Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Juvenile Delinquency
- All Subjects: marijuana production
- Creators: Decker, Scott
Description
The link between childhood neuropsychological deficits and early-onset offending--the assumed precursor to life-course persistent offending--has been well established, yet the underlying mechanisms facilitating this relationship are less understood. Support is growing for the claim that self-control is a key mechanism that links neuropsychological deficits to early-onset offending. Despite this, findings are mixed with regard to the mediating effect of self-control in the relationship between neuropsychological deficits and antisocial behavior. These studies largely support the notion that self-control exerts a mediating effect on neuropsychological deficits when the offending being studied is less serious. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the present study seeks to build upon the existing literature by examining whether self-control mediates the relationship between neuropsychological deficits and two types of early-onset offending--low and high risk--as a means of testing core tenets of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) and Moffitt's (1993) criminological theories. Findings show that while self-control and neuropsychological deficits independently predict general early-onset offending, these effects vary as a consequence of early-onset offender type. The results point to the need for future research to explore the possibility that the early-onset offender group that leads to persistent offending could be more precisely defined. Examining early-onset offending as a single construct limits our ability to make inferences about those offenders that are the most persistent in their offending patterns and, arguably, more likely to continue offending over the life-course.
ContributorsInfante, Arynn (Author) / Burt, Callie H (Thesis advisor) / Decker, Scott (Committee member) / Young, Jacob Tn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Since Gottfredson and Hirschi proposed the general theory of crime, the direct link between self-control and delinquency has gained strong empirical support, and low self-control is now considered as a significant predictor of individual delinquent behaviors. However, the indirect link between self-control and delinquency still remains understudied. This study fills this void by introducing thoughtfully reflective decision making (TRDM), an important factor intimated by rational choice theory, as the mediator of the relationship between low self-control and delinquency. Using self-reported data from the city of Changzhi, China, this study finds that self-control is closely related to TRDM, low self-control is a significant predictor of general and non-violent delinquency, and TRDM does not mediate the effect of low self-control on delinquency. Findings from this study largely support the generalizability of self-control theory under the Chinese cultural environment, and also suggest that it might be fruitful to test other criminological theories in the Chinese context. The study's findings and their implications for theory and research are discussed.
ContributorsZhang, Wenrui (Author) / Wang, Xia (Thesis advisor) / Decker, Scott (Committee member) / Sweeten, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This study is an in-depth examination of thirty-one commercial marijuana growers in four states in the United States. Presently, federal law prohibits marijuana production, but twenty-five states and the District of Columbia allow some provision for marijuana production. Despite massive federal campaigns against marijuana growth, the growers themselves have received comparatively little attention. This study investigates three questions: 1) to what extent do commercial marijuana growers meet life-course criminology’s expectations of offenders; 2) how do growers learn the requisite norms, knowledge, and skills to be successful; and 3) to what extent do growers comply with state laws, and why? The results find little-support for life-course variables. While social learning theory is supported, the results also indicate that independent learning through trial and error and learning through various media are relevant to knowledge and skill acquisition. Respondents adopted a variety of strategies regarding state laws, with partial-compliance in order to minimize risk being the most common. Implications for both theory and policy are discussed.
ContributorsLouton, Brooks (Author) / Decker, Scott (Thesis advisor) / Wallace, Danielle (Committee member) / Katz, Charles (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016