Low Self-control and Moderated Mediated Effects of Child Maltreatment on Delinquency

Abstract

Low self-control theory, one of the most prominent and influential criminological theories, posits that monitoring of child behaviors and discipline of child misbehaviors by parents are the key drivers of instilling self-control in children. The developmental neuroscience literature, however, demonstrates that parental attachment behaviors, or lack thereof (child maltreatment), are causally associated with the development of self-control. In the present study, drawing on the developmental neuroscience literature, we introduce the role that the orienting network in an infant's brain plays in the development of self-control. And then, in order to examine the complex pathways child maltreatment is linked to the two key correlates of delinquency, namely, low self-control and peer delinquency, we examined a mediated moderation as well as a moderated mediation using a South Korean adolescents sample. Results indicate that the indirect association between child maltreatment and delinquency via low self-control is conditioned by the level of peer delinquency.