Crime contemplation and self-control: A test of Situational Action Theory’s hypothesis about their interaction in crime causation

Situational Action Theory (SAT) is an important theoretical development with relatively broad empirical content, reflected in highly specific hypotheses about crime causation. It offers an alternative concept of self-control to that of the General Theory of Crime and predicts that the effect of self...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Serrano Maíllo, Alfonso
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Repositorio:e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/11728
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/11728
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:crime contemplation
interactions in non-linear models
juvenile delinquency
self-control
Situational Action Theory
Descripción
Sumario:Situational Action Theory (SAT) is an important theoretical development with relatively broad empirical content, reflected in highly specific hypotheses about crime causation. It offers an alternative concept of self-control to that of the General Theory of Crime and predicts that the effect of self-control on crime depends on crime contemplation. Crime contemplation is the tendency to consider crime as an action alternative. This paper is a test of SAT using data on 1304 juveniles from four Latin American cities with relatively high crime rates and impunity levels. It therefore contributes to cross-national testing. Both ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression techniques are applied. Three different ways to test interactions in non-linear models are used. Findings support the hypothesis. Results and limitations are discussed.