A Test of Self‐Control Theory Across Different Socioeconomic Strata

The current investigation examined the relationships between family processes, self‐control, and adolescent deviance in a sample of N = 3,764 Swiss male and female youth pursuing an apprenticeship (lower SES) or attending a Gymnasium/teacher’s college (higher SES). Participants completed a questionnaire that included measures of family processes, self‐control, and deviant behaviors. Results indicated that self‐control predicted adolescent deviance in both groups, and that direct and indirect effects existed in the relationships between family processes, self‐control, and deviance. Findings provided evidence of comparatively few differences in the observed associations by SES, though the magnitude of the positive effect by low self‐control on deviance was more modest in male apprentices as compared to non‐apprentices. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications for Self‐Control Theory.     

Extending the General Theory of Crime to “The East:” Low Self-Control in Japanese Late Adolescents

This study examined the measurement of low self-control as well as the low self-control-deviance relationship in a sample of N = 335 Japanese late adolescents. Participants completed the Grasmick et al. low self-control instrument and the Normative Deviance Scale (NDS). Findings indicated that the low self-control measure was a valid and reliable indicator of low self-control among male and female Japanese late adolescents and that it was multi-dimensional. Furthermore, the study provided evidence that low self-control was consistently related to diverse measures of deviance, ranging from trivial to more serious norm-violating behaviors (e.g., assault). Finally, in a series of comparisons of partial unstandardized regression coefficients between Japanese and U.S. late adolescents, the study found that the low self-control-deviance relationship was invariant across all measures of deviance with the exception of alcohol use. Findings are discussed in terms of their importance for cross-cultural/cross-national predictions made by the General Theory of Crime.     

"越轨"与秩序--社会学与人类学相关研究之比较

“越轨”是人类学和社会学研究社会问题时同时关注的一个特殊视野 ,是一种违反重要社会规范的行为。许多人类学、社会学家 ,如涂尔干、莫顿等 ,在自己的理论中都对“越轨”和秩序等问题进行了理论分析和阐述。各国学者分别在社会结构论、标志论 (标签论 )、本土方法论、象征互动论等理论中探讨了“越轨”的行为。秩序是保证社会有序运转的条件 ,人类学家非常关注社会秩序内部的复杂性和各种因素对秩序的影响 ,重视秩序在不同层面上的相互交织和关系。他们认为 ,秩序和“越轨”都有其情景性和相对性 ,行为总是在特定的时间、地点和条件下产生出循轨或越轨两种表象。在现代社会中 ,研究这两个范畴 ,是为了找到让社会更有序发展的途径。     

Growth curves of deviant behavior in early adolescence: A multilevel analysis

Multilevel growth curve models provide a means of analyzing individual differences in the growth of deviance, allow a number of theories to be integrated in a single model, and can help to unify research on deviant/delinquent/criminal careers at different stages of the life cycle. Building on the distinction between population heterogeneity and state dependence as alternative explanations of persistent individual differences in deviance (Heckman, 1981; Nagin and Paternoster, 1991), we show that models with two levels can be used to represent and analyze a variety of criminological theories. The first level (level 1) uses repeated measurements on individuals to estimate individual-level growth curves. The second level treats the level 1 growth curve parameters (e.g., slope, intercept) as outcome variables and uses time-invariant factors to explain variation in these parameters across individuals. We illustrate this approach by estimating a model of growth in deviance drawn from Gottfredson and Hirschi's deviant propensity theory. An innovative feature is the assumption that adolescents' expected growth curves of deviance follow a classical Pearl-Verhulst logistic growth model (Pearl, 1930). The results suggest that five risk factors—parental psychiatric problems, lack of parental support, living arrangements with zero or one parent in residence, low family income, and male gender—have strongly positive effects on deviant propensity. For example, adolescents with no supportive parents, and no other risk factors, have expected asymptotic levels of deviance (peak levels attained at about age 18) that are about twice as high as those of adolescents with no risk factors. Yet more than two-thirds of the individual-level variability in growth curves is unexplained by the five risk factors. This unobserved heterogeneity would remain hidden in analyses using conventional structural equations models and the same explanatory variables.     

“首要标准”下改革罪犯分类制度的实践与思考

对罪犯实行分类，建立中西特色的监管改造工作模式，是适应世界行刑制度发展的必然趋势。“首要标准”对提高监狱改造质量提出了更高的要求。从这一视角出发，针对当前罪犯分类中存在分类过于简单、粗泛；分类管理制度不健全；分类未与处遇管理相衔接；分类存在明显的阻碍、干扰因素等问题作了阐释，提出完善罪犯分类法规制度；确定罪犯分类标准和分类过程；建立完整的罪犯分类体系；推进民警队伍专业化建设的思考。     

优先发展福州市城市公共交通事业的策略思考

本文拟对福州市如何实施优先发展城市公共交通战略进行初步论证,提出"四化模式"建议,从而进一步提升福州市公交事业的服务和管理水平。     

The wild (white) ones: comparing frames of white and black deviance

In this case study, I establish how a racial privilege shields whites from being framed as deviant by using two racially segregated motorcycle rallies as a naturalistic experiment. I conduct a content analysis of reader posts to online newspaper stories about the biker events (which regularly include deviance) and discover the bikers, their behaviors, and the proposed community reactions are framed in nearly opposite ways. Posters attribute a ‘white innocence’ to white bikers, framing them as upper class exemplars of American Individualism who temporarily suspend their morality during the rally by drinking, exposing their nude bodies, and ignoring newly passed laws, banning loud mufflers, and requiring helmets. Posters claim these unpleasant, although non-dangerous forms of deviance can be ignored, overlooked, and even celebrated as defiant acts against authority. The white innocence can appear racially innocuous until compared to the perception of black bikers who engage in similar behaviors at their rally but are framed as underclass criminals who attend the rally to steal and murder. This reveals how a usually unseen privilege shields whites from entanglements with the criminal justice system, as posters also call for further policing of racial minorities.