Unraveling the Relationships between Low Self-Control, Substance Use, Substance-Using Peers, and Violent Victimization

Abstract

Low self-control, substance use, and affiliations with delinquent peers have been tied to victimization, but the related relationships between these variables and their effects on violent victimization have rarely been studied. The current study considers whether low self-control, substance use, and affiliations with substance-using peers shape violent victimization, and how these variables are related to one another, within an integrated self-control/routine activities theoretical model using path modeling in MPLUS and two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Results suggest that (1) low self-control increases substance use and affiliations with substance-using peers, (2) substance use and affiliations with substance-using peers reciprocally shape each other, and (3) all three variables directly and indirectly shape violent victimization, providing direction for theoretical and policy development.

Publication Title

American Journal of Criminal Justice

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