About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

26 Deviant Behav. 1 (2005)

handle is hein.journals/devbh26 and id is 1 raw text is: 


Deviant Behavior, 26: 1-24, 2005                   Taylor & Francis
Copyright () Taylor & Francis Inc.                 Taylor&FrancisGroup
ISSN: 0163-9625 print/1521-0456 online
DOL 10.1080/01639620490497947



can low self-control help with
the   understanding of the
software piracy problem?


George   E. Higgins
Department of   justice  Administration,
University  of Louisville,
Louisville, Kentucky,  USA

Computer  crime-specifically, software piracy-is
growing, and no research in criminology examines
whether  low self-control can help us understand
the behavior. This study examines the link that
Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) idea of low
self-control has with software piracy. Using a
nonrandom   sample of college students and
measures  of low self-contro, software pirating
peers, software pirating attitudes, and moral beliefs
toward software piracy, the findings show that low
self-control has a link with software piracy. This
finding expands the scope of self-control theory
and provides an understanding of why the behavior
occurs.


Gottfredson  and  Hirschi's (1990) General  Theory   of Crime,
now  known   as self-control theory, provides a substantial ad-
vance  in a long history of self-control theory in criminology
(see Reckless  1961; Reiss  1951). Since its presentation over
13  years ago,  Gottfredson  and  Hirschi's (1990) theory  has
become   a leadingcrime   theory (see Agnew  1995).  Criminol-
ogists often cite the theory (see Cohn  and  Farrington 1999),

   Received 18 January 2004; accepted 25 May 2004.
   Address correspondence to George E. Higgins, Department of Justice Administration,
University of Louisville, 208 Brigman Hall, Louisville, KY 40292. E-mail: gehigg0l@gwise.
louisville.edu


I

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most