Parental Low Self-Control, Family Environments, and Juvenile Delinquency

• Date: 01 October 2016
• Author: Ryan C. Meldrum,George M. Connolly,Rob T. Guerette,Jamie Flexon
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X15584907
• Published date: 01 October 2016
• Subject Matter: Articles

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2016, Vol. 60(14) 1623 –1644

© The Author(s) 2015

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X15584907

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Article

Parental Low Self-Control,

Family Environments, and

Juvenile Delinquency

Ryan C. Meldrum1, George M. Connolly2,

Jamie Flexon1, and Rob T. Guerette1

Abstract

Research consistently finds that low self-control is significantly correlated with

delinquency. Only recently, however, have researchers started to examine associations

between parental low self-control, family environments, and child antisocial behavior.

Adding to this emerging area of research, the current study examines associations

between parental low self-control, aspects of the family environment, and officially

recoded juvenile delinquency among a sample (N = 101) of juveniles processed

through a juvenile justice assessment facility located in the Southeastern United States.

Furthermore, it considers whether aspects of family environments, particularly family

cohesion, family conflict, and parental efficacy, mediate the influence of parental low

self-control on delinquency. The results of a series of analyses indicate that parental

low self-control is correlated with various aspects of family environments and juvenile

delinquency, and that the association between parental low self-control and juvenile

delinquency is mediated by family environments. Supplementary analyses also suggest

that the association between parental low self-control and the family environment

may be reciprocal.

Keywords

parental low self-control, parenting practices, family environment, delinquency,

intergenerational continuity, official records

1Florida International University, Miami, USA

2Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Fort Pierce, USA

Corresponding Author:

Ryan C. Meldrum, Department of Criminal Justice, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St.,

PCA-364B, Miami, FL 33199, USA.

Email: rmeldrum@fiu.edu

584907IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X15584907International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyMeldrum et al.

research-article2015

1624 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 60(14)

Introduction

Self-control theory (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990) has garnered significant attention

over the last 25 years. Impressively, a large body of research finds that self-control, the

ability to override immediate impulses to replace them with responses that adhere to

higher-order standards that typically follow from values, social commitments, and

interests in long-term well-being (Hay & Meldrum, 2015), is negatively correlated

with delinquency, crime, and other forms of deviant behavior (see de Ridder, Lensvelt-

Mulders, Finkenauer, Stok, & Baumeister, 2012; Duckworth & Kern, 2011; Pratt &

Cullen, 2000). As a result, researchers have increasingly focused on testing other

aspects of the theory, including the stability of self-control (e.g., Coyne & Wright,

2014; Hay & Forrest, 2006; Hay, Meldrum, Forrest, & Ciaravolo, 2009), the factors

that interact with self-control (e.g., Agnew, Wright, & Cullen, 2002; Hay & Forrest,

2008; Jones & Lynam, 2009; Wikström & Svensson, 2010), and the varied sources of

self-control (e.g., Connolly & Beaver, 2014; Burt, Simons, & Simons, 2006; Meldrum,

Young, & Weerman, 2012), particularly the family environment and parenting prac-

tices (e.g., Cullen, Unnever, Wright, & Beaver, 2008; Hay, 2001; Perrone, Sullivan,

Pratt, & Margaryan, 2004).

Yet, only recently have researchers started to investigate the potential importance

of parental self-control for understanding variations in family functioning, parenting

practices, and child antisocial behavior (e.g., Boutwell & Beaver, 2010; Nofziger,

2008; Verhoeven, Junger, Van Aken, Dekovic, & Van Aken, 2007). Although small,

this body of research suggests the importance of this area of inquiry. For example,

Boutwell and Beaver (2010) found that parents who are higher in self-control are more

likely to have children who are higher in self-control and to be more involved with and

show affection toward their children. Similarly, Nofziger (2008) found that maternal

self-control is positively associated with certain aspects of parental monitoring and

disciplinary practices during early adolescence, and that maternal self-control is posi-

tively associated with adolescent self-control.

This emerging evidence of the role that parental self-control plays in accounting for

variation in family functioning and child behavior is relevant for not only assessing the

reach of self-control theory but also discussions pertaining to the intergenerational

continuity of antisocial behavior, a subject that has received significant attention from

scholars (e.g., Beaver, 2013; Farrington, Coid, & Murray, 2009; Thornberry, Freeman-

Gallant, Lizotte, Krohn, & Smith, 2003; West & Farrington, 1977). It is possible that

this continuity may in part be the result of a process in which parents with low self-

control are less effective at fostering warm, nurturing family environments and prop-

erly supervising and disciplining adolescent behavior, leading to delinquency. To date,

researchers have not adequately assessed this potential, as the studies that have inves-

tigated the role of parental self-control have largely focused upon childhood and early

adolescence, before the point in time when individuals start to engage in serious delin-

quency that would attract the attention of juvenile and criminal justice officials.

To add to this emerging area of research, original data were collected to investigate

the associations between parental low self-control, aspects of family environments,