Self-control, attachment, and deviance among Hispanic adolescents

✍ Scribed by Holly Ventura Miller; Wesley G. Jennings; Lorna L. Alvarez-Rivera; Lonn Lanza-Kaduce

• Book ID: 104021429
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 175 KB
• Volume: 37
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0047-2352
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.12.003

✦ Synopsis

Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime has received considerable empirical attention since its publication in 1990. Implicitly embedded in self-control theory is its cross-cultural applicability, though this is seldom examined. In this study, self-control theory was tested in a novel cultural setting (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and in relation to maternal attachment. The analysis relied on data collected from a self-report survey administered to a sample of Puerto Rican adolescents attending public school in Dorado, Puerto Rico, part of metropolitan San Juan. Results indicated that maternal attachment was related to self-control and that both attachment and self-control independently predict deviant behavior. Further analyses revealed only partial support for the ability of low self-control to mediate the effects of attachment on deviant behavior, contrary to the general theory's predictions. Study limitations, directions for future research, and policy implications are also discussed.