When Violence Is Not an Option: Perceived Choice Sets and Differential Deterrability Among Adolescents in Germany
The idea that individuals differ in their perceived choice sets or repertoires has a long tradition in criminology and is a common ingredient of modern choice theories. We test this assumption in a large-scale school survey of seventh graders in Germany. Eliciting perceived action alternatives in a...
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Tipo de documento: | Electrónico Artículo |
Lenguaje: | Inglés |
Publicado: |
2025
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En: |
Crime & delinquency
Año: 2025, Volumen: 71, Número: 9, Páginas: 3128-3156 |
Acceso en línea: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Verificar disponibilidad: | HBZ Gateway |
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Sumario: | The idea that individuals differ in their perceived choice sets or repertoires has a long tradition in criminology and is a common ingredient of modern choice theories. We test this assumption in a large-scale school survey of seventh graders in Germany. Eliciting perceived action alternatives in a provocation scenario, we examine the frequency of purely non-violent, purely violent, and mixed repertoires. Our results confirm that a large share of adolescents does not perceive of violence as an option. In contrast, relatively few adolescents could only imagine to react with physical or verbal violence to a physical provocation. We also examine whether self-control and the perceived certainty and severity of sanctions are differentially associated with violent offending across types of repertoires. |
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ISSN: | 1552-387X |
DOI: | 10.1177/00111287241258730 |