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The ‘Drug–Crime Link’ from a Self-Control Perspective

An Empirical Test in a Swiss Youth Sample

University of Zurich, Switzerland, and University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Manuel Eisner

University of Cambridge, UK

The present paper explores to what extent low self-control can account for the ‘drug–crime link’, i.e. the correlation between substance use and delinquency. Based on a large representative sample of Swiss 9th grade students, we reassess the dimensionality of Grasmick et al.'s self-control scale and propose a fivedimensional second-order factor model. This model is then used as a predictor of two correlated behavioural continua, one measuring overall delinquency and the other overall substance use. Results indicate that self-control is a strong and stable predictor of both types of behaviour. However, although self-control substantially accounts for the correlation between delinquency and substance use, a considerable residual correlation remains. It is argued that dynamic or ‘state-dependent’ factors are most likely to account for this residual correlation. Analyses of the predictive power of individual sub-dimensions of self-control further indicate that self-control might be reduced to the sub-dimensions of ‘risk-seeking’ and ‘impulsivity’. Results are discussed in the broader context of past research and of the ongoing theoretical debate.

Key Words: Drug–Crime Link • General Theory of Crime • Juvenile Delinquency • Self-Control • Structural Equation Modelling • Substance Use • Switzerland

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