The Mediating Role of Street Code Attitudes on the Self-Control and Crime Relationship |
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| Authors: | Jonathan Intravia Benjamin R Gibbs Kevin T Wolff Rocio Paez Allison Bernheimer Alex R Piquero |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA;2. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA;3. Program in Criminology, EPPS, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA |
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| Abstract: | Research has demonstrated strong but independent attention to the role of self-control and street code attitudes in predicting criminal and violent behavior. Yet, there are good theoretical notions to believe that street code attitudes may be a salient mechanism in the self-control–offending relationship. Specifically, the present study investigates: (1) the extent to which self-control predicts adopting street code attitudes and (2) whether street code attitudes mediate the effect of self-control on criminal behavior. Using data collected from a multisite sample of over 900 young adults, we assess this mediation hypothesis for three distinct types of criminal activity: violent, property, and drug use. Our results reveal that individuals with lower self-control are more likely to adopt street code attitudes, that self-control is related to all three forms of offending, and that street code attitudes fully mediate the effect of self-control on violence, partially on property crime, but not in the case of drug use. Findings and directions for future research are discussed. |
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