Low Self-Control and Crime in Late Adulthood.
This study investigates whether low self-control theory explains self-reported criminal activity in late adulthood. Cross-sectional survey data from telephone interviews conducted with individuals aged 60 years and older in Arizona and Florida (N = 2,000) are used. Regression analyses show that low self-control is related to criminal offending. The relationship between low self-control and offending persists after the introduction of potential mediators (e.g., unstructured socializing, negative emotions, and familial ties) and is even observed across different stages of late adulthood (i.e., young-old, old-old, and oldest-old) characterized by declining physical and cognitive abilities. Robustness checks using alternative measurement and modeling strategies also provide empirical support. Although strong causal inferences are limited by the nature of the data, the findings generally support the notion that low self-control theory partially explains criminal offending in late adulthood.
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA swolfe@mailbox.sc.edu.
Scott E
SE
Wolfe
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Michael D
MD
Reisig
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Kristy
K
Holtfreter
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001130:Arizona / Q000453:epidemiology; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000068356:Self-Control; D012919:Social Behavior
elderly; late adulthood; life course; self-control; self-reports