A General Theory of Crime has sparked a great deal of theoretical debate and empirical investigation. Tests of the theory have focused on measuring the core element, the latent trait of self-control. The majority of this research has used the 24-item scale developed by Grasmick et al. (1993), and a great deal of attention has been directed at the validity of this scale. Empirical debate revolves around the unidimensionality of the scale as established using conventional factor analytic techniques [exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)]. In this paper, we provide the first application of an item response theory (IRT) Rasch model to the validation of the Grasmick et al. scale. IRT models focus on the interaction between the human subject and survey items, and the extent to which cumulative scales fail to provide fundamental measurement. Our results suggest that although conventional factor analyses yield results similar to those previously reported, IR T analysis reveals that one's level of self-control influences self-report responses, a finding consistent with Hirschi and Gottfredson. One of the most influential theoretical developments of the past decade is Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) A General Theory of Crime.Their theory has attracted much attention, with a growing body of literature spanning both critiques (Akers, 1991; Barlow, 1991; Polk, 1991; Reed and *We would like to thank the three reviewers for their valuable suggestions. A portion of this paper was written when the first two authors were Fellows participating in the "Violence Over the Life Course" Institute at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in the Summer of 1998. CRIMINOLOGY VOLUME 38 NUMBER 3 2000 897 ~~ 1. Since the focus of this paper concerns measurement issues associated with selfcontrol, we forego a detailed review of Gottfredson and Hirschi's (19%) theory.

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