Studying Sensation Seeking and Criminality Cross-culturally

This study looks at sensation seeking and criminal propensities in the United States, England and Hong Kong. A preliminary study using a sample from the United States found sensation seeking and criminal propensities to be strongly linked, especially among males. If male sensation seekers in the United States are attracted to criminal behavior, is that true among people from other cultures? The present study will test the United States model using samples from England and Hong Kong.

Author Bio

Presented By:

Leona Lee is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. Dr. Lee earned her Masters Degree in criminology from Cambridge (England) and her Ph.D. in criminal justice from Rutgers. She has done research in the areas of juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice, and court dispositions, and has published in the Journal of Criminal Justice, Journal of Crime and Justice, Juvenile and Family Court Journal, and Youth and Society. Her current research focuses on mate-selection, workplace bullying, sensation seeking and deviance. She is analyzing the connection between sensation seeking and deviance based on her surveys in the United States, England and Hong Kong.