Using Gottfredson and Hirschi’s A General Theory of Crime to Explain Problematic Alcohol Consumption by Police Officers: A Test of Self-Control as Self-Regulation

• Author: Egbert Zavala,Don L. Kurtz
• DOI: 10.1177/0022042617706893
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• Date: 01 July 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042617706893

Journal of Drug Issues

2017, Vol. 47(3) 505 –522

© The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/0022042617706893

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Article

Using Gottfredson and Hirschi’s

A General Theory of Crime to Explain

Problematic Alcohol Consumption

by Police Officers: A Test of

Self-Control as Self-Regulation

Egbert Zavala1 and Don L. Kurtz2

Abstract

Problematic alcohol consumption by police officers is well documented in the literature.

However, no study has utilized Gottfredson and Hirschi’s A General Theory of Crime to determine

what role, if any, self-control (i.e., self-regulation) plays in predicting this behavior. Therefore,

data from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families in Baltimore, Maryland, 1997-

1999 are analyzed to test the influence of work-related stress on officers’ self-control and

problem drinking. Results indicated that self-control is significant in predicting problematic

alcohol consumption by police officers. Two control variables (burnout and peer drinking) also

predicted the dependent variable. The current study provides further evidence that self-control

continues to be one of the most consistent factors most likely to lead to criminal behavior,

including those committed by police officers.

Keywords

problematic alcohol consumption, police officers, self-control, self-regulation, peer drinking

Introduction

Police officers are not immune from exhibiting criminal behavior (Stinson, 2015), and a review of

the literature shows that one of the most common crimes committed by police officers are those

involving alcohol, like bars fights, public drunkenness, and driving under the influence (DUI) of

alcohol (Stinson, Liederbach, Brewer, & Todak, 2014; Stinson, Liederbach, & Freiburger, 2012;

Stinson, Todak, & Dodge, 2015). Given that an officer’s arrest can reflect negatively on the depart-

ment, and potentially undermine legitimacy and erode public confidence, it is perhaps not a surprise

that many scholars have attempted to understand the causes and correlates of problematic alcohol

consumption among police officers. Generally, studies have found that the stressful nature of police

work, and its potential to expose officers to critical incident stressors, contribute to this problem

(Chopko, Palmieri, & Adams, 2013; Swatt, Gibson, & Piquero, 2007; Violanti et al., 2011; Zavala

1The University of Texas at El Paso, TX, USA

2Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA

Corresponding Author:

Egbert Zavala, Department of Criminal Justice, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave.,

El Paso, TX 79968, USA.

Email: egbertz@utep.edu

706893JODXXX10.1177/0022042617706893Journal of Drug IssuesZavala and Kurtz

research-article2017

506 Journal of Drug Issues 47(3)

& Kurtz, 2016). As such, these studies have relied on Agnew’s (2006) general strain theory as their

theoretical framework to explain the connection between work-related stress and problematic alco-

hol consumption among police officers (Menard & Arter, 2013; Swatt et al., 2007).

However, the link between self-control and problematic alcohol consumption by police offi-

cers has yet to be explored. This is somewhat surprising, given that a large number of studies

have provided evidence that people with low self-control are more likely to engage in criminal

and deviant behavior, including abusing alcohol (Ford & Blumenstein, 2013). Understanding the

negative consequences of police officers abusing alcohol, it becomes important to document all

of the correlates of this behavior to help police departments and other law enforcement agencies

create prevention programs that may help reduce this problem. Furthermore, a missing element

of studies on police problem drinking is the impact that job-related trauma has on an officer’s

psycho-social health and behavior outcomes. This study attempts to merge important literature

on police deviance by exploring work-related factors that erode self-control and self-regulation

and, thus, increase risk of problematic drinking.

The current study advances the literature in at least three important ways. First, many studies

looking at various forms of police misconduct have utilized either strain theory (Arter, 2007),

social learning theory (Chappell & Piquero, 2004), differential coercion and social support the-

ory (Zavala & Kurtz, 2016), or control balance theory (Hickman, Piquero, Lawton, & Greene,

2001), with no study specifically using a general theory of crime to explain problematic alcohol

consumption by police officers. Studies that have used general theory of crime have looked at

police misconduct in the forms of citizen complaints, departmental discipline, internal affairs

investigations, and so on, but not problematic alcohol consumption (Donner, Fridell, & Jennings,

2016; Donner & Jennings, 2014). Second, this study departs from the traditional tests of a general

theory of crime in that it treats self-control as self-regulation rather than as impulsivity. As

pointed out by Mamayek, Paternoster, and Loughran (2016), self-control should be better under-

stood as self-regulation—the ability to resist one’s impulses—because those with high self-regu-

lation are better to resist one’s impulsive desires. This study will provide one of the first initial

tests of this new reconceptualization. Third, this shift in understanding self-control as self-regu-

lation might be particularly relevant for law enforcement officers who have exhibited a fairly

strong degree of self-regulation and likely avoided significant involvement in criminal behavior

during their lifetime. Certainly, police officers will not likely have an extended arrest record.

However, aspects of the police environment like lack of support (Zavala & Kurtz, 2016) and

aspects of police culture (Violanti, 1999) could erode self-regulation. Thus, the understanding of

self-control as self-regulation then allows for a richer understanding of how work stressors can

shift an officer’s behavior and generate greater risk for impulsive drinking and possibly other

forms of professional misconduct.

The purpose of the current study is to determine what role, if any, self-control plays in predict-

ing problematic alcohol consumption by police officers. This goal is accomplished through the

following steps. First, Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) A General Theory of Crime will be

reviewed. Studies that have tested the theory will also be examined. Second, Mamayek et al.

(2016) contention that self-control should be conceptualized as self-regulation is discussed.

Third, the literature on why some police officers abuse alcohol is reviewed. More importantly,

problematic alcohol consumption, and its connection to critical incident stressors experienced by

police officers, will be highlighted. Next, research hypotheses are derived from the literature

presented and tested using data from the Police Stress and Domestic Violence in Police Families

in Baltimore Maryland. Finally, the results of the study are presented and discussed. Unique to

this study, we treat self-control first as a dependent variable by exploring ways police work envi-

ronment, particularly critical incident exposure, can erode self-control. We then explore how

reduced self-regulation can influence an officer’s behavior. In addition, the implications of the

findings for research on alcohol abuse by police officers are presented.