ABSTRACT

Here is where Hirschi and Gottfredson grapple with the idea of behavioral change over time, especially behavioral change in conjunction with aging. The maturational reform problem in criminology was identified early on by David Matza in Delinquency and Drift (New York: John Wiley, 1964). The key question is whether propensity to crime is a fixed attribute. The conceptual solution employed by Hirschi and Gottfredson was to distinguish crime and criminality. This paper has not previously been reprinted. According to Hirschi, efforts to publish it in scholarly journals were unceremoniously rebuffed. He told me, “I don't think they even sent it out for review.” Yet it remains a key item in the development of self-control theory, builds directly on the age-invariance argument, and clearly anticipates many of the issues that have continued to exercise the field.—JHL/TH