Control theories

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Control theories

• Social Bond Theory
• Self-Control 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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The main question of control theories

• Temptation is before us all but why do only some
  of us give in to temptation

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Comparison

• Strain/learning theories

• Control theories

Strain
Social learning for crime
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Examples
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What are controls/restrains?

• My parents raised me to respect the law
• I do not want to upset my parents
• I know what is right and what is wrong
• It is fell too guilty when I do something wrong
  
• I am afraid of being caught
• I worry about my reputation, etc.

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Control Theories Main points

• Focus on restraining or "controlling" factors
  that are broken or missing inside the
  personalities of delinquents
• 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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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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Types of Control

• 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 might result in
  punishment
• Belief refers to juveniles beliefs regarding
  delinquency. A youths conscience or sense of
  quilt prevents him/her from engaging in
  delinquent acts
• Self-control (Internal control) refers to the
  juveniles ability to exercise self-restraint.

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Direct Control (four components)

• Setting rules
• Monitoring behavior
• Sanctioning delinquency
• Reinforcing conventional behvaior

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Setting rules

• Mostly done by parents, teachers, and schools

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Monitoring behavior

• Someone is watching over the juvenile and
  sanctioning him/her for deviance

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Effective Monitoring

• Very high levels of monitoring and over strict
  parents may be ineffective and sometimes, they
  may even increase delinquency (perhaps for
  reasons related to strain theory)

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Sanctioning delinquency

• Parents, teachers, police, courts, correctional
  agencies

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Teen Arrested For Texting In Class

• WAUWATOSA- A 14-year old girl was arrested for
  texting in class.
• The teacher told to stop, but the teen kept at
  it. Finally, the teacher called the school's
  police officer.
• The officer demanded the phone, and the teen hid
  it down her pants and denied having a cell phone.
  
• She was arrested for disorderly conduct for
  disrupting class, disobeying the teacher, and
  lying to the officer about having a phone.
• Not only was she arrested and forced to appear in
  court, she ended up with a 300 bail and she was
  suspended for a week
• After her suspension, the teen was caught
  sneaking back into school twice, earning her two
  trespassing tickets.

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Teen arrested for wrapping cat in duct tape
(Philadelphia)

• A teenager wrapped a cat in duct tape, put it in
  a shopping bag and left it in a neighbor's
  backyard
• A teen was arrested on animal cruelty charges
• He faces up to two years in prison and a minimum
  1,000 fine if convicted.

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Teen arrested in rape and murder of 8-month-old
(New Orleans)

• A 17-year-old Arnold T. Ross was arrested on
  charges of aggravated rape and first-degree
  murder of an 8-month-old child Saturday afternoon
• The death was initially unclassified, but the
  coroner's office later reported it as a homicide
  after an autopsy of the child's body revealed
  multiple fractures consistent with a beating and
  tears in the anus

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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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Self-control theory

• Hirschi collaborated with Gottfredson (1990) to
  develop the theory with the only one type of
  control self-control
• They did not clarify how their self-control
  theory relates to Hirschis social bonding theory
  
• We can assume that all four elements of social
  bonding must be an indicators of the concept of
  self-control

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Self-control theory

• Theory states that individuals with high
  self-control will be less likely at all periods
  of life to engage in criminal acts, while
  individuals with low self-control are likely to
  commit crimes

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Elements of low self-control

• Self-control consists of the ability to delay
  gratification
• People with low self-control have a here and
  now orientation and are unable or unwilling to
  delay gratification.
• Crime provides easy gratification of desires
  (money without work, sex without courtship,
  revenge without court delays)
• People lacking self-control also tend to lack
  persistence in a course of action

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Elements of low self-control

• Criminal acts are exciting, risky, and thrilling
• They involve steal, speed, agility, deception,
  and power
• People lacking self-control tend to be
  adventuresome, active, and physical
• Those with high levels of self-control tend to be
  cautious, cognitive, and verbal

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Elements of low self-control

• Crimes provide a few long-term benefits
• They are not equivalent to a job or a carrier (on
  contrary, crimes interfere with long-term
  commitments to job, family, or friends)
• People with low self-control tend to have
  unstable marriages, friendships, and job profiles

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Elements of low self-control

• Crimes require little skill or planning (the
  cognitive requirements for most crimes are
  minimal)
• People lacking self-control need not possess or
  value cognitive or academic skills

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Elements of low self-control

• Crimes often result in pain or discomfort for the
  victim
• It follows that people with low self-control tend
  to be self-centered, indifferent, or insensitive
  to the suffering and needs of others

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Elements of low self-control

• Low self-control argument rests on the idea that
  crime is like any other reckless act.
• Those with low self-control tend to smoke, drink,
  use drugs, gamble, have children out of wedlock,
  and engage in illicit sex
• In addition, because low self-control is
  associated with all types of crime, offenders
  will tend not to specialize in particular kind of
  crime.

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Determinants of Low Self-Control

• Low self-control is produced in families where
  there is little attachment between parent and
  child, in families where parents fail to
  recognize deviant behavior (for example, in cases
  where parents are also deviant), or when parents
  recognize deviant behavior and fail to correct it
• Self-control that is not attainment in childhood
  is unlikely to be produced in adulthood

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Self-control

• Self-control develops during early socialization
• Once formed in childhood, the amount of
  self-control remain relatively stable throughout
  life
• Parents who are attached to children, supervise,
  monitor and punish deviant acts (family is the
  most important agent)
• Peer groups are relatively unimportant in the
  development of self-control

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Crime Rate Variations?

• Why do people commit less crime as they age?
• Why are some regions are more crime prone than
  others?
• Why are some groups are more crime prone than
  others?
• Does that mean there are between-group
  differences in self-control?

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Age-crime relationship
8-9 years
15-24 years
45-55 years
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Answer of the theory

• Criminal propensity and criminal acts are
  separate concepts
• Crime is rational and predictable- people commit
  crime when it promises rewards with minimal
  threat of pain
• If targets are guarded, crime rates diminish
• Only the truly irrational offender would dare to
  strike under those circumstances

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Answer of the theory

• Criminal offenders are people predisposed to
  commit crimes, they are not robots who commit
  crime without restrain
• Their days are filled also with conventional
  behaviors (school, church, job)
• But given the same set of criminal opportunities
  (free time, living in a neighborhood with
  unguarded homes, etc) crime prone people are more
  likely to violate the law.