Control Theories Control Theory Everyone is motivated to

Control Theories

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 result from weak social constraints – A theory of conformity – Constraints originate in our social experience

Social Sources of Control • We connect to society via social groups – Family, neighborhood, and school – “We are moral beings only to the extent that we are social beings” Emile Durkheim (1925) • Social rewards become contingent on staying out of trouble – We develop stakes in conformity – “When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose” Bob Dylan

Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory • People break the law because they have not internalized society’s rules • Internalization requires strong social bonds to groups in society (family, school, job) – Social bonds do not reduce criminal motivation, they increase one’s ability to resist the temptation of crime

Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory • (Emotional) Attachment to conventional others, such as parents, teachers, and peers leads us to avoid their disapproval = source of conscience • (Material) Commitment to conformity, deviance places conventional investments at risk = rational choice • (Temporal) Involvement = opportunity – “idle hands are devil’s workshop” • (Moral) Belief in the rightness of conventional rules, and the degree to which they should be followed

Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control • Sampson and Laub (1993) extend Hirschi’s original bond theory • Attempt to explain change in offending over the life course – A developmental approach • Social bonds reduce adult crime – More optimistic than self-control theory – people can change!

Research Questions • Are there typical pathways to crime? • Once formed, can these pathways be altered? • Why are some delinquents able to turn their lives around while others are not?

The Life-Course Perspective • Trajectories = long-term pathways through life • Transitions = short-term events that affect life trajectories = turning points • Turning points facilitate role transition • Attending school -> employment -> career > marriage -> family

Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control • Social bonds foster informal control (Hirschi) • Parent-child, teacher-student, employeremployee – Tend to be age-graded – Affected by larger context, neighborhood, history • Weak social bonds = weak informal control – Weak bonds = weak commitments to others = few stakes in conformity = less to lose = deviance likely

Continuity and Change • Continuity – Prior delinquency reduces opportunities for social bonding • Contrast with low-self control theory • Change – Life transitions affect life trajectories • If they create interdependency and obligation • Bad relationships yield little informal social control

Empirical Evidence • Predictors of delinquency – Lack of bonds to family and school – Lack of parental discipline, supervision, attachment – Neighborhood conditions (poverty, family disruption) affect delinquency indirectly through family bonds • Change in adult bonds to work and family = decrease offending

Policy Implications: Foster and Protect Social Bonds • Job training and family counseling – Before and during prison • Less reliance on incarceration – Incarceration undermines work and family, which undermines informal social control • Use of community based punishment – Protect existing social bonds to work and family

Recent Developments: Low Self-Control Theory • Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) – One cause of crime: low self-control • Self-control is formed in early childhood and remains stable throughout life • Restraint resides in the person, not in the relationship to social groups in society – In contrast to Hirschi

The Origins of Self-Control • Young children lie, push, hit, steal, cheat • By age 8 -10, kids learn to control these behaviors - self-control is achieved • Sources of learning self-control – Parenting is key – careful supervision and punishment for misbehavior – Natural sanctions – injuries, bruises, fear, pain

Low Self-Control Theory • Most people know right from wrong – Crime is a matter of human weakness • Most offenders offend repeatedly – Prior offending is best predictor of future crime – Emphasis on continuity in offending • Offenders tend to be generalists • Most offending requires no special skill • Offending usually brings immediate benefit, with the potential for long-term costs

Low-Self Control Theory • We are all born with low self control • High self-control is created in early childhood – Parental monitoring and punishment, set by age 8 -10 • People with low self-control yield to the temptation of immediate gratification • De-emphasize social/motivational factors – The cause is in the person • De-emphasize the rationality of criminal choices – Low self-control undermines rationality

A General Theory • Self-control is the only important causal factor • Other associations with crime are spurious (also due to self-control) – Failed marriages, unemployment, low education • Crime co-occurs with other immediately gratifying but high risk behaviors – Smoking, drinking, drug use, speeding, unprotected sex, accidents – All give pleasure with minimal effort

Age-Crime Curve • Individual differences in the propensity to offend remain stable over time • Regardless of initial starting point, everyone slows down with age

Tautological? • Low self-control = the willingness to engage in behaviors that bring immediate benefits, with the chance of long-term, negative consequences – Crime is defined as such behavior • How can low self-control predict crime when it is part of the definition of crime? • G&H do not see this as a problem, but rather an unfortunate fact of life

Policy Implications of Self-Control Theory • Focus on early family-based intervention – Formal CJ sanctions can play only a minor role • Increase immediate difficulties and risks of crime, not long-term risks – Situational crime prevention – crime specific • Restrict unsupervised youth activity for those with weak families