Low Self-Control,Substance-Using Peers and Intimate Partners,Pro-Drug Use Definitions,and Inhalant Use Among Convicted Offenders in South Korea

Abstract

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.

Keywords

self-control differential association substance use inhalant use

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akers

R. L.

(1999). Social learning and social structure: Reply to Sampson, Morash, and Krohn. Theoretical Criminology, 3(4), 477–493.

Akers

R. L.

(2009). Social learning and social structure: A general theory of crime and deviance. Transaction.

Akers

R. L.

Krohn

M. D.

Lanza-Kaduce

Radosevich

(1979). Social learning and deviant behavior: A specific test of a general theory. American Sociological Review, 44, 636–655.

Akers

R. L.

Sellers

C. S.

Jennings

W. G.

(2017). Criminological theories: Introduction, evaluation, and application (7th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Arneklev

B. J.

Cochran

J. K.

Gainey

R. R.

(1998). Testing Gottfredson and Hirschi’s “low self-control” stability hypothesis: An exploratory study. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 23(1), 107–127.

Baron

S. W.

(2003). Self-control, social consequences, and criminal behavior: Street youth and the general theory of crime. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 40(4), 403–425.

Beaver

K. M.

Al-Ghamdi

M. S.

Kobeisy

A. N.

Alqurashi

F. H.

Schwartz

J. A.

Connolly

E. J.

Gajos

J. M.

(2016). The effects of low self-control and delinquent peers on alcohol, tobacco, and drug use in a sample of Saudi Arabian youth. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 60(13), 1569–1587.

Beaver

K. M.

Wright

J. P.

(2007). The stability of low self-control from kindergarten through first grade. Journal of Crime and Justice, 30(1), 63–86.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Opioid overdose. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/index.html

10.

Chapple

C. L.

(2005). Self-control, peer relations, and delinquency. Justice Quarterly, 22(1), 89–106.

11.

Cheung

N. W.

Cheung

Y. W.

(2008). Self-control, social factors, and delinquency: A test of the general theory of crime among adolescents in Hong Kong. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(4), 412–430.

12.

Choi

Kruis

N. E.

(2020). Gender, self-control, and opportunity: Applying the general theory of crime to online harassment. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 14(1), 267–282.

13.

Choi

Kruis

N. E.

Kim

(2019). Examining the links between general strain and control theories: An investigation of delinquency in South Korea. Asian Journal of Criminology, 14(3), 201–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11417-019-09287-y

14.

Demuth

(2004). Understanding the delinquency and social relationships of loners. Youth & Society, 35(3), 366–392.

15.

Drug Crime White Paper. (2018). Supreme Prosecutor’s office Republic of Korea. Supreme Prosecutor’s Office.

16.

Duckworth

A. L.

Milkman

K. L.

Laibson

(2018). Beyond willpower: Strategies for reducing failures of self-control. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(3), 102–129.

17.

Evans

T. D.

Cullen

F. T.

Burton

V. S.

Dunaway

R. G.

Benson

M. L.

(1997). The social consequences of self-control: Testing the general theory of crime. Criminology, 35(3), 475–504.

18.

Ford

J. A.

Blumenstein

(2013). Self-control and substance use among college students. Journal of Drug Issues, 43(1), 56–68.

19.

Gottfredson

M. R.

Hirschi

(1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford University Press.

20.

Hirschi

(2004). Self-control and crime. In Baumeister

R. F.

Vohs

K. D.

(Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications (pp. 537–552). Guilford Press.

21.

Holt

T. J.

Bossler

A. M.

May

D. C

. (2012). Low self-control, deviant peer associations, and juvenile cyberdeviance. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 37(3), 378–395.

22.

Hwang

Akers

R. L.

(2003). Substance use by Korean adolescents: A cross-cultural test of social learning, social bonding, and self-control theories. In Akers

R. L.

Jensen

G. F.

(Eds.), Social learning theory and the explanation of crime: A guide for the new century (Vol. 11, pp. 39–63). Transaction.

23.

Kang

E. Y.

S. Y.

(2014). A study on drug use and attitudes forward drug (Ⅱ). Korean Institute of Criminology.

24.

Kang

E. Y.

Lee

S. S.

(2005). An empirical study on drug abuse and demand reduction strategies. Korean Institute of Criminology.

25.

Kerridge

B. T.

(2009). Sociological, social psychological, and psychopathological correlates of substance use disorders in the US jail population. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 53(2), 168–190.

26.

Kruis

N. E.

Seo

Kim

(2020). Revisiting the empirical status of social learning theory on substance use: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Substance Use & Misuse, 55(4), 666–683.

27.

Lilly

J. R.

Cullen

F. T.

Ball

R. A.

(2011). Criminological theory: Context and consequences (5th ed.). Sage.

28.

Longshore

Chang

Hsieh

S-c.

Messina

(2004). Self-control and social bonds: A combined control perspective on deviance. Crime & Delinquency, 50(4), 542–564.

29.

Longshore

Chang

Messina

(2005). Self-control and social bonds: A combined control perspective on juvenile offending. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 21(4), 419–437.

30.

Mason

W. A.

Windle

(2002). Gender, self-control, and informal social control in adolescence: A test of three models of the continuity of delinquent behavior. Youth & Society, 33(4), 479–514.

31.

McGloin

J. M.

O’Neill Shermer

(2009). Self-control and deviant peer network structure. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 46(1), 35–72.

32.

Meldrum

R. C.

Clark

(2015). Adolescent virtual time spent socializing with peers, substance use, and delinquency. Crime & Delinquency, 61(8), 1104–1126.

33.

Miller

B. L.

Stogner

J. M.

Khey

D. N.

Akers

R. L.

Boman

Griffin

O. H.

III . (2011). Magic mint, the internet, and peer associations: A test of social learning theory using patterns of Salvia divinorum use. Journal of Drug Issues, 41(3), 305–325.

34.

Mitchell

MacKenzie

D. L.

(2006). The stability and resiliency of self-control in a sample of incarcerated offenders. Crime & Delinquency, 52(3), 432–449.

35.

Piquero

A. R.

Jennings

W. G.

Farrington

D. P.

Diamond

Gonzalez

J. M. R.

(2016). A meta-analysis update on the effectiveness of early self-control improvement programs to improve self-control and reduce delinquency. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 12(2), 249–264.

36.

Pokhrel

Sussman

Rohrbach

L. A.

Sun

(2007). Prospective associations of social self-control with drug use among youth from regular and alternative high schools. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 2(1), 22.

37.

Pratt

T. C.

Cullen

F. T.

(2000). The empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime: A meta-analysis. Criminology, 38(3), 931–964.

38.

Pratt

T. C.

Cullen

F. T.

(2005). Assessing macro-level predictors and theories of crime: A meta-analysis. In Tonry

(Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research (Vol. 32, pp. 373–450). University of Chicago Press.

39.

Pratt

T. C.

Cullen

F. T.

Sellers

C. S.

Winfree

T. L.

Madensen

T. D.

Daigle

L. E.

. . . Gau

J. M.

(2010). The empirical status of social learning theory: A meta-analysis. Justice Quarterly, 27(6), 765–802.

40.

Ribeaud

Eisner

(2006). The “drug–crime link” from a self-control perspective: An empirical test in a Swiss youth sample. European Journal of Criminology, 3(1), 33–67.

41.

Schaefer

D. R.

(2018). A network analysis of factors leading adolescents to befriend substance-using peers. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 34(1), 275–312.

42.

Schreck

C. J.

Stewart

E. A.

Fisher

B. S.

(2006). Self-control, victimization, and their influence on risky lifestyles: A longitudinal analysis using panel data. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 22(4), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-006-9014-y

43.

Steele

J. L.

Peralta

R. L.

Elman

(2011). The co-ingestion of nonmedical prescription drugs and alcohol: A partial test of social learning theory. Journal of Drug Issues, 41(4), 561–585.

44.

Turner

M. G.

Piquero

A. R.

(2002). The stability of self-control. Journal of Criminal Justice, 30(6), 457–471.

45.

Vazsonyi

A. T.

Mikuška

Kelley

E. L.

(2017). It’s time: A meta-analysis on the self-control-deviance link. Journal of Criminal Justice, 48, 48–63.

46.

Warr

(2002). Companions in crime: The social aspects of criminal conduct. Cambridge University Press.

47.

Watts

S. J.

Iratzoqui

(2019). Unraveling the relationships between low self-control, substance use, substance-using peers, and violent victimization. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 44(6), 979–997.

48.

Wills

T. A.

Ainette

M. G.

Stoolmiller

Gibbons

F. X.

Shinar

(2008). Good self-control as a buffering agent for adolescent substance use: An investigation in early adolescence with time-varying covariates. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 22(4), 459–471.

49.

Wolfe

S. E.

Reisig

M. D.

Holtfreter

(2016). Low self-control and crime in late adulthood. Research on Aging, 38(7), 767–790.

50.

Wright

J. P.

Cullen

F. T.

(2000). Juvenile involvement in occupational delinquency. Criminology, 38(3), 863–896.