Assessing Two Measurements of Self-Control for Juvenile Delinquency in China

• Date: 01 May 2018
• Published date: 01 May 2018
• Author: Xue Weng,Wing Hong Chui
• DOI: 10.1177/1043986218761932
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986218761932

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2018, Vol. 34(2) 148 –167

© The Author(s) 2018

Reprints and permissions:

sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/1043986218761932

journals.sagepub.com/home/ccj

Article

Assessing Two Measurements

of Self-Control for Juvenile

Delinquency in China

Xue Weng1 and Wing Hong Chui2

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to examine the theoretical efficiency of Hirschi’s

reconceptualization of self-control in two groups of Chinese adolescents. The

study also incorporates the well-established attitudinal scale from Grasmick et al.

to examine whether there are any differences in the explanatory power between

the two self-control scales among a comparison group of Chinese adolescents (N =

2,048). Structural equation modeling is applied to investigate the underlying theoretical

structure of the self-control construct and the robustness of the scales across diverse

samples. Our results provide evidence that Grasmick’s attitudinal scale has more

explanatory power than that of Hirschi’s revised measure in predicting Chinese

juvenile delinquency. Both measures show a better model fit in the offender sample

than in the student counterparts. Our empirical test provides solid evidence for

Grasmick’s attitudinal scale as a consistent predictor of Chinese juvenile delinquency

compared with Hirschi’s revised measure. Theoretical and empirical directions for

future research are discussed.

Keywords

self-control, social bonds, Hirschi (2004), Grasmick etal. (1993), Chinese juvenile

delinquency

Introduction

As one of the most influential and most tested criminological theories (see Pratt &

Cullen, 2000, for a meta-analysis; R. A. Wright, 2000), self-control theory provides

individual-level mechanisms that can inhibit people’s desires to commit crime

1University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

2City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Corresponding Author:

Xue Weng, School of Nursing, University of Hong Kong, 4/F, William MW Mong Block, 21 Sassoon

Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.

Email: wengxue@connect.hku.hk

761932CCJXXX10.1177/1043986218761932Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeWeng and Chui

research-article2018

Weng and Chui 149

(Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Crime opportunity is ubiquitous, but not all people are

equally tempted to take it. Individuals who possess sufficient self-control can restrain

criminal behavior that has potentially long-term negative consequences, while indi-

viduals with low self-control are less likely to take into account the painful conse-

quences of criminal acts. Therefore, self-control as a stable individual characteristic

makes a difference.

Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) self-control theory has received a substantial

amount of empirical support using a variety of populations, including juvenile delin-

quency (e.g., Baron, 2003; Cauffman, Steinberg, & Piquero, 2005; Mason & Windle,

2002; Vazsonyi, Pickering, Junger, & Hessing, 2001), deviant behaviors among uni-

versity students (e.g., Cochran, Wood, Sellers, Wilkerson, & Chamlin, 1998; Gibbs &

Giever, 1995), and adult offending (e.g., Evans, Cullen, Burton, Dunaway, & Benson,

1997; Longshore & Turner, 1998). Despite increasing evidence for Gottfredson and

Hirschi’s (1990) proposition, there still exist a great number of unresolved problems

around the conceptualization and operationalization of the self-control measure (see

Akers, 1991; Geis, 2000; Longshore, Chang, & Messina, 2005; Taylor, 2001; Vold

et al., 2002). To remedy the problems, Hirschi (2004) modified the central concept of

self-control and introduced elements of social bonds into the theory.

Hirschi (2004) shifted the psychological attribution of self-control to a wider per-

spective, incorporating the element of rational consideration of behavioral conse-

quences. He broadened the conceptualization of self-control as “the tendency to

consider the full range of potential costs of a particular act” (Hirschi, 2004, p. 543).

The redefined theory successfully correlated self-control with social bonds, through

the inclusion of the “broader” and “contemporaneous” behavioral consequences

(Akers & Sellers, 2009). Specifically, Hirschi emphasized the inhibiting role of social

bonds to prevent an individual from engaging in crime. Social bonds from significant

others—such as parents, friends, teachers, and authorities of the law—in the form of

attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief, act as the set of inhibitors of delin-

quency. Social bonds act as an internal value standard guiding people’s decisions

regarding criminal behavior. Individuals with low self-control have reduced aware-

ness of the behavioral consequences associated with criminal behavior.

The social bond becomes one of the primary sources of redefined self-control. We,

thus, refer to the measure of Hirschi’s reconceptualized self-control as the “bonding

self-control” measure in this study. Parental attachment and monitoring, and school

commitment, are listed as important inhibitors in the bonding self-control measure in

Hirschi’s (2004) research. Although Hirschi’s revisions of self-control have recently

been widely tested (Bouffard & Rice, 2011; Piquero & Bouffard, 2007; Vazsonyi &

Huang, 2015; Ward, Boman, & Jones, 2015), empirical research has arrived at contra-

dictory conclusions concerning the redefined self-control measure, calling into ques-

tion the appropriateness of the theoretical revision. As the self-control theory is

regarded as generalizable, accounting for “all crimes, delinquencies and related behav-

iors, for all times, among all groups and countries” (Gottfredson, 2006, p. 83), this

study applies both the traditional and redefined self-control theories to juvenile delin-

quency in China, within the unique Chinese culture and tradition. A thorough review