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Agency, Self-Efficacy, and Desistance from Crime: an Application of Social Cognitive Theory

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Abstract

Purpose

To explain why many offenders desist from crime, and why some persist, some theorists highlight the role of personal agency. Qualitative studies, in particular, observe that desisting offenders tend to express a “language of agency”—they view themselves as capable of influencing their actions and environment—while persistent offenders tend to see themselves as relatively helpless and even “doomed to deviance.”

Methods

Drawing on Bandura’s social cognitive theory, which highlights self-efficacy as a key mechanism of agency, we analyze quantitative data from a large sample of serious offenders and examine how confidence in their ability to desist (desistance self-efficacy) is related to offending behavior. To advance research in this area, we focus on within-person effects and examine how changes in desistance self-efficacy relate to changes in offending over time. We also examine factors that are expected to enable or constrain personal agency.

Results

The findings indicate that a number of factors contribute to changes in desistance self-efficacy. An increase in desistance self-efficacy, in turn, is associated with a decrease in overall criminal involvement.

Conclusions

Implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed.

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Notes

  1. In supplemental analyses, we tested for an interaction between desistance self-efficacy and importance placed on desistance, but the associated multiplicative interaction term was not significant (p > 0.05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3992, Atlanta, GA, 30302-3992, USA

    Tricia M. Johnston & Timothy Brezina

  2. Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA

    Beverly R. Crank

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  1. Tricia M. Johnston
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Johnston, T.M., Brezina, T. & Crank, B.R. Agency, Self-Efficacy, and Desistance from Crime: an Application of Social Cognitive Theory. J Dev Life Course Criminology 5, 60–85 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40865-018-0101-1

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