Background Information Social Control Theories Influenced by the Classical school free will Chicago School Durkheim anomie and psychological school Freud etc Developed in the 1950s most influential in the 1960s receded into the background until Gottfredson and Hirschi s General Theory of Crime 1990 Background Information 1950s and 1960s were times of great social change and political change in the US The popular media portrayed life in the 1950s as idyllic fashionable suburban homes father in suit traveling to the city for work the mother remaining at home to cook good meals and raise the children Background Information Some truth but not ALL true movement Background Information Yes suburbia was born causing the decay of some urban areas Yes men went to work but not all were happy with their jobs Yes women stayed at home but not all were happy about it first rumblings of the feminist According to control theorists the major problem with preceding theories was not that they didn t explain why crime occurred but rather they seemed to OVER EXPLAIN it Opposite approach from other theories of crime Why do people NOT commit crimes or Why do people obey the rules of their society Background Information We should have no problem explaining why people commit crime all humans suffer from innate human weaknesses which make them unable to resist temptation The main reason why people do not become deviant or criminal is due to SELF CONTROL the ability to restrain one s self from illegal or deviant actions Background Information Restraining and controlling factors are broken or missing inside the personalities of criminals Crime and deviance are NORMAL behaviors Macro and micro level Reiss and Nye Theories of Internal and External Controls One of the earliest applications of self control 1951 Reiss social control problems measured as to the degree to which school authorities labeled juveniles as behavior problems Reiss and Nye Theories of Internal and External Controls Nye 1958 published a study claiming the family was the single most important source of social control Delinquents more likely to come from families with complete freedom or no freedom at all Internal and External Controls Delinquency is caused by the failure of personal internal and social external controls Three main categories of social control that prevent delinquency Internal and External Controls 1 Direct control punishment rewards by parents 2 Indirect control youth refrains because it would cause pain and disappointment to parents and others 3 Internal control conscience sense of guilt Many of the associations were weak due to poor conceptualization and operationalization Did not mention social class gender or race differences Criticisms Research Nye pioneered the use of self report data Used questionnaires to ask delinquents what behaviors they had engaged in Reckless Containment Theory 1956 1973 PhD from University of Chicago Studied male delinquents in Ohio Containment Theory The individual confronted by choices of action feels a variety of pulls and pushes Pulls environmental factors such as adverse living conditions poverty lack of legitimate opportunities abundance of illegitimate opportunities family problems etc Pushes internal pressures such as hostility aggressiveness drives wishes etc Containment Theory Not all people with the same pushes and pulls become delinquent Two kinds of containment 1 Inner strongest self components such as ego strength self control high tolerance for frustration goal orientation etc 2 Outer structural buffers in immediate social world that hold a person within bounds such as institutional reinforcement norms goals effective supervision discipline etc Important Observations Brings together psychological and sociological principles Explains why some people are able to resist the strongest pressures to commit crime A positive self image that is a product of encouragement and support from significant adults Research and Criticisms Contribution to the development of control theory Concepts are not operationally well defined and very difficult to test Most research only on male delinquents Not much research since the theory was first developed Sykes and Matza Techniques of Neutralization and Drift 1957 1964 Individuals are rarely committed to or compelled to perform delinquent criminal behavior They drift in and out of it retaining a commitment neither to convention or crime Delinquents are never totally immune to the demands of conformity made by the dominant social order they feel some guilt and shame Techniques of Neutralization and Drift Delinquents redefine their contemplated actions to make it acceptable if not right Five techniques of neutralization that facilitate drift into delinquency denial of responsibility denial of injury denial of the victim condemnation of the condemners appeal to higher loyalties Important Observations Direct opposition to subcultural theory Cohen Most offenders age out of crime Research Very few empirical evaluations Concepts of neutralization and drift never well defined or operationalized Evidence is not very supportive in studies of most street crimes The theory is really just a smaller part of a more general theory a building block to control theory Criticisms It is hard to establish what happened before the crime or delinquent act occurs Fails to take into consideration how there techniques differ by social class race and gender Problems with Early Control Theories They assume that human beings are born free to break the law and will refrain from doing so only if special circumstances exist They really don t explain why people are motivated to commit crime and deviance Concepts aren t well defined and difficult to test Hirschi Social Bonding Control Theory 1969 1971 People will be less likely to engage in criminal deviant behavior when their bond to conventional or moral society is strong This bond is based on four elements and these four elements when taken together will either create a weak bond delinquency more likely or a strong bond delinquency less likely Social Bonding Attachment most important ties with conventional others parents friends teachers etc Commitment stakes in conformity weighing of costs risks investment in society money power status in community Belief common value system norms values Involvement conventional activities school sports church etc Social Bonding Measures include close parental supervision and discipline good