Explaining Chinese Delinquency: Self-Control, Morality, and Criminogenic Exposure

• Published date: 01 April 2022
• Author: Jia Qu,Yuning Wu,Xiaojin Chen
• Date: 01 April 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/00938548211034840
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2022, Vol. 49, No. 4, April 2022, 570 –592.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548211034840

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2021 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

570

EXPLAINING CHINESE DELINQUENCY

Self-Control, Morality, and Criminogenic Exposure

YUNING WU

Wayne State University

XIAOJIN CHEN

Tulane University

JIA QU

Guizhou University of Finance and Economics

This study extends the testing of situational action theory (SAT) to a Chinese population, and sheds new light on the direc-

tions of the moderation relationships between self-control and morality, and between crime propensity and criminogenic

exposure on delinquency. Relying on a large, representative sample of middle school students from two areas of Guizhou,

China (N = 2,498), we find that both self-control and morality have significant inhibiting effects on delinquency. Moreover,

self-control has a more profound curbing effect on delinquency among adolescents with higher levels of morality. Meanwhile,

the promoting effect of crime propensity on delinquency decreases when levels of risky exposure increase. When adolescents

have more unsupervised activities and delinquent peers, their crime propensity affects delinquency to a lesser extent. Our

study confirms that individual and situational factors interlock in determining delinquency, and reiterates the value of

empirical testing across cultures to validate and possibly improve general theories of crime.

Keywords: situational action theory; self-control; morality; China; delinquent peers; unsupervised socializing

Generations of criminologists have pinpointed the centrality of an individual–environ-

ment interplay in shaping crime and delinquency (Bernard et al., 2010). Arguably, one

of the most tested and supported individual explanations of crime is Gottfredson and

Hirschi’s (1990) General Theory of Crime, positing that the ability to exercise self-control

is a critical trait of a person’s crime propensity. A recent stream of research based on situa-

tional action theory (SAT, Wikström, 2004) has meaningfully expanded the understanding

of crime propensity by including the dimension of morality, and brought the interaction

between crime inclination and environmental risks back to a full discussion. As a promising

general theory, SAT has gained research momentum in the United Kingdom, and across

AUTHORS’ NOTE: The project was supported by a theoretical innovation grant awarded by the Guizhou

Social Sciences Association (GZLCLH-2019-011). Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed

to Jia Qu, College of Public Administration, Guizhou University of Finance and Economics, Huaxi District,

Guiyang, Guizhou 550025, China; e-mail: 201801070@mail.gufe.edu.cn.

1034840CJBXXX10.1177/00938548211034840Criminal Justice and BehaviorWu et al. / Explaining Delinquency in China

research-article2022

Wu et al. / EXPLAINING DELINQUENCY IN CHINA 571

North American and European countries, generating insights into how self-control, moral-

ity, and criminogenic exposure interact in shaping crime (Pauwels et al., 2018). Missing

from this literature, however, is East Asia, an area that has deep-seated cultural and social

differences from Western countries. With strong emphases on individual capacity to self-

discipline, morality, and interdependence between individual and context, China represents

a critical geographic area for testing the generalizability of SAT.

Drawing upon a large, probability sample of middle school students from two areas of

Guizhou, China, this study adds to the SAT literature in important ways. Unlike previous

SAT studies, we distinguish between violent and property delinquencies, as the two differ

in nature and may be associated with varying explanatory factors and mechanisms. We also

take the initiative to simultaneously examine the interaction effects between self-control

and morality, and between crime propensity and risky exposure in a single study. Although

we did not test the third proposition of SAT regarding the interactional effect between deter-

rence and crime propensity in shaping crime, our study has advantageously captured two

key propositions of SAT.

This study also contributes to the literature on the delinquency of Chinese adolescents.

Whereas a number of studies have assessed the role of self-control on delinquency in the

Chinese context (N. W. Cheung & Cheung, 2008; Chui & Chan, 2016; Jiang et al., 2020; Li

et al., 2014; Lu et al., 2013; Pyrooz & Decker, 2013), little attention has been paid to the

matter of morality or the interplay between self-control and morality in determining delin-

quency. Also missing is an evaluation of the potential interaction effects between individual

traits and environmental factors. External factors such as peer delinquency and risky life-

styles may not only influence juvenile delinquency independently from crime propensity

traits such as low self-control (e.g., N. W. Cheung & Cheung, 2008; Jiang et al., 2020), but

also, importantly, condition the effects of crime propensity on delinquency. To fill these

gaps, this study incorporates morality as an indispensable dimension of crime propensity,

and examines the nexus between propensity toward crime, criminogenic exposure, and

delinquency by uncovering potential moderating relationships.

CRIME PROPENSITY, RISKY EXPOSURE, AND CRIME

SAT

People commit crime often out of a synergy of how well they can control themselves,

how strong their prosocial values are, and how many criminogenic situations they are sub-

ject to (Wikström, 2004). Self-control has been a popular concept in criminological theoriz-

ing and empirical testing (Pratt & Cullen, 2000; Vazsonyi et al., 2017), with low self-control

including such characteristics as being impulsive, insensitive, physical, risk-taking, short-

sighted, and nonverbal (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Morality, different from self-control,

refers to normative values and rules that are socially desirable and culturally transmissible

(Hofmann et al., 2018). Morality regards what is right or wrong, and serves as another

major constraint on delinquent impulsivity. Relatively understudied in criminology, moral-

ity is highlighted in a recent line of research that explores its interaction with self-control in

shaping criminality (e.g., Antonaccio & Tittle, 2008; Wikström & Svensson, 2010).

Dominating this nascent body of research is SAT, positing that morality not only indepen-

dently affects delinquency but also moderates the influence of self-control on delinquency

(Wikström, 2004). Specifically, self-control matters more for individuals who have lower