Criminologists have long recognized that offending and victimization share common ground. Using Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime, with its emphasis on self-control as a theoretical backdrop, we examine the extent to which self-control is related to both violent offending and homicide victimization. To examine this issue, we use 5-year post-parole data on violent offending and homicide victimization from a sample of parolees from the California Youth Authority. Using rare-events logistic regression models, results indicate that self-control is related to each outcome, but that other risk factors are also uniquely related to each outcome. The implications of this study for theory and future research are addressed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
E. Anderson (1999) Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City Norton New York
S. Andreasson P. Allebeck A. Romelsjo (1988) ArticleTitleAlcohol and mortality among young men: Longitudinal study of Swedish conscripts Br. Med. J. 296 1021–1025
A. Blumstein (1995) ArticleTitleYouth violence, guns, and the illicit-drug industry J. Crim. Law Criminol. 86 10–36
A. Blumstein R. Rosenfeld (1999) ArticleTitleTrends in rates of violence in the U.S.A. Stud Crime Crime Prevent. 8 139–168
A. Blumstein J. Cohen J. A. Roth C. A. Visher (Eds) (1986) Criminal Careers and “Career Criminals” National Academy Press Washington
InstitutionalAuthorNameCenter for Disease Control. (2001) ArticleTitleInfluence of homicide on racial disparity in life expectancy—United States, 1998 Morbidity Mortality Week. Rep. 50 780–783
C. Coffey F. Veit R. Wolfe E. Cini G. C. Patton (2003) ArticleTitleMortality in young offenders: Retrospective cohort study BMJ 326 1064–1067
F. T. Cullen P. Gendreau (2000) Assessing correctional rehabilitation: Policy, practice and prospects J. Horney (Eds) Criminal Justice 2000: Volume 3—Policies, Processes, and Decisions of the Criminal Justice System U. S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice Washington, DC 109–176
D. S. Elliott (1994) ArticleTitle1993 Presidential address: Serious violent offenders: onset, developmental course, and termination Criminology 32 1–22
M. E. Ezell L. E. Cohen (2005) Desisting from Crime—Continuity and Change in Long-Term Patterns of Serious Chronic Offenders Oxford University Press Oxford
D. P. Farrington (1989) Self-reported and official offending from adolescence to adulthood M. Klein (Eds) Cross-National Research in Self-Reported Crime and Delinquency Kluwer Dordrecht 399–423
D. R. Forde L. W. Kennedy (1997) ArticleTitleRisky lifestyles, routine activities, and the general theory of crime Justice Quart. 14 265–294
J. A. Fox (1996) Trends in Juvenile Violence: A Report to the United States Attorney General on Current and Future Rates of Juvenile Offending Bureau of Justice Statistics Washington, DC
M. R. Gottfredson (1981) ArticleTitleOn the etiology of criminal victimization J. Crim. Law Criminol. 72 714–726
M. R. Gottfredson T. Hirschi (1990) A General Theory of Crime Stanford University Press Stanford
Hammond, R. W., and Yung, B. (1993). Psychology’s role in the public health response to assaultive violence among young African-American men. Am. Psychol. Feb: 142–154.
M. Hindelang T. Hirschi J. Weis (1981) Measuring Delinquency Sage Beverly Hills, CA
T. Hirschi M. R. Gottfredson (2000) ArticleTitleIn defense of self-control Theor. Criminol. 4 55–70
D. Huizinga D. S. Elliott (1986) ArticleTitleRe-assessing the reliability and validity of self-report delinquency measures J. Quant. Criminol. 2 293–327
G. King L. Zeng (2001) ArticleTitleExplaining rare events in international relations Int. Organization 55 693–715
E. J. Latessa F. T. Cullen P. Gendreau (2002) ArticleTitleBeyond correctional quackery: Professionalism and the possibility of effective treatment Federal Probation 66 43–49
P. K. Lattimore R. L. Linster J. M. MacDonald (1997) ArticleTitleRisk of death among serious young offenders J. Res. Crime Delinquency 34 187–209
J. H. Laub G. E. Vaillant (2000) ArticleTitleDelinquency and mortality: A 50-year follow-up study of 1,000 delinquent and nondelinquent boys Am. J. Psychiat. 157 96–102
J. H. Laub R. J. Sampson (2001) Understanding desistance from crime M. Tonry (Eds) Crime and Justice: A Review of Research University of Chicago Press Chicago 1–69
J. L. Lauritsen (1998) ArticleTitleThe age-crime debate: Assessing the limits of longitudinal self-report data Soc. Forces 77 127–155
J. L. Lauritsen R. J. Sampson J. H. Laub (1991) ArticleTitleThe link between offending and victimization among adolescents Criminology 29 265–292
M. W. Lipsey (1999) ArticleTitleCan intervention rehabilitate serious delinquents? Ann Am. Acad. Pol. Soc. Sci. 564 142–166
R. Loeber D. P. Farrington D. Petechuk (2003) Child Delinquency: Early Intervention and Prevention Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Washington, DC
D. Longshore S. Turner J. A. Stein (1996) ArticleTitleSelf-control in a criminal sample: An examination of construct validity Criminology 34 209–228
D. R. Lynam A. Caspi T. E. Moffitt P. O. H. Wikstrom R. Loeber S. Novak (2000) ArticleTitleThe interaction between impulsivity and neighborhood context on offending: The effects of impulsivity are stronger in poorer neighborhoods J. Abnorm. Psychol. 109 563–574
J. Petersilia (2003) When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry Oxford University Press New York
A. R. Piquero D. P. Farrington A. Blumstein (2003) The criminal career paradigm: Background and recent developments M. Tonry (Eds) Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Volume 30 University of Chicago Press Chicago 359–506
A. R. Piquero R. MacIntosh M. Hickman (2002) ArticleTitleThe validity of a self-reported delinquency scale: Comparisons across gender, age, race, and place of residence Sociol. Meth. Res. 30 492–529
A. R. Piquero A. Blumstein R. Brame R. Haapanen E. Mulvey D. S. Nagin (2001) ArticleTitleAssessing the impact of exposure time and incapacitation on longitudinal trajectories of criminal offending J. Adoles. Res. 16 54–74
T. C. Pratt F. T. Cullen (2000) ArticleTitleThe empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime: a meta-analysis Criminology 38 931–964
S. H. Preston M. E. Hill G. L. Drevenstedt (1998) ArticleTitleChildhood conditions that predict survival to advanced ages among African-Americans Soc. Sci. Med. 47 1231–1246
A. J. Reiss (1989) Ending Criminal Careers Final report of the desistance/persistance working group of the Program on Human Development and Criminal Behavior. National Institute of Justice Washington, DC
A. J. Reiss J. A. Roth (Eds) (1993) Understanding and Preventing Violence National Academy Press Washington, DC
P. A. Rydelius (1988) ArticleTitleThe development of antisocial behaviour and sudden violent death Acta Psychiatr. Scand 77 398–403
R. J. Sampson J. L. Lauritsen (1994) Violent victimization and offending: Individual-, situational-, and community-level risk factors A. J. Reiss SuffixJr. J. A. Roth (Eds) Understanding and Preventing Violence, Volume 3: Social Influences National Academy Press Washington, DC 1–114
C. J. Schreck (1999) ArticleTitleCriminal victimization and low self-control: an extension and test of a general theory of crime Justice Quart. 16 633–654
H. Stattin A. Romelsjo (1995) ArticleTitleAdult mortality in the light of criminality, substance abuse, and behavioural and family-risk factors in adolescence Crim. Behav. Mental Health 5 279–311
C. R. Tittle D. A. Ward H. G. Grasmick (2003) ArticleTitleSelf-control and crime/deviance: Cognitive vs. behavioral measures J. Quant. Criminol. 19 333–366
Tomz, M., King, G., and Zeng, L. (1999). RELOGIT: Rare Events Logistic Regression, Version 1.1. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. October 1, http://gking.harvard.edu
M. E. Wolfgang (1958) Patterns in Criminal Homicide University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia
M. E. Wolfgang T. P. Thornberry R. M. Figlio (1987) From Boy to Man, from Delinquency to Crime University of Chicago Press Chicago
C. A. Yeager D. Otnow Lewis (1990) ArticleTitleMortality in a group of formerly incarcerated juvenile delinquents Am. J. Psychiat. 147 612–614
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of Florida, P.O. Box 115950, 201 Walker Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611-5950; Phone: +1-352-392-1025, ext. 213; E-mail: apiquero@ufl.edu
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Piquero, A.R., MacDonald, J., Dobrin, A. et al. Self-Control, Violent Offending, and Homicide Victimization: Assessing the General Theory of Crime. J Quant Criminol 21, 55–71 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-004-1787-2
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-004-1787-2