ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the theoretical and subsequent empirical work on how self-control develops in children based on M. R. Gottfredson and T. Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime. It provides a simple illustration of the extent to which there appears to be an interactive and synergistic process that characterizes how parenting, self-control, deviance are related over time in a sample of young children followed from age 4.5 to age 10.5 years. It is clear that Gottfredson and Hirschi favored social explanations in how self-control develops, but very critically, they repeatedly acknowledged and discussed the salience of individual differences, the importance of biology, and of socialization effects. In a meta-analysis of 34 rigorous studies focused on testing the malleability of self-control during the first decade of children’s lives, for instance, Piquero, concluded that studies were successful in improving self-control; the interventions reduced deviance; positive effects were robust across a number of potential moderators, including data sources or raters and clinical versus non-clinical approaches.
