Intimate partner violence and the capacity and desire for self-control

ABSTRACT

According to Tittle, the effect of self-control on one’s criminal offending is a product of both an individual’s capacity to exercise self-control as well as their desire to do so. The present study utilized self-report data gathered at a large urban university in Florida (n = 1,307) to test both the independent and interactive effects of self-control capacity and self-control desire on intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. The study suggests that while both capacity and desire for control have effects on one’s likelihood of reporting IPV perpetration, these effects were independent of each other and no evidence of interaction between to two were observed.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Krista Taralynne Brewer

KRISTA TARALYNNE BREWER is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her research interests are in theories of interpersonal violence and victimization. This article stems from her MA thesis while at the University of South Florida.

John K Cochran

JOHN K. COCHRAN is Professor of Criminology at the University of South Florida. Professor Cochran earned his PhD in Sociology at the University of Florida (1987). He has over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts most of which involve tests of micro-social theories of criminal behavior and macro-social theories of crime and crime control. His current research interests involve tests of micro-social theories of criminal behavior. He is also continuing his work on issues associated with the death penalty.

Ráchael A Powers

RÁCHAEL POWERS is an associate professor in the Department of Criminology. Her main research interests surround violent victimization. Her current projects focus on two main areas – violence against women and hate crime. She has recently published in Criminal Justice & Behavior, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Crime & Delinquency among other outlets.

Christine S Sellers

CHRISTINE S. SELLERS is Professor and Director of the School of Criminal Justice at Texas State University. She is co-author with Ronald Akers and Wesley Jennings on Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, and Application, now in its seventh edition. Her research interests include criminological theories and the role of gender in the explanation of criminal and delinquent behavior.