Beyond Self-Control: Analysis and Critique of Gottfredson & Hirschi's General Theory of Crime (1990)

Throughout the 20th century numerous explanations for crime and deviance have emerged that have been offered as better explanations than other theories and perspectives. Yet, the impact of criminological theorizing on public policy remained insignificant. In this situation Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi presented their book"A General Theory of Crime"and suggested self-control theory. Their theory arrived on the scene with a"make-up"of seriousness, objectivity and truth, which seemingly flattered politics since it was taken as to justify the status quo of the criminal justice system. Whereas the popularity of self-control theory has certainly sparked an enormous interest in the empirical examination of the theory, the amount of critique remained limited.§The study"Beyond self-control"is a first attempt to remedy this situation. The author works back - through theoretical analysis - to the logical presuppositions of self-control theory and assesses their validity in light of current data and understandings. This methodological endeavour, eventually, brings to light that Gottfredson and Hirschi's book on self-control theory contains more criminological wisdom than acknowledged by most scholars in criminology.