The psychological correlates of cybercrime offending: Exploring the self-control/social learning relationship in serious cyber-dependent crime

Drunk driving assumed near pandemic proportions in the 1980s, and state legislatures rushed to control it throughout the 1990s—largely with increased surveillance, apprehension, and punishment, key elements in a deterrence model. Early in the twenty-first century, researchers and policy makers suggested that deterrence models poorly served us in the control of drunk drivers. Policy makers needed better insights into the social psychology of chronic drunk drivers. In their general theory of crime, Gottfredson and Hirschi describe the propensity of low self-control persons to exhibit a higher propensity for crime and analogous behavior relative to persons with higher levels of self-control. Akers's social learning theory emphasizes the various mechanisms by which the motives, orientations, and methods of crime and delinquency are learned and reinforced. We used data collected as part of an assessment of a municipal court drug-treatment program to explore the ability of variables taken from both theories to predict status as an alcoholic, self-reported misconduct, and subsequent criminal conduct. We followed the program's 110 drunk drivers for at least six months after sentencing. We found that with respect to status as an alcoholic and reconviction status, age (i.e., being older) and level of self-reported misbehavior (i.e., higher levels of self-reported criminal activity) are the most crucial factors. In terms of the theoretical variables, only differential associations play a significant role in the analyses; further, this role appears to be indirect, through the level of self-reported misbehavior.

The growing prevalence of hate material on the Internet has led to mounting concerns from scholars and policymakers alike. While recent scholarship has explored predictors of exposure, perception, and participation in online hate, few studies have empirically examined the social factors that lead individuals to produce cyberhate. Therefore, this work examines the production of online hate using online survey data (N = 520) of youth and young adults collected in December 2017. We draw on two commonly-cited criminological theories, the General Theory of Crime (GTC) and Social Structure-Social Learning Theory (SSSL), to understand social factors that contribute to producing cyberhate. In addition, we consider whether a broader relationship exists between the production of online hate and support for President Trump, whose rhetoric has gained traction among far-right and alt-right communities that traffic in hate. Logistic regression results show limited support for GTC, as low self-control is not a significant correlate of producing cyberhate after other relevant variables are considered. We find more robust support for SSSL, as the production of cyberhate is associated with an individual’s social location, online associations, and differential reinforcement. Moreover, we find evidence that individuals who approve of President Trump’s job performance are more likely to produce online hate.

Researchers have explored the empirical validity of linking key concepts from Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime and Akers’ social learning theory. Much of this research, however, has neither included measures of differential reinforcement and imitation nor operationalized the social learning process as a second-order latent construct as supported by Akers and other scholars. Thus, in this study, the authors used structural equation modeling to examine both the direct effect of low self-control and its indirect effect via a fuller measure of the social learning process on software piracy to improve our understanding of this specific phenomenon and to also provide further insight on the empirical validity of linking concepts from these two theories. They found that the indirect effect of self-control via the social learning process on piracy was greater than its direct effect. In addition, as levels of low self-control increased, the probability of software piracy actually decreased when controlling for the social learning process.

Gottfredson and Hirschi advanced self-control theory in 1990 as part of their general theory of crime. Self-control is defined as the ability to forego acts that provide immediate or near-term pleasures, but that also have negative consequences for the actor, and as the ability to act in favor of longer-term interests. An individual’s level of self-control is influenced by family or other caregiver behavior early in life. Once established, differences in self-control affect the likelihood of delinquency in childhood and adolescence and crime in later life. Persons with relatively high levels of self-control do better in school, have stronger job prospects, establish more stable interpersonal relationships, and attain higher income and better health outcomes. Self-control theory was initially constructed to reconcile the age, generality, and stability findings of criminological research with the standard assumptions of control theory. As such, it acknowledges the general decline in crime with age, versatility in types of problem behaviors engaged in by delinquents and offenders, and the generally stable individual differences in the tendency to engage in delinquency and crime over one’s life-course. Self-control theory applies to a wide variety of illegal behaviors (most crimes) and to many noncrime problem behaviors, including school problems, accidents, and substance abuse. A considerable amount of research has been undertaken on self-control theory and on Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. As a result, self-control theory is likely the most heavily researched perspective in criminology during the past 30 years. Most reviews find substantial empirical support for the principal positions of the theory, including the relationship between levels of self-control and delinquency, crime, and other problem behaviors. These relationships appear to be strong throughout life, among most groups of people, types of crime, in the United States and other countries, and over time. The posited important role of the family in the genesis of self-control is consistent with substantial bodies of research, although some researchers argue in favor of important genetic components for self-control. The theory’s expectations about the age distribution of crime, versatility of offending, and stability of individual differences over long periods of time also receive substantial support. Researchers have long studied variations in age effects, particularly seeking continuously high levels of offending for the most serious offenders, but reviewers have found that the evidence for meaningful variability is not convincing. For public policy, self-control theory argues that the most promising approach for crime reduction focuses primarily on prevention, especially in early childhood, and secondarily on situational prevention for specific types of crimes. Gottfredson and Hirschi argue that self-control theory is inconsistent with reliance on the criminal justice system to affect crime levels. On the one hand, general reviews of the empirical literature on deterrence and incapacitation support the expectations of self-control theory by finding little support for severity of sanctions, sanctions long removed from the act, and selective incapacitation for “serious offenders.” On the other hand, experimental studies from education, psychology, and criminology generally support the idea that early-childhood family and educational environments can be altered to enhance self-control and lower expected delinquency, crime, and other problem behaviors later in life.

This article tests two rival theories: low self-control and differential association and social learning and their competing accounts of why bad parenting matters. The analysis revealed that several dimensions of parenting (including monitoring and caring and parental reinforcement of aggression) affected both low self-control and aggressive attitudes. Both low self-control and aggressive attitudes predicted delinquent involvement and were found to partially mediate the effect of parenting measures on delinquency. The influence of self-control on delinquent involvement was found to vary across levels of aggressive attitudes—adolescents who had aggressive attitudes and little self-control were especially likely to engage in criminal behavior. The results indicate that ineffective parenting is likely to produce low self-control and aggressive attitudes through not only direct control (e.g., monitoring and punishment) but also through modeling. Thus, the findings question the claim by Gottfredson and Hirschi and Akers that they have set forth truly general theories of crime.

The general theory of crime and life course theory are two competing criminological perspectives that attempt to explain individuals' propensities to commit crime. The general theory of crime addresses internal mechanisms of self-control such as impulsivity; life course theory addresses external mechanisms such as school, employment, and marriage (social bonds) (Cullen & Agnew, 2006). Criminologists debate whether internal controls (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990) or external controls (Sampson & Laub, 1993) are more effective in reducing criminal behavior (Cohen & Vila, 1996). However, the present study examines relationships between internal and external control as predictors of arrest. As such, this research note examines the influence of self-control in forming three types of social bonds commonly associated with preventing criminal activity--education, employment, and marriage and then subsequently examines both self-control and social bonds as predictors of arrest in young adulthood. BACKGROUND General Theory of Crime This theory asserts that self-control decreases the likelihood of engaging in delinquent or criminal behavior (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990) and is developed through socialization, generally established by age 10. Parents who develop prosocial relationships with their children and appropriately punish deviant acts are helping their children develop self-control (Akers & Sellers, 2004). Once self-control is established, it remains stable throughout the person's life, resulting in decreased likelihood for deviant behavior (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Children with higher internalized mechanisms of self-control are more likely to understand the long-term consequences of their actions than individuals with low self-control (O'Connell, 2003). Many studies provide support for self-control as an element of the general theory of crime by confirming the relationship between low self-control and delinquency (Pratt & Cullen, 2000). For example, a four-nation comparative study (Vazsonyi, Pickering, Junger, & Hessing, 2001) found that self-control accounted for 17% to 28% of the variance in total deviance across various groups of adolescents. A meta-analysis of 21 studies assessing self-control and crime found that subjects with low self-control were more likely to be criminal offenders (Pratt & Cullen, 2000).These studies support the primary tenet of the general theory of crime that self-control is an important mechanism in criminality (Akers & Sellers, 2004). Life Course Theory Life course theory suggests that trajectories toward criminality are fostered by the absence of structure, routine, and informal social controls (Laub & Sampson, 2003) and that transitions can alter a person's life trajectory (Sampson & Laub, 1990). The goal of life course theory is to understand the stability and changes in criminal behavior while recognizing the importance of major life course transitions (Akers & Sellers, 2004). Significant events, such as marriage, employment, and education, may have pronounced effects on criminal behavior (Horney, Osgood, & Marshall, 1995; Sampson & Laub, 1993; Simons, Johnson, Conger, & Elder, 1998; Uggen, 2000; Warr, 1998). Ties to social bonds, such as job stability and marital attachment, have been shown to be significantly related to changes in adult criminality (Sampson & Laub, 1993). For example, employment appears to be a transition in the life-course for offenders over 26 years old, and maximizing participation in gainful employment decreases criminal involvement (Uggen, 2000). Marriage has been shown to be the strongest discriminator between those who desist from criminal behavior and those who recidivate (Benda, Toombs, & Peacock, 2003).Although several studies indicate that young men who marry are more likely to resist criminal involvement than unmarried young men (Benda et al. …

Limited information is known about the offending phenomenon of Hong Kong adolescents, specifically from a theoretical standpoint. Using a sample of 892 secondary school students, this study aims to explore the criminogenic risk factors of juvenile delinquency in Hong Kong adolescents. Grounded in the theoretical propositions of mainstream criminological theories (i.e., self-control, social control, social learning, general strain, and routine activity), the adolescents' types of delinquent behavior (i.e., violent, nonviolent, and general delinquency) are examined. Findings indicate that male adolescents reported significantly higher levels of violent, nonviolent, and general delinquency than female adolescents. Relative to females, males are also reported significantly higher levels of pro-violence attitudes, deviant peer influence, alcohol and drug use, and perceived neighborhood disorganization. However, female adolescents are found to have higher levels of self-control, social bonding, and negative temperament than their male counterparts. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that deviant peer influence in addition to alcohol and drug use is found to be general risk factors for engaging in all sorts of delinquent activity. A high level of pro-violence attitudes is significantly associated with violent offending, while low self-control is a significant predictor of nonviolent offending and general delinquency. Social bonding, negative temperament, and perceived neighborhood disorganization are found to be important factors associated with general delinquency. Implications of the findings are offered to address the adolescents' criminogenic risk factors and prevent their propensity to engage in violent, nonviolent, and general delinquency.

Hirschi has repeatedly argued that the relationship between social learning variables and crime is a product of “self-selection” driven by low self-control (LSC). Akers’ has suggested that social learning mechanisms, such as affiliations with deviant individuals and acceptance of criminal definitions, can mediate the effects of LSC on crime. Interestingly, there has been little comparative work done to explore this mediation hypothesis in the realm of substance use for offender populations outside of the United States. This study helps fill these gaps in the literature by exploring the potential mediation effects of social learning variables on the relationship between LSC and inhalant use among a sample of 739 male offenders in South Korea. Our results provide strong support for the mediation hypothesis that LSC indirectly influences self-reported inhalant use through social learning mechanisms.

Gottfredson and Hirschi claimed, as part of their general theory of crime, that a child’s criminal propensity, what they called level of self-control, is fairly fixed by age 10. Low self-control children, they further claimed, exhibit greater proclivities for delinquency and analogous behaviors than children with high levels of self-control. They see self-control levels for children at both ends of the spectrum—and their propensities for crime and analogous behaviors—as immutable over the life course. The authors explore the self-control levels, self-reported illegal behavior, and supporting attitudes exhibited by a panel of youths from in six cities at five points in time. Some of our findings substantiated Gottfredson and Hirschi’s claims (e.g., claims linking self-control, sex, and race or ethnicity); however, other findings are at odds with their theory (e.g., the unchanging nature of self-control). The authors review the implications of these findings for self-control theory.

“Sin taxes” are high on the political agenda in the global fight against obesity. Ac- cording to theory, they are welfare improving if consumers with low self-control are at least as price responsive as consumers with high self-control, even in the absence of ex- ternalities. In this paper, we investigate if consumers with low and high self-control react differently to sin tax variation. For identification, we exploit two sets of sin tax reforms in Denmark: first, the increase of the soft drink tax in 2012 and its repeal in 2014 and, second, the fat tax introduction in 2011 and its repeal in 2013. We assess the purchase response empirically using a detailed homescan household panel. Our unique dataset com- prises a survey measure of self-control linked to the panelists, which we use to divide the sample into consumers with low and high levels of self-control. We find that consumers with low self-control reduce purchases less strongly than consumers with high self-control when taxes go up, but increase purchases to a similar extent when taxes go down. Hence, we document an asymmetry in the responsiveness to increasing and decreasing prices. We find empirical and theoretical support that habit formation shapes the differential response by self-control. The results suggest that price instruments are not an effective tool for targeting self-control problems.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects men and women worldwide. However, a comprehensive examination of the etiology of IPV perpetration across national contexts is limited. Since Aker's Social Structure and Social Learning (SSSL) theory was developed as a general theory of crime, national differences in social structure should explain social learning, which in turn should explain IPV perpetration. Therefore, the current study tests the applicability of SSSL and the mediation effect of the social learning process on the connection between social structural factors and IPV perpetration. Data on IPV perpetration by both male and female college students in 30 nations were taken from the International Dating Violence Study. Structural-level indicators of gender equality for individual nations were taken from Global Gender Gap Index. Findings suggest that national-level gender equality is partially mediated by definitions favorable to breaking the law; a component of SSSL theory. However, other components of the social learning process, such as differential association, differential reinforcement, and imitation, were not found to have mediating effects. The findings only partially support SSSL theory that social learning variables mediate the effect of gender equality on IPV perpetration. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Despite recent concerns over youthful problem gambling, few gambling studies have looked into Asian adolescent populations. This study of a stratified, random sample of high school students in Hong Kong is designed to estimate the prevalence of gambling pathology among Chinese adolescents and to examine the relationships between social strain, self-control and gambling pathology. Based on the DSM-IV-J gambling screen, the rates of probable pathological gambling and at-risk gambling in this sample are 1.1% and 2.4%, respectively. Social strain and low self-control are predictive of gambling pathology, and a higher level of self-control can dilute the adverse effect of social strain on gambling pathology. These findings suggest that besides the social control, support and learning mechanisms often emphasized in juvenile gambling research, a greater understanding of the role that social strain plays and how it interacts with personality traits such as self-control may be informative in the management of gambling-related addictions in adolescents.

Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime and Akers’ (1998) social learning theory have received strong empirical support for explaining crime in both the physical and cyberworlds. Most of the studies examining cybercrime, however, have only used college samples. In addition, the evidence on the interaction between low self-control and deviant peer associations is mixed. Therefore, this study examined whether low self-control and deviant peer associations explained various forms of cyberdeviance in a youth sample. We also tested whether associating with deviant peers mediated the effect of low self-control on cyberdeviance as well as whether it conditioned the effect. Low self-control and deviant peer associations were found to be related to cyberdeviance in general, as well as piracy, harassment, online pornography, and hacking specifically. Deviant peer associations both mediated and exacerbated the effect of low self-control on general cyberdeviance, though these interactions were not found for the five cyberdeviant types examined.

Social learning theory has been widely implemented to understand cyber deviance. Nevertheless, the antecedent scholarship homogenously nested in the perspective of offending specification, leaving the offending versatility thesis unattained. The lack of such studies may undermine the capability of comprehensively understanding the social learning patterns of online offending. Using a sample of 3741 Chinese college students, this study estimated an array of binary logistic regressions to compare the effects of traditional and online social learning in four types of online offending (online sexual harassment, cyberbullying, hacking, and digital piracy). The results suggest that offending versatility and offending specification co-exist in the social learning process of cyber deviance, while offending specification explains a marginally greater variance. Besides, online learning variables act as potential mediators in the relationships between traditional learning and cyber deviance. Furthermore, traditional social learning shows greater predictive power in cyber-enabled crimes than in cyber-dependent crimes. Our study provides fresh empirical evidence for the non-exclusive association between offending versatility and offending specification in the social learning process of cyber deviance.

Self-control and crime revisited: Disentangling the effect of self-control on risk taking and antisocial behavior