Abstract

This article assesses empirically whether Gottfredson and Hirschi's “general theory” can account for the “gender gap” in crime and, when rival theories are included in the analysis, can explain criminal behavior for both males and females. Based on a sample of 555 adults, the results indicate that the relationship of gender to crime becomes nonsignificant when self-control is introduced into the analysis. Further, when males and females are analyzed separately, self-control is related, albeit differently, to males' and females' criminal involvement. These results suggest that Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory should be incorporated into future empirical assessments of gender and crime.

Keywords

CriminologyPsychologyGeneral theorySelf-controlSocial psychologyEconomicsPositive economics

Affiliated Institutions

Related Publications

Social Osmosis and Patterns of Crime

Crime and the fear of crime have a deep negative impact on personal and societal well-being. Several observed patterns regarding criminal behavior, however, remain inadequately ...

1991 Journal of Political Economy 636 citations

Publication Info

Year
1998
Type
article
Volume
35
Issue
2
Pages
123-147
Citations
306
Access
Closed

External Links

Social Impact

Altmetric

Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

Citation Metrics

306
OpenAlex

Cite This

Velmer S. Burton, Francis T. Cullen, T. David Evans et al. (1998). Gender, Self-Control, and Crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency , 35 (2) , 123-147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427898035002001

Identifiers

DOI
10.1177/0022427898035002001