When Violence Is Not an Option: Perceived Choice Sets and Differential Deterrability Among Adolescents in Germany

Abstract

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.