Investigating the effects of peer association and parental influence on adolescent substance use: A study of adolescents in South Korea

The central purpose of this study was to examine whether peer influence has a greater impact on adolescent substance use than parental influence. This was a comparative study that examined cross-cultural applicability by applying the established findings and theoretical suggestions, such as social learning theory and social bonding theory in the United States, to a traditionally non-Western social context (South Korea). Although the theories have firmly established their explicability on adolescent delinquency and substance use in U.S. society, there are relatively few empirical studies to establish its generalizability in societies outside the U.S. and even fewer in such traditionally non-Western societies as South Korea. Using a nationwide sample of self-reported data from 3,188 junior high school students, estimations from multivariate analyses were used to compare the relative importance of peer and parental influence on adolescent substance (alcohol and tobacco) use. The findings from the current study supported both social learning theory and social bonding theory, suggesting that both peer and parental influence are significant in predicting the risks of adolescent substance use. Although parental influence was slightly greater than peer factors, the difference was negligible. The limitations, the unique social context of Korean society, and future research implications are then discussed.     

The influence of neuropsychological deficits in early childhood on low self-control and misconduct through early adolescence

Purpose

Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) contend that low self-control is the result of parental management techniques. However, an emerging line of research has revealed that neuropsychological deficits influence the development of low self-control ( and ). Nevertheless, these studies have largely tested the effects of neuropsychological deficits on low self-control cross-sectionally or in the short term. This study addresses an important void in the literature by examining the influence of neuropsychological deficits in early childhood on levels of self-control and misconduct through early adolescence.

Methods

Data come from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, Kindergarten (ECLS-K), the largest nationally representative sample of U.S. children.

Results

We found that deficits in neuropsychological functioning during kindergarten were consistently predictive of lower levels of self-control during the third, fifth, and eighth grade as well as higher levels of conduct problems during the eighth grade. These effects remained significant after accounting for demographic variables, features of the neighborhood, and a number of parenting variables.

Conclusions

Neuropsychological deficits during early childhood play an important role in the development of low self-control through early adolescence and misconduct during early adolescence.     

Changes in the relative importance of dynamic risk factors for recidivism during adolescence

This study examined which dynamic risk factors for recidivism play an important role during adolescence. The sample consisted of 13,613 American juveniles who had committed a criminal offense. The results showed that the importance of almost all dynamic risk factors, both in the social environment domain (school, family, relationships) and in the individual domain (attitude, skills, aggressiveness), decreased as juveniles grew older. Therefore, the potential effect of an intervention aimed at these factors will also decrease as juveniles grow older. The relative importance of the risk factors also changed: In early adolescence, risk factors in the family domain showed the strongest association with recidivism, whereas in late adolescence risk factors in the attitude, relationships, and school domain were more strongly related to recidivism. These results suggest that the focus of an intervention needs to be attuned to the age of the juvenile to achieve the maximum potential effect on recidivism.     

Maturity of judgment in adolescence: Psychosocial factors in adolescent decision making

To date, analyses of differences between adolescents' and adults' judgment have emphasized age differences in cognitive factors presumed to affect decision making. In contrast, this article examines research and theory on threepsychosocial aspects of maturity of judgment: responsibility, temperance, and perspective. For several psychosocial dimensions of maturity that are likely to affect judgment, the existing pvidence, while indirect and imperfect, indicates that the greatest differences are found in comparisons between early adolescents versus middle and late adolescents. Developmental research on maturity that focuses specifically on mid-and late adolescence, that simultaneously examines both cognitive and noncognitive factors, and that investigates the relation between these factors and the ability to make good decisions is greatly needed.     

Investigating the theoretical construct and invariance of the self-control scale using confirmatory factor analysis

Low self-control is at the heart of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory of crime and had been extensively investigated with the Grasmick, Tittle, Bursik, and Arneklev (1993) self-control scale. An advanced analytical tool, confirmatory techniques, had been recently applied to elucidate the underlying theoretical structure of the self-control construct. Most of these studies were limited, as they did not compare competing factorial measurement models. Furthermore, measures such as the Grasmick et al. scale had been used widely with diverse population groups and it was essential that the invariance of the measure be examined. The few studies that had performed this had addressed the invariance of the scale's factorial structure, but neglected to examine the invariance of the latent means structures. Testing the invariance of the latent means eliminates spurious results that may be artifacts of biased responding. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the structure of self-control by comparing three measurement models using confirmatory factor analysis and to explore the invariance of self-control across multiple groups from New Zealand. Two male groups were used: prison inmates and university students. The overall findings supported the Grasmick et al. scale as usefully represented by both a hierarchical order and a multidimensional structure. The measure was found to be generalizable across disparate groups, although differences in latent means were found between the two groups on the self-control dimensions.     

The intersection of genes and neuropsychological deficits in the prediction of adolescent delinquency and low self-control

Gottfredson and Hirschi's A General Theory of Crime, Moffitt's developmental taxonomy theory, and Caspi et al.'s Gene x Environment study are three of the most influential pieces of contemporary criminological scholarship. Even so, there has been little attempt to integrate and empirically assess these three perspectives simultaneously. This article addresses this gap in the literature by analyzing phenotypic and genotypic data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The results revealed that all three perspectives have considerable empirical support, where neuropsychological deficits interact with the MAOA genotype to predict adolescent delinquency and levels of self-control for White males. The theoretical implications of the findings are noted.     

Violence during Pregnancy: Investigating Infanticidal Motives

This study aimed to investigate whether potentially infanticidal violence by men toward their pregnant partners’ is motivated by jealousy, and hence paternity uncertainty. It was predicted that men who used potentially infanticidal violence (directing their physical aggression towards their pregnant partners’ abdominal region) would have younger partners as this is associated with greater reproductive value; would be in relationships of shorter duration as this may indicate less stable relationships; and would be more jealous and restrictive of their partner’s movements and friendships than violent men who directed their aggression to other regions of their pregnant partners’ body. Relationship behaviors were provided from 43 women in domestic violence shelters (n?=?43), using measures of the following: (1) partner physical aggression (2) victim fear and injury, (3) areas of bodily assault (when pregnant and when not pregnant), (4) controlling behaviors, and (5) topics of disagreement. Violence directed towards the fetus was associated with shorter relationships where both partners were younger. In such relationships, there was more physical aggression from the male partner, he used more controlling behaviors to isolate his partner, and the partners had more disagreements arising from his jealousy, compared with when physical aggression was not directed towards the fetus. These findings are consistent with an infanticidal motive for men’s aggression directed towards their pregnant partners. If paternity uncertainty is a primary cause of this dangerous form of domestic violence, it should form an important element in any screening instrument.     

Differences in levels of deviance between Japanese and American students: the influence of peer deviance

In the current study, by drawing on the literature concerning peer deviance and criminological social learning theory, and on theory and research concerning cultural variability in uncertainty avoidance, we offer a rationale for predicting that peer deviance will be lower among Japanese than among Americans. The lower level of peer deviance among Japanese, in turn, might explain why crime and deviant behaviour are less common in Japan compared to the United States. Analyses of comparable survey data from college students in Japan and the United States (N = 1271) provide strong support for our hypothesis.     

Clustering of adolescent dating violence, peer violence, and suicidal behavior

To understand the co-occurrence of multiple types of violence, the authors developed a behavioral typology based on self-reports of suicidal behaviors, physical violence, and psychological abuse. Using a sample of dating adolescents from a high-risk school district, they identified five clusters of behaviors among the 1,653 students who reported being abusive or violent in the past year. Victimization and perpetration with same-sex peers and dating partners clustered together among the students who reported the highest levels of abusive (n = 357) or violent behavior (n = 146). These students also reported high levels of suicidal behavior. There were few significant demographic differences across clusters. The implications of the results for the need to design and evaluate efforts to prevent multiple types of violence are discussed.     

Moving beyond the socialization hypothesis: The effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on the development of self-control

Purpose

Gottfredson and Hirschi, in A General Theory of Crime, argue that the primary source of self-control is parental socialization. Specifically, parents who fail to supervise their children, to recognize their child's deviant behavior, and to punish such behavior are more likely to raise children with lower levels of self-control. Recent empirical research, however, has broadened the explanatory factors to include sources within schools, neighborhoods, and individual factors as significant contributors to the development of self-control. This study proposes that maternal smoking during pregnancy places additional limits on the development of self-control.

Methods

Using a subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N = 542), we provide a comprehensive investigation of the variety of sources of self-control to include both individual and environmental covariates.

Results

Results indicate that maternal smoking during pregnancy significantly impacts the development of self-control net of parental, neighborhood, and school socialization. We also found that individual sources of self-control significantly vary across race and neighborhood context.

Conclusions

The sources of self-control are more complex than socialization from parents, schools, and within neighborhoods occurring in childhood and adolescence.     

The study of adolescence during the 20th century

The scientific study of adolescence in America during the 20th century is reviewed, beginning with the work of G. Stanley Hall. Recurring themes and shifts in focus spanning the last century are identified. Hall's ideas about normative turmoil have been replaced by the recognition that as they pass from childhood to adulthood adolescents may take a number of different paths, many of which are not tumultuous. There is now growing recognition that the definition of these paths and the timing of entry into and out of adolescence are dependent on societal and historical constraints.     

Beyond parenting: An examination of the etiology of self-control

While prior research testing Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) theory of low self-control had demonstrated a significant relationship between parenting and self-control, it had also recognized significant effects of other social factors, suggesting the etiology of self-control may be more complex than the theory specifies. In an effort to better understand this process, the current study examined first whether social factors other than parenting predicted self-control using both contemporaneous and lagged effects models, and second, whether the effect of parenting on self-control varied according to these social factors. Findings offered partial support for self-control theory. In implicit support of the theory, this study found that the effect of parenting on self-control was not conditioned by the competing social factors examined. Contrary to the theory, however, was the finding that self-control was predicted by both peer pressure and school social factors contemporaneously, even after controlling for parental monitoring.     

职务犯罪侦查询问证人中存在的问题与完善意见

职务犯罪侦查中询问证人的地位重要、特点突出.然而我国法律与之配套的规定并不完善,不能体现职务犯罪侦查的自身特点和实际规律,导致实践中存在诸多问题,影响了职务犯罪侦查工作的正常开展.完善我国的职务犯罪侦查询问证人制度是当务之急.     

The influence of low self-control on violent and nonviolent delinquencies: a study of male adolescents from two Chinese societies

Low self-control is theorized to be a key correlate of delinquency. Using a nonadjudicated sample (N = 1057) from Hong Kong and Macau, the influence of self-control on self-reported violent and nonviolent delinquencies was investigated using Grasmick’s self-control scale. The influences of demographics and self-control on delinquency were also examined. Findings indicate that these adolescents are more likely to engage in overall delinquency, particularly violence, if they are older and if they are less educated. Age is the only demographic predictor of nonviolent delinquency. Risk-seeking behaviors and self-centeredness have significant influences on both violent and nonviolent delinquencies, while low frustration tolerance and preference for cognitive activities are only associated with an increased level of violent misconduct. These findings highlight the overall significant influence of self-control on adolescent delinquency in Chinese adolescents. Suggestions are offered to enhance adolescents’ self-control as a way to reduce their tendency to involvement in delinquent activities.     

The effect of self-control on victimization in the cyberworld

In light of the differences between traditional forms of victimization and cybercrime victimization, this study examined whether the expansion of self-control theory to the field of victimization could help explain cybercrime victimization as well. This study found that self-control had a weak relationship with multiple forms of cybercrime victimization, but it did not have a direct effect on victimization after controlling for offending measures. Considering that this was incongruent with previous victimization research, these findings raise theoretical and empirical questions for the entire field of victimization regarding the importance of self-control when controlling for relevant peer offending.     

Social learning and self-control: assessing the moderating potential of criminal propensity

Social learning theory is one of the most prominent general theories of crime. Yet recent research has called into question its applicability to all offenders. Specifically, the influence of antisocial peers has been found to exert a stronger effect among those individuals evincing higher levels of criminal propensity (deemed social amplification), whereas other components of the theory have either not been shown to interact with criminal propensity or not been tested. This study examines several social learning theory components to determine whether its influence is dependent on an individual's level of self-control. Results suggest little support for the social amplification hypothesis as the components of social learning theory were found to operate similarly across individuals regardless one's level of self-control. Implications for criminological theory are discussed.     

A meta-analysis update on the effectiveness of early self-control improvement programs to improve self-control and reduce delinquency

Objective

To update Piquero et al.’s (Justice Quarterly 27:803–834, 2010) meta-analysis on early self-control improvement programs.

Methods

Screening of eligible studies was carried out for the period between January 2010 and September 2015. An additional seven studies were identified, which were added to the original database of 34 studies, totaling an overall sample of 41 eligible studies. A random effects model was used to obtain an overall mean effect size estimate. Additional analyses were performed to assess publication bias and moderation.

Results

Overall average, positive, and significant effect sizes were observed for improving self-control (0.32) and reducing delinquency (0.27). There was evidence of publication bias for the self-control improvement outcomes, as well as some evidence of moderation for both self-control improvement and delinquency outcomes.

Conclusions

Early self-control improvement programs are an effective evidence-based strategy for improving self-control and reducing delinquency.

     

The role of broken homes in the development of self-control: A propensity score matching approach

Criminologists have frequently identified broken homes as a risk factor for involvement in crime and delinquency. The association between broken homes and antisocial behavior has been replicated in numerous studies, and despite being entrenched within the study of delinquency, there is a lack of research examining its impact on the development of self-control. This is somewhat surprising given that low self-control has been shown to be a robust and consistent predictor of antisocial behavior. We address this void in the literature by examining the role of broken homes in the development of self-control in early childhood using propensity score matching. Analysis of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study revealed a statistically significant association between broken homes and the development of self-control prior to matching. After matching on six key maternal and paternal covariates, the association between broken homes and levels of self-control was no longer statistically significant. We discuss what these findings mean for criminological theories.