Social Control Theory Hirschi, Slides of Social Theory

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Social Control Theory

Social Control Theory

• Everyone is motivated to break the law

• So, the question is NOT: Why do we break rules? But, Why don’t we?

• Deviance results from weak social

constraints

• A theory of conformity
• Constraints originate in our social experience

Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory

• People violate social norms because they lack social bonds to conventional others (family, school, work)
• Social bonds do not reduce criminal motivation, they simply enable us to resist temptation
• A theory of informal social control

Hirschi’s Social Bonds

• Emotional Attachment to conventional others (parents, teachers, friends), avoid their disapproval
• Material Commitment = deviance places investments in conventional relationships at risk
• Temporal Involvement = limits criminal opportunity – “idle hands are devil’s workshop”
• Moral Belief in the “rightness” of rules and laws, internalization, personal standards

Age-Graded Theory

of Informal Social Control

• Turning points increase or decrease

informal social control

• Create or destroy connections to society
  • School, employment, marriage, family
• Tend to be age-graded, but vary by person

Braithwaite’s Shaming Theory

• Effectiveness of punishment
  • Rooted in social bonds
• Disintegrative shaming
  • Stigmatization, outcast status, social bond destroyed
• Reintegrative shaming
  • Disapproval followed by reacceptance, preserves bonds

The Origins of Self-Control Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990)

• Young children naturally break rules
• By age 8-10, kids most kids learn to control their behavior
• Parenting is the key
  • Monitoring, detection, punishment
  • Poor parenting leads to low self-control in children

Empirical Patterns that Fit

• Offenders tend to be generalists (not specialists) - Smoking, drinking, drug use, speeding, unprotected sex
• Most offending requires no special skill, tend to be impulsive - Opportunity is key
• Offending usually brings immediate benefit, despite potential for long-term costs

Low Self-Control Theory Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) Bad relationships/ Weak social bonds Deviance

Low self-control

spurious

Implications of

Low Self-Control Theory

• Focus on early family-based intervention

• CJ sanctions can play only a minor role

• Parents must monitor and punish the

behavior of their children

• For those with weak families, government

supports are needed