Self-Control and Crime Over the Life Course

Carter Hay, Ryan Meldrum

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781483358994
• eBook ISBN: 9781483384498
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Criminology
• Index: Social Sciences

What exactly is self-control, and what life outcomes does it affect? What causes a person to have high or low self-control to begin with? What effect does self-control have on crime and other harmful behavior?      

 

Using a clear, conversational writing style, Self-Control and Crime Over the Life Course answers critical questions about self-control and its importance for understanding criminal behavior. Authors Carter Hay and Ryan Meldrum use intuitive examples to draw attention to the close connection between self-control and the behavioral choices people make, especially in reference to criminal, deviant, and harmful behaviors that often carry short-term benefits but long-term costs. The text builds an overall theoretical perspective that conveys the multi-disciplinary nature of modern-day self-control research. Moreover, far from emphasizing only theoretical issues, the authors place public policy at the forefront, using self-control research to inform policy efforts that reduce the societal costs of low self-control and the behaviors it enables.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Publisher Note
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Brief Contents
• Detailed Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• One Introduction
• Two Theories of Self-Control and Behavior
• Three What Are the Consequences of Low Self-Control
• Four Infancy and Childhood: What Are the Causes of Self-Control Early in Life?
• Five Adolescence and Adulthood: Is Self-Control Stable Over Time?
• Six What Leads to Self-Control Change?
• Seven Do the Harmful Effects of Low Self-Control Vary Across Different Circumstances?
• Eight Self-Control and Crime Over the Life Course: Bringing It All Together
• Nine Self-Control and Crime: Influencing Policy and Looking to the Future
• References
• Index
• About the Authors