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SELF‐CONTROL IN A CRIMINAL SAMPLE: AN EXAMINATION OF CONSTRUCT VALIDITY *
Author(s) -
LONGSHORE DOUGLAS,
RAND SUSAN TURNER,
STEIN JUDITH A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
criminology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.467
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1745-9125
pISSN - 0011-1384
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1996.tb01203.x
Subject(s) - construct (python library) , construct validity , psychology , scale (ratio) , sample (material) , population , criminal history , self control , predictive validity , social psychology , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychometrics , criminology , medicine , computer science , environmental health , chemistry , physics , chromatography , quantum mechanics , programming language
Favorable evidence on the validity of the Grasmick et al. (1993) self‐control scale has been reported in studies using general population samples. However, the scale has never been tested among persons extensively involved in crime. We assessed the construct validity of this scale, slightly revised, in a heterogeneous sample of drug‐using criminal offenders. Factor analyses identified five subscales, mostly congruent with existing formulations of the self‐control construct. Also, recent crimes of force and fraud were more frequent among people scoring lower on self‐control. However, the five‐factor solution was not tenable among women, and the scale was no more closely related to crime than were three subscales representing more specific constructs already established in criminology.