Situational Action Theory’s Self-Control/Morality Interaction Effects and the Moderating Influence of Being Female: A Comparison of Property and Violent Offending Using a Sample of Juvenile Delinquents

• DOI: 10.1177/1557085118788633
• Published date: 01 October 2019
• Author: Glen A. Ishoy,Brenda Sims Blackwell
• Date: 01 October 2019
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085118788633

Feminist Criminology

2019, Vol. 14(4) 391 –419

© The Author(s) 2018

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DOI: 10.1177/1557085118788633

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Article

Situational Action Theory’s

Self-Control/Morality

Interaction Effects and the

Moderating Influence of

Being Female: A Comparison

of Property and Violent

Offending Using a Sample of

Juvenile Delinquents

Glen A. Ishoy1 and Brenda Sims Blackwell2

Abstract

This study tests the interaction effects between self-control and morality that are

proposed by situational action theory (SAT) and examines the ability of biological

sex to condition those processes for both property and violent offending. This

study employs negative binomial regression to analyze data from the Pathways to

Desistance data set (n = 1,354). Results generally support the posited general nature

of SAT for violent offending. The results for property offending were also supported;

however, some of the results indicated that sex may moderate the associations of

SAT’s key variables for this offense type. Our results indicate that the assumption

of generalizability across the sexes may be less problematic for SAT than for other

theories, but more work is needed to fully articulate how sex affects the processes

at work in the theory.

Keywords

situational action theory, gender, self-control, morality, criminal propensity

1Indiana University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA

2Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Glen A. Ishoy, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 411 North Walk, Room 200, Indiana, PA 15705, USA.

Email: gishoy@iup.edu

788633FCXXXX10.1177/1557085118788633Feminist CriminologyIshoy and Blackwell

research-article2018

392 Feminist Criminology 14(4)

Situational action theory (SAT) is a relative newcomer to the theoretical landscape in

criminology. Tests of the theory have generally supported its main propositions

(Antonaccio & Tittle, 2008; Wikström, Oberwittler, Treiber, & Hardie, 2012; Wikström &

Svensson, 2010), but scholars are just beginning to evaluate the gendered nature of some

of the key variables, most notably self-control and morality, and the possibility that the

theory may work differently for males and females. This is an important area of inquiry

because initial presentations of SAT include no explicit discussion of potential sex differ-

ences relevant to the theory. Early tests of the theory done by Wikström et al. (2012) use

data containing an evenly divided sample of males and females, but stop short of explor-

ing whether the theory has different implications for males than for females.

Mainstream criminological theories are frequently criticized for assumptions of sex

neutrality, or generalizability (Arditti & Few, 2006; Reisig, Holtfreter, & Morash, 2006).

Indeed, traditional theories overwhelmingly posit that their models explain both male

and female criminality, leading to conclusions about female offending that are based on

findings from data sets comprised solely of male subjects. For example, both social

bonding and social learning theories have been criticized on these grounds (Holtfreter &

Cupp, 2007; Morash, 1999). Such omissions often are acknowledged and dismissed, as

illustrated by Hirschi (1969), who, in his original test of social bonding theory, did not

assess the role of sex. Indeed, while he indicated that “ . . . girls have been neglected for

too long by students of delinquency . . .,” he ultimately excluded them from his analyses,

even while admitting that “the exclusion of them is difficult to justify.”

Only recently conceived, it is notable that SAT has followed the path of early crimi-

nological theories, as it did not initially address the potential for differences between

boys and girls. Nor has most research drawing from or testing SAT considered gen-

dered aspects of the model. Notably, Weerman, Bernasco, Bruinsma, and Pauwels

(2016), as well as a study done by Hirtenlehner and Treiber (2017), provide important

exceptions. These two studies shed light on the gendered aspects of SAT; however,

Weerman et al. (2016) did not evaluate the interaction effects proposed by the theory,

and Hirtenlehner and Treiber (2017) only explored the propensity-criminogenic expo-

sure interaction as it related to shoplifting. This study expands the SAT literature by

providing a test of the self-control–morality interaction effects, exploring these pro-

cesses as they relate to both property and violent offending, and exploring the possibil-

ity of biological sex conditioning these effects. We argue that a number of elements of

SAT are inherently gendered in nature, and as such, identify SAT as a theoretical

framework that may be useful in expanding the understanding of the gendered nature

of crime.

Literature Review

SAT

The basic propositions of SAT are depicted in Figure 1. The primary proposition of

SAT is that the likelihood of criminal behavior is determined by the convergence of

different kinds of people (i.e., differing criminal propensities) with different kinds of