Page 16 - Flipbook: Sociology Shortcuts Issue 5: Situational Action Theory
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More-generally, Wikstrom found that These findings suggest that while the
socially disadvantaged individuals key variables in understanding youth
with high levels of offending had both crime are propensity and exposure –
higher crime propensities – “weaker variables that can be applied to
personal morality and ability to almost any social grouping,
exercise self-control” and higher regardless of factors like age, gender
levels of criminogenic exposure and class – something like social
(“more crime prone peers and disadvantage has a strong mediating
exposure to criminogenic settings”) effect on these variables that
than non-offenders drawn from the explains why socially-disadvantaged
same or similar backgrounds. The young people are more-likely to
latter “demonstrate average levels of engage in offending than their
personal morality and ability to advantaged peers.
exercise self-control more consistent The socially disadvantaged, for
with young people from the least example, have far more restricted
disadvantaged backgrounds”.
choices of action than their
A further interesting finding is that advantaged peers. The latter have
“regardless of their levels of far greater opportunities for
disadvantage, young people with a educational success, something that
high crime propensity and high insulates them to some extent from
criminogenic exposure report high criminogenic exposure (they spend
rates of crime involvement more time in school and in the
FINDINGS
(practically 100%) and extremely company of non-criminogenic adults
high crime frequencies”. and peers) and encourages lower
crime propensities: the ability to
exercise higher levels of self-control,
for example, is much easier in
situations where others – particularly
parents and peers – are encouraging
the development of this
characteristic.
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