Age, self-control, and adults' offending behaviors: A research note assessing A General Theory Of Crime

This article examined empirically whether Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) "general theory" explained criminal and imprudent behaviors among a communi ty sample of adults across the age distribution. The findings indicated tha t low self-control was significantly related with both forms of self-report ed offending activity through age fifty. Gottfredson and Hirschi's claim th at their theory explained offending across age, therefore, was generally su pported. It is suggested that future empirical tests employ the "general th eory" as a causal explanation of adult criminality. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.