiated Gottfredson and Hirschi’s claims (e.g., claims linking self-control, sex, and race or ethnicity); however, other findings are at odds with their theory (e.g., the unchanging nature of self-control). The authors review the implications of these findings for self-control theory.

Key Words: delinquency theory • panel study • concept stability

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