Control theories

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Control theories

• Nyes theory
• Social Bond Theory

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Control Theories

• Control theories take the opposite approach from
  other theories
• Instead of asking what drives people to commit
  crime, they ask why do most people not commit
  crime
• There is no problem explaining why people commit
  crime since all human beings suffer from innate
  human weaknesses which make them unable to resist
  temptation

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Control Theories Main points

• Focus on restraining or "controlling" factors
  that are broken or missing inside the
  personalities of criminals
• Control theory investigate the ways in which our
  behavior is regulated, including the influences
  of family, school, morals, values, beliefs, etc.
• It is this regulation that is seen as leading to
  conformity and compliance with the rules of
  society

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Control Theories Main points

• Temptation is before us all but why do only some
  of us give in to temptation
• Crime is the result of a loss of social control
  normally imposed through social institutions such
  as the family, faith, education, and the
  community or ones neighborhood
• If such informal social control is weakened,
  formal means of social control may be imposed -
  the juvenile- and criminal justice systems.

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Forerunners of Control Theory

• Emile Durkheim (late 19th century)
• The nature of manHomo Duplex concept
• Social self product of socialization, a
  civilized member of society
• Egoistic self- is comprised of animal urges not
  controlled by societys rules
• Through proper socialization, the egoistic self
  could become integrated into social self
• Without this integration, deviance results

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Influence of Classical school

• Free will (view individuals as active rather than
  passive agents)
• Criminal behavior, like any type of behavior, is
  a result of rational choice
• Internal controls (well-developed conscience)
• External Controls (parental discipline, parental
  monitoring, laws)

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Early Control Theories

• Nyes theory
• Personal controls are internalized (through
  socialization)
• Social controls operate through the external
  application of legal and informal sanctions

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Nyes (1958) three main categories of social
control that prevent delinquency

• Direct control, by which punishment is imposed
  for misconduct and compliance is rewarded
• Indirect control, by which a youth refrains from
  delinquency because a particular act might cause
  pain/disappointment for parents or significant
  others
• Internal control, by which a youths conscience
  or sense of quilt prevents him/her from engaging
  in delinquent acts

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Nyes theory

• Family is the most important agent of
  socialization
• The more adolescent's needs for affection,
  security, and recognition are met within the
  family, they less they will deviate (direct and
  indirect controls will be strong)

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Social Bond TheoryTravis Hirschi

• Social Control Theory
• Causes of Delinquency (1969)
• Social Bond Theory- Delinquent acts result when
  an individual's bonds to society are weak or
  broken
• Attachment
• Commitment
• Involvement
• Belief

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Social Bond TheoryTravis Hirschi

• Attachment refers to a persons sensitivity to
  and interest in others
• Measurement
• There's always someone to turn to in time of need
• I have a lot of close friends
• I am not eager to move out from my parents
• My parents are good role models

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Social Bond TheoryTravis Hirschi

• Commitment involves the time, energy, and effort
  expended in conventional lines of action, such as
  getting an education and saving money for the
  future.
• Measurement
• 1.Haven't drinked2. Haven't skipped school3.
  Haven't missed much church4. Have participated
  in school activities

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Social Bond TheoryTravis Hirschi

• Heavy involvement in conventional activities
  leaves little time for illegal behavior
• Measurement
• 1. Haven't been wasting time2. Have spent time
  with family3. Have participated in
  extracurricular school activities4. I generally
  keep busy

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Social Bond TheoryTravis Hirschi

• Beliefs - degree to which person thinks they
  should obey the law
• Measurement
• 1. It is important to own a home2. It is
  important to respect police3. Teachers are good
  people4. Generally, the law should be obeyed

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Empirical validity of the theory

• Theory suggests that attachment to parents (even
  delinquent ones) and friends (even delinquent
  ones) would decrease delinquency
• Research has shown the opposite
• Whose who are strongly attached to delinquent
  parent/friends are more likely to be delinquent

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Empirical validity of the theory

• Krohn, Massey (1980)have found that social
  bonding variables are moderately related to
  delinquent behavior (minor delinquency rather
  than serious)
• Attachment and commitment to school are
  negatively related to delinquency (Giordano, 1992)

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THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY

• Divorce/Stepfamilies
• Adoption
• Punitive parenting
• Incompetent parenting
• Single parenting

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Divorce

• Gender-specific effects include females tending
  toward status offending and males leaning toward
  felony offending (Datesman Scarpitti 1975
  Canter 1982)
• Austin (1978) concludes that white females are
  the most affected by the broken home
• Meta-analyses of the literature on divorce
  (Loeber Stouthamer-Loeber 1986 Wells Rankin
  1986) reveal a consistent statistical
  relationship between parental absence and
  delinquency, and interpret this finding as
  support for a lack of supervision explanation

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Punitive parenting

• Punitive parenting is most strongly related to
  violent delinquent behavior
• Violence breeds violence
• Males with punitive parents tend to become
  murderous, while females under the same
  conditions tend to develop depressive mental
  disorders (Bryer et al. 1987)
• Punitive parenting, of course, correlates highly
  with runaway behavior (Gutierres Giovannoni
  1981)

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Stepfamilies increase delinquency

• Johnson (1986) reports that male stepchildren, in
  particular, are more involved in serious crime
  than those raised in other types of broken homes
• The effect of a stepfather on drug dependence by
  white males is also indicated by the literature
  (Blechman, Berberian Thompson 1977)
• In fact, the majority of studies show a greater
  effect of stepfamilies on drug dependence than
  for other forms of behavior (McCarthy et al.
  1982 Flewelling Bauman 1990)
• Other studies have linked stepfamily influence to
  runaway behavior (Rankin 1983) and antisocial
  personality disorder (Steinberg 1987)