Article Synopsis and Review

Article Synopsis and Review

Article in question:

Reynolds, J. J., McCrea, S. M. (2018). Criminal behavior and self-control: Using the dual-component theory of inhibition regulation to advance self-control and crime research. Current Psychology: A Journal of Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, Vol 37 (4), Dec 2018, pp. 832 – 841.

Synopsis

Content of the article

The article is addressing criminal behavior and the role of self-control in crime prediction. Understanding criminal behavior is the beginning of eradicating crimes in the community. Understanding the role of self-control is one of the effective ways of understanding crimes. The article analyses Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime, which highlights the essence of understanding self-control in understanding crimes. The theory states that self-control can explain someone’s behavior; it helps one to avoid yielding to short term desires. People who therefore lack strong social bonds portray criminal behavior when an opportunity crops up. however, the general theory or crime has many limitations, which make it weaker in examining self-control as a determinant to criminal behavior. The issues include a lack of a proposed mechanism to produce the self-control related criminal behavior and lack of biological considerations, which are also determinant for a person being a crime. Therefore the authors suggest the DCTIR model.

The dual-component theory of inhibition regulation (DCTIR) was used to disclose the full potential of self-control. DCTIR is a specific modular theory that proposes a particular mechanism of self-control.  The researchers examine self-control through the use of The article also addresses the relationship between age and crime. It states that age is a strong determinate of committing a crime. Een if the age factor is not entirely dependent on self-control, DCTIR can be used to expound on the explanation. People who suffered from low self-esteem in their childhood have an increased chance of committing crimes. The socioeconomic effects are the last variable the author’s state stimulates criminal behavior. They state that people who are more exposed to poverty and inequality in society are more inclined to commit crimes, whether trying to fend for themselves or retaliate towards the unjust society. The authors conclude that self-control is an essential variable that hasn’t been examined to the fullest while it is one of the aspects that could help in understanding crime, and therefore future research using the DCTIR model is recommended.

Relation to the research topic

The article directly relates to my research topic, which is Criminal Behavior. In the article, the researcher’s focus is to understand what stimulates a person to commit a crime. In the process, he focuses entirely on examining self-control to understand the behavior of criminals. In the course of implementing DCTIR, the researcher finds that an individual exhibits criminal behavior does not feel the need to have self-control.  Th researcher’s topic and objectives align with my goals because, in my research, my focus will be to understand what causes one to commit a crime. In understanding the stimulants for offense, one will be able to predict crime and implement measures to curb the crime before it occurs.

Research discussed

The authors do not undertake field research, but they embark on secondary data.  They discuss how the DCTIR model can account for a number of findings, e.g., patterns of recidivism, age differences, and the role of social factors in crime. The researcher first discusses the function of detection subroutine and measurement subroutine before presenting the findings. The first impression of criminal behavior is when an individual does not believe an act needs self-control. This is interpreted in the DCTIR language that the specific individual lacks the detention subroutine that inhibits the modules that produce criminal behavior. The person holds the modules that provide behaviors that directly or indirectly connected to crimes. They include aggression, deception, and sexual coercion modules. Then when the individual has a corresponding detection subroutine, it is activated when it detects an output. The measurement subroutine registers the degree of temptation to engage the behavior for the system to produce a corresponding level of inhibitory effects. This way, the individual will participate in a particular behavior, depending on how tempting or costly modules are perceived. The findings that support this opinion. Vazsony et al., 2006 and Zimmerman, 2010, state that the individual difference in trait impulsivity predicts the likelihood of engaging in temptation. For research done by McClelland and Templin examined 2365 police-citizen encounters. They found that 43.3% of the violent crime and sexual assault and 46.1% of the public order crimes involved alcohol.  Results showed that the suspects were drunker than the victims. research by mead et al., (2009) stated that self-control was not associated with performance or mood

Article review

Reliability and validity of the article

The authors of the article used peer-reviewed references. Most of the articles exceed five years since their publication, but there are those that are recently published. I think the article is reliable and valid. A reliable article should provide thorough and well-reasoned theory, argument, and discussion and should back it up with scholarly or peer-reviewed articles or books. The references should relate to the article and should be enough to support it. A valid reference should be published by reputable journals and needs to have been peer-reviewed. This article is reliable because it has a strong argument. The authors clearly argue out how the DCTIR can be used to reveal the potential of self-control and temptation. They breakdown the components of the DCTIR and discussed how each one of them shows how self-control relates to criminal behavior. He then outlines how crime and age interrelate and how self-control interacts with the environment in an adaptive way. The researchers then back up their argument with previous research from both old and new articles. The article is valid because the references are from reputable journals that he been peer-reviewed as well as books. One of these journals is the journal of experimental social psychology, which dominates the references.

Is the article well written?

The article is well written. The authors start by giving a brief summary of what is in the article in the abstract. Though they do not clearly mention the objective of the research, they jump into explaining why it is essential to understand the role of self-control and th model used to examine self-control. Through the article, the author introduces the concept of DCTIR and then builds up the information. They explain the concept by concept and how the different concepts relate to one another in that the reader of the article does not get lost. Then, after the discussion, the authors give definite conclusions.

Limitations of the article

One of the article’s weaknesses is the use of secondary resources. The researcher does not know if the sources are 100% accurate and if there is a chance the sources were inaccurate, then it means that all the drawn conclusions are based on an erroneous foundation, and this would also affect other researchers who will be using this article as references. The model used is not meant to explain all concepts of self-control in relation to criminal behavior. For instance, it partially explains why individuals who were harassed in their childhood and experienced self-esteem issues are more likely to portray criminal behavior. There is a far fetched explanation at this point. Moreover. It states that age is a determinant of criminal behavior and that young people and adolescents are more likely to commit a crime. The authors were unable to draw the relationship between age and self-control that would explain why younger people have lower self-control. However, the authors drop a disclaimer that there were no human participants in this study. The researcher also fails to clearly state the main objective of the article in the abstract. The authors also to not pave the way for future research by recommending further research from an element they felt they left out.

Thoughts and other comments on the article

This article makes a very reliable source of information for my research. It offers information that could be used in crime prediction.