Bullies, fights, and guns : testing self-control theory with juveniles / Stacey Nofziger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nofziger, Stacey.

Series:

Criminal justice (LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC)

Criminal justice

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children and violence--United States.

Children and violence.

Self-control in children.

Deviant behavior.

United States.

Deviant behavior--United States.

Self-control in children--United States.

Juvenile delinquency--United States.

Juvenile delinquency.

Physical Description:

ix, 175 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : LFB Scholarly Pub., 2001.

Summary:

Most examinations of juvenile violence are limited in the behaviors studied and the theories used. To address these issues Nofziger applies a test of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) General Theory of Crime to a range of violent and intimidating acts. She explores bullying, fighting, and weapon related behaviors and tests the effects of self-control and opportunity with survey data on 1200 juveniles. The analysis indicates that greater self-control decreases intimidation and violence and that greater opportunity increases the same behaviors. The study supports self-control theory and suggests that lessened self-control and increased opportunity encourage the behaviors under investigation.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Juvenile Intimidation, Violence, and Self-Control 1

Human Nature and Criminological Theory 2

Subcultural Theory as an Explanation of Juvenile Intimidation and Violence 5

Self-Control Theory as an Explanation of Juvenile Violence 10

Early Control Theories 11

Self-Control Theory 13

Development of Self-Control 15

Versatility 20

Juvenile Intimidation and Violence 22

Bullying Behaviors 23

Fist Fights and Weapons 28

Schools as a Setting for Violence 35

Hypotheses: Testing Self-Control Theory 37

Chapter 2 Data Collection and Sample Characteristics 41

Study Design 41

The Arkansas Sample 44

Sample Characteristics: Age, Sex, and Raced 46

Social Demographics: Religion, Family Structure, and Class 47

Data Analysis 52

Chapter 3 Measuring the Key Concepts of Self-Control and Opportunity 57

Alternative Measures of Self-Control 57

Operationalization of Self-Control and Opportunity 61

Self-Control 61

Opportunity 75

Summary of Measurement Issues 80

Chapter 4 Structural Equation Modeling: Predicting Intimidation and Violence with Self-Control Theory 85

Bullying 86

Fighting 94

Weapons 101

Summary of Results from Models Predicting Separate Types of Deviance 109

Combined Measures of Intimidation and Violence 111

Chapter 5 Discussion and Conclusion 119

Testing Self-Control Theory 123

Study Limitations 129

Future Research 131

Appendix A Fayetteville Survey 135.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 159-172) and index.

ISBN:

1931202036

OCLC:

45963017