Control Theories Control Theory Everyone is motivated to

Control Theories

Control Theory • Everyone is motivated to break the law • Deviance results from weak social constraints

Social Sources of Control • We connect to society via social groups • Social rewards are contingent on staying out of trouble

Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory • People break the law because they have not internalized society’s rules • Internalization requires social bonds

Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory • Emotional Attachment • Material Commitment • Temporal Involvement • Moral Belief

Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control • Sampson and Laub (1993) extended social control theory to explain changes in offending behavior over the life course • Questions:

The Life-Course Perspective • Trajectories = • Transitions/Turning Points =

Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control • Transitions increase or decrease informal social control • Life course persistent v. adolescent limited

Policy Implications • Less reliance on incarceration • Job training and family counseling • Use of community based punishment

A Contrasting View: Self-Control Theory • Control resides in the person, not in his or her relationship to social groups

The Origins of Self-Control • Young children naturally break rules • By age 8 -10, kids most kids learn to control their behavior • Parenting is the key

Empirical Patterns that Fit • Offenders tend to be generalists • Most offending requires no special skil • Offending usually brings immediate benefit

A General Theory • Self-control is the only important causal factor for understanding crime/deviance • Other factors are spurious (also due to selfcontrol)

Policy Implications of Self-Control Theory • Focus on early family-based intervention • Parents must monitor and punish behavior

Code of the Streets? • Informal social control theory – Neutralizations • Age-graded theory of informal social control • Self-control theory