Chapter 14 Social Control Theory PDF

Chapter 14 Social Control Theory by Rick Linden University of Manitoba Slid...

Chapter 14 Social Control Theory by Rick Linden University of Manitoba Slides prepared by Stephen Schneider Saint Mary’s University Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-1 Learning Objectives Understand early social disorganization theories that sought to explain why crime rates were highest in neighbourhoods characterized by poverty, physical deterioration, and conflict. Know the importance of the social bonds of attachment, involvement, commitment, and belief in the causation of delinquency and crime. Explain the role of the family, the school, and the church in the causation of delinquency and crime. Describe the criticisms that have been made of social control theory and understand the validity of these criticisms. Understand the policy implications of social control theory. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-2 Introduction Social Control Theory This theory assumes that Human beings are neither good nor evil, People are born with the capacity to do wrong, No motivation is needed to explain deviance, and Given that humans naturally try to gratify themselves with no concern for right and wrong, and that the “wrong” way may be the quickest and most efficient way of achieving that gratification. It is conformity, not deviance, that needs to be explained. It also asks: Why don’t we all commit deviance? It focuses on Why we refrain from deviance, and The processes that bind people to the social order. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-3  Theories of Social Disorganization: Durkheim, Thrasher, Shaw, and McKay Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-4 Durkheim and Social Integration Earliest social control theories explained how some types of social structure led to high rates of crime and deviance. Durkheim (1951) emphasized the importance of social bonds to our understanding of deviance. 1. Egoistic suicide 2. Anomic suicide Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-5 Durkheim and Social Integration 1-Egoistic suicide “a situation in which a person’s social ties are so weak that he or she is freed from social constraints and acts only on the basis of private interests” 2-Anomic suicide “when a lack of social integration, caused by factors such as rapid economic change, leaves a society without a clear system of moral beliefs and sentiments.” In these cases, social organization is weak and the individual lacks moral guidance. Without socially regulated goals, deviance is more likely, as people pursue their aspirations without check. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-6 Thrasher and the Gang Trasher located gangs both geographically and socially: Gangs predominated in areas where there were breaks in the structure of social organization (where social controls were weak): such as slums Gangs are not necessarily delinquent. However, delinquency often is the natural result of the activities of youth in areas with weak social controls. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-7  Shaw and McKay: Ecological Analysis Deviance originates not in pathology of individuals, but in the social disorganization of communities. Certain parts of Chicago had high crime rates over a long period of time, despite racial/ethnic changes in population (that is, the problem was ecological). This was blamed on failure of neighbourhood institutions and organizations (for example, family, schools) that did not provide adequate social controls. Result: criminal subculture developed in these areas Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-8 Theories of Social Disorganization Control theory all but disappeared between the 1930s and the 1960s. This was primarily because early research was methodologically flawed. The degree of social control in slum neighbourhoods was not directly measured, only inferred (reasoning). The theory also suffered from ecological fallacy. where the conclusion that lower-class areas have higher crime rates doesn't necessarily mean that being in a lower-class area causes crime. It’s possible that middle-class individuals living in these areas are committing the majority of the crimes, or the local residents may not be involved in crime at all. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-9 Theories of Social Disorganization Thrasher, as well as Shaw and McKay, did lay the foundations for a control theory of crime and delinquency. They found that delinquents come from poorly organized communities whose institutions are not well integrated. Families are unable to adequately socialize their children, and the local schools are poor. These elements all reappear in the work of later theorists. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-10 Early Social Control Theories —Reiss and Nye Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-11 Albert Reiss Reiss differentiated between Social controls, which involve ties to social groups such as the family, the community, and other institutions, and Personal controls, which are internalized by the individual. If these controls are absent, break down, are in conflict, or cannot be enforced, delinquency will result. Reiss found that success or failure of young males on probation was associated with the absence of both social and personal controls. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-12 Ivan Nye Nye expanded on Reiss. He used more advanced methods—for example, using self-reported data on delinquency from a sample of American high school students in the 1950s. His theory was that delinquency is not motivated by the resulting gains, but is prevented by the relative costs of alternative benefits. Weak controls free the person to commit delinquent acts by lowering their cost relative to available alternatives. People are motivated to achieve goals quickly but are prevented from doing so by laws and customs. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-13 Ivan Nye The family is most significant group in the development of social controls. The extent to which the family enforced controls and the degree to which family members got along determined the extent to which a child would develop internal controls Hirschi and the Social Bond Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-15 Hirschi and the Social Bond Individuals Four linked are more aspects of Hirschi likely to turn social bonds wrote to illegitimate constrain our behaviour: Causes of means if their bonds Attachment Delinquency Commitmen (1969). to society are weak or t broken. Involvemen t Belief Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-16 Social Control Theory: Hirschi Attachment: affective ties with others We refrain from crime because we don’t want to hurt or embarrass people we like. Commitment: the degree to which an individual pursues conventional goals Deviance risks the time, energy, etc., invested in obtaining the goal. The student who has worked hard in school and who aspires to a good job may reject the temptations of delinquency for fear of jeopardizing this future career. Involvement: the degree to which an individual is active in conventional activities People who are busy with pro-social activities (for example, school, work, family) do not have time for deviance. Belief: in conventional values and the legitimacy of the law Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-17 The absence of such belief makes deviance more Self-Control: The General Theory of Crime This theory was developed by Gottfredson and Hirschi in 1990. People with low self-control are more likely to commit crime and engage in risky activity when given the opportunity. Low self-control individuals are impulsive, focus on the moment, have unstable personal relationships, less likely to feel remorse. Low self-control is the result of early childhood socialization: poor relationships with parents &/or poor parenting. It is assumed to cause deviance throughout one’s life. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-18 Self-Control: The General Theory of Crime There is some research support for this theory. Canadian research found a correlation between low self-control and drug use (Sorenson & Brownfield, 1995). LeBlanc (1997): low self-control is just one of many psychological traits that should be a part of a holistic social control theory of offending. Sampson & Laub (2003): lifelong deviance is not always the case. Deviance may subside with transitions (turning points) in one’s life and changes in social bonds. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-19 Family Relationships Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-20 Family Relationships Social control theory emphasizes family relationships, since these provide children with the attachments that restrain their deviance. Several aspects of family relationships are related to delinquency, especially the strength of family ties: Warm, affectionate family relationships are associated with low rates of delinquency. Mutual rejection and hostility are typical of the families of delinquents. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-21 Family Relationships Parental supervision and discipline Children who are adequately supervised by their parents have lower delinquency rates than their peers who are not. Clear, consistent, discipline that entails explicit disapproval of unwanted behaviour is related to non- delinquency. Strict discipline and harsh physical punishment, combined with lack of parental warmth, is related to higher rates of behavioural problems and delinquency. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-22 Family Relationships Parental role model Strong ties to parents act as a deterrent to delinquency regardless of parent criminality. However, there is an association between criminality of the parent and that of the child. This may be because of problems that accompany criminal parents (for example, poverty, bad parenting, labelling). Direct modelling of parental behaviour does not seem to be the major cause of delinquency. The modelling of aggression and antisocial attitudes may be the most significant mechanism. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-23 Schooling Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-24 Schooling The school plays a primary role in socialization and is an important determinant of delinquency. Those who are successful enjoy the experience, are rewarded, and have a stake in conformity. Those who fail may be rejected by peers and adult world and have less stake in The correlation between school failure conformity. and delinquency is strong. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-25 Schooling The school affects delinquency in two interrelated ways: 1. “Formal educational qualifications have become the basis for entry into most occupations. A child’s school experiences will have a profound impact on that child’s future life chances” 2. The school is related to delinquency through its effects on children’s daily lives. “For some, the experience is interesting, pleasant, and enriching. For others, it is irrelevant, degrading, and humiliating.” The daily problems of coping with school failure have more impact on delinquency than how it may affect future occupational outcomes. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-26 Religion Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-27 Religion Early studies showed a modest negative relationship between religiosity and criminality. Hirschi & Stark’s (1969) research found religiosity was not related to delinquency. Church attendance, a belief in supernatural sanctions for rule breakers, and religiosity of parents were not associated with delinquency either. Subsequent research did find a strong negative relationship between religiosity and delinquency or crime. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-28 Religion Stark et al. (1982) explain these apparent contradictory findings: Religion affects delinquency only if religious influences permeate the culture and the individuals in question (that is, in a strongly religious community). (This means that religion can reduce delinquency in a community only if the community is strongly religious, and the religious values are integrated into the everyday life and culture of the people.) Religion has its greatest impact when it binds its adherents to a moral community in which religious teachings are reinforced.(religious values are not just taught but actively reinforced through social interactions. ) An individual is less likely to be deviant, because the costs of violating community norms are high, while the likelihood of associating with deviant peers is low.(social costs of engaging in delinquent behavior are high because violating community norms would result in disapproval or punishment.) Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-29 Questions about Social Control Theory Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-30 Questions About Control Theory How does control theory explain upper-world crime? Control theory does not seem to be able to explain the deviance of people who have a high stake in conformity. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-31 Questions about Control Theory Does everyone have the same motivation to deviate? Think about the role of delinquent peers. Social control theory sees no reason to account for the motive to deviate, as the motive is natural. However, researchers have found that some motive- related variables are more strongly related to deviance than control variables. “Ties to delinquent peers” has a stronger correlation with delinquency and drug use than social control. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-32 The Role of Delinquent Peers By combining differential association theory and control theory, a better overall explanation of crime is obtained. Differential association’s emphasis on ties to deviant peers exposes social bonds as multidimensional: conventional and unconventional. The adolescent’s lack of ties to the conventional order will increase association with deviant peers, since the adolescent has nothing to lose by this affiliation. These ties will increase the probability that the adolescent will beCopyright involved© 2020 byin Top deviance. Hat 14-33 Issues with Control Theory Is control theory a conservative theory of crime? Conflict criminologists argue that political and economic structures are ignored by social control theorists. This is a fair criticism, since an individual’s relationships with institutions are conditioned by structural factors. However, critics ignore that control variables can be incorporated into a structural perspective. Control theory focuses on an individual’s relationships with social institutions; structural factors condition those relationships. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-34 Policy Implications of Control Theory Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-35 Policy Implications: The Family Criminal behaviour can be addressed by strengthening families to ensure parents love and care for their children. Patterson (1980): punish the misdeeds of children or they will tend to persist. Deviance should be recognized, monitored, and punished. Parents should be trained to use effective non-physical punishment. Numerous other programs help parents establish bonds with children to foster their internal controls. They may be useful for families with children at risk of future delinquent and criminal behaviour. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-36 The Schools and Social Policy Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-37  The Schools and Social Policy Schools can help at-risk students academically and behaviourally. This can promote social bonds, self-control, and pro-social behaviour. Qualities of effective schools include the following: High standards and values maintained by the school Student participation in decision making Small school and class size; low staff turnover Mix of intellectually and socially disadvantaged students Individual learning goals and pacing Mechanisms for transitioning to a career Curriculum relevant to student lives and minority cultures Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-38 Table 14.1: Social Control Theories Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-39 Summary Rather than asking, “Why do some people break the law?” social control theorists ask, “Why don’t we all do it?” The answer lies in the processes that bind people to conventional society. Early theorists looked at community-level controls. Disorganized communities had weak social institutions that could not provide adequate social controls, resulting in crime and other types of deviance. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-40 Summary Later social control theories focused on the social bonds of individuals. Hirschi described four interrelated aspects of the social bond that constrain our behaviour: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Research on social control theory has pointed to the importance of the family and the school in restraining involvement in delinquency. While less research has been done with adults, it suggests that stable employment and a cohesive marriage are important factors. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-41 Summary Criticisms of social control theory include the following: It does not adequately explain white-collar crime. It does not account for the motivation to deviate. It is too individualistic. It is too conservative. Recent theoretical work has returned to the social disorganization tradition by linking societal and community factors to individual-level bonds. Copyright © 2020 by Top Hat 14-42