Criminology

This is a quantitative research which used different measurements to analyze the collected data. The dependent variable is self-control which was measured using a scale of 17-point self-report on hyperactivityinattention. The subjects were asked to answer a series of eight statements relating to impulsivity, distractibility and inattention. This variable was coded in such a way that the higher the score on the scale, the higher the level of self-control.

The independent variables were parental composition, household size, family structure and parental monitoring. The following were measured parental nurturance, a 29-point scale with five questions parental monitoring, a 21-point scale with four items and parental rejection or negligence, a 29-point scale with seven items.

The target population was a large-nationwide sample of Canadian children. The data came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), Cycles 1 and 3 conducted by Statistic Canada. Respondents to the survey were parents, teachers and children and information about social, biologic and economic characteristics were gathered. From Wave 1, respondents were 13,439 households and basic demographic information about each household member was gathered. Random selection was made of one child aged 0 to 11 living in the household was made. The Parent Questionnaire, Child Questionnaire and General Questionnaire were administered to the person most knowledgeable (PMK) about the child. Random selection was also made of children who belong to the same economic family and the PMK completed the Child Questionnaire for each child. Furthermore, self-reported data from Cycle 3 of the NLSCY was collected from respondents who were 10 to 15 years old.  From the

NLSCY sample, 5,539 participants in this age bracket but with the elimination of missing cases using listwise deletion resulted in a working sample of 3,927.

A human subject consideration is that of the relationship between parental supervision and delinquent behavior.  An example was cited to wit where the parent might state that he or she is not always aware of his or her childs whereabouts, the child might believe that the parent does in fact monitor his or her behavior at all times and as a result, the child might take care to engage in activities that could result in disapproval or punishment.  This is the reason why self-reported data was used because it is believed to childs awareness of parenting and parent-child relations were more relevant to the research.

Despite having a large national sample, there are weaknesses to the sample. The weaknesses are related to secondary data analysis. First, it was said that it would have been more ideal if there are broader indicators of self-control. Another weakness cited was in the used of cross-sectional data, causal inferences may pose a problem. The causal inference cited in particular was that parental behavior influences child behavior, which subsequently affects parental behavior.

The strength of the research design is the problem is that because of the fact that there is no universal measurement of self-control, the general theory contentions were tested against several measurements as was cited above. In the concluding statements, it was noted that the study has provided a substantial contribution to the research general theory on crime and more specifically to the sources of self-control.