Is Low Self-Control Associated With Violence Among Youth in Turkey?

• NCJ Number: 226614
• Journal: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 53 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2009 Pages: 145-167
• Author(s): Ozden Ozbay; Onur Koksoy
• Date Published: April 2009
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using a sample of university students in Turkey (n=974), this study tested self-control theory (Gottfredson and Hirsch, 1990) in relation to violent behavior.

Abstract

The study found that self-control measures were linked to violent behavior, consistent with self-control theory. Further, the lower the self-control, the greater was criminal behavior generally. Measures of opportunity--family control, no curfew, and type of residence (rental house, dormitory, or family home)--showed that conditions of greater opportunities for unrestrained behavior were related to greater violence, as predicted by self-control theory. In examining whether the impact of low self-control on crime is contingent on high opportunity, the study concluded that low self-control and opportunity by themselves are not important factors in the occurrence of a deviant act. This implies that opportunity has both independent and conditional influences on crime. Among the control variables, social class had a consistently positive link with political violence (violence related to gaining political power on campus), but not with “other” violence (fighting for various reasons). High social class measured in terms of possession of household items in general increased political violence. Self-control and opportunity variables reduced the impact of two of the most important variables in theoretical criminology, i.e., having criminal friends and gender. Students from four major colleges and three technical colleges participated in this self-report survey in 2004. The two dependent variables were “political” violence and “other” violence. Independent variables pertained to self-control and opportunity. Control variables were monetary strain, certainty of punishment, criminal friends, school commitment, timing of education, social class, and age. 4 tables and 46 references