Social control theory gained prominence during the 1960s as sociologists sought differing perspective of crime. It was during this period that Travis Hirschi put forth control theory, a theory built upon existing concepts of social control. Hirschi’s social control theory asserts that ties to family, school and other aspects of society serve to reduce the likelihood of an individual participating in deviant behaviour. As such, social control theory suggests that crime occurs when such bonds are weakened or are not well established. Control theorists argue that without such bonds, crime is an inevitable outcome. Unlike other theories that seek to explain why people engage in deviant behaviour, control theories take the opposite approach, questioning why people refrain from offending.
As a result, criminality is seen as a possibility for all individuals within society, avoided only by those who seek to maintain familial and social bonds. According to Hirschi, these social bonds are based on attachment to those both within and outside of the family, including friends, teachers, and co-workers; commitment to activities in which an individual has invested time and energy, such as educational or career goals; involvement in activities that serve to both further bond an individual to others and leave limited time to become involved in deviant activities; and finally, belief in wider social values. These four aspects of social control are thought to interact to insulate an individual from criminal involvement (Siegel and McCormick, 2006).
Social control theory focuses on the role of social and familial bonds as a reason for individuals to refrain from offending. The idea that young peoples behaviour is 'controlled' by the family, particularly through the support (financial & emotional) of their parents. This connection exploits their relationship to explain their conformity. Many studies exploring social control on delinquency shows a correlation between a negative relationship between parent and children and delinquency. As such, it has been found that the greater the attachment to parents, the lower the likelihood of involvement in delinquent behaviour.
Attachment, according to Hirschi (1969), refers to the level of psychological affection one has for prosocial (behaviour which is positive, helpful, and intended to promote social acceptance and friendship) people and institutions. For Hirschi, parents and schools were of critical importance in this regard, where youths who form close attachments to their parents and schools will, by extension, experience greater levels of social control. For example, in the movie Scream (Craven, 1996), when the two killers are unmasked, one of them laments that, once everyone finds out about them, “my mom is gonna be so mad at me.” Although this particular fictional offender’s maternal attachments obviously did not keep him from killing, it does point to the broader issue of how these attachments can control our behaviour—of not wanting to disappoint those we love with our misbehaviour.
The second type of bond is referred to as commitment, where Hirschi cited the importance of the social relationships that people value, which they would not want to risk jeopardizing by committing criminal or deviant acts. In essence, Hirschi noted that people are less likely to misbehave when they know that they have something to lose. For juveniles, this could mean not wanting to look bad in front of friends, parents, or teachers for having committed a crime—something for which shame from those whose opinion of them matters would be a likely consequence. The same would hold true for adults, Hirschi would argue, where people might refrain from engaging in deviant activities that may threaten their employment or marriage bonds that, again, may serve as sources of social control.
So, the commitment consists on the personal beliefs by which we individually abide. For example, following the Ten Commandments for catholics, not eating pork for Jews, not, fasting during Ramadan for a Muslim, abiding by the military code of honor, abiding by the rules of the school, by the Constitution, or whatever ethical principle makes us act in a rightful way shows our commitment to that principle.
The third type of social bond is known as involvement, which relates to the opportunity costs associated with how people spend their time. Specifically, Hirschi tapped into the old philosophy that “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” in that if people are spending their time engaged in some form of prosocial activity, then they are not, by definition, spending their time engaged in antisocial activity. For example, youths who are heavily involved in legitimate school-related activities — either academically, socially, or athletically—will not be spending that same time destroying property, stealing things that don’t belong to them, shooting heroin, and so on. This is not to say, of course, that such youths cannot engage in those behaviours before or after their legitimate activities. Nevertheless, Hirschi argued that, at least during that time, such youths will not be committing delinquent acts.
The final type of social bond identified by Hirschi is belief, which refers to the degree to which one adheres to the values associated with behaviours that conform to the law; the assumption being that the more important such values are to a person, the less likely he or she is to engage in criminal/deviant behaviour. For example, youths who do not value the notion that it is a bad idea to skip school, and instead value spending the day playing the latest version of Guitar Hero (music video game) and smoking marijuana, are more likely to do just that.
Conversely, youths who, for example, share the belief that using illegal narcotics is wrong are less likely to participate in such behaviour. Although this relationship is quite simple, the underlying concept Hirschi was tapping into was that there is an important link between attitudes and behaviour—not in the sense that attitudes motivate people to commit crime, but rather that prosocial attitudes constrain people from committing the crimes they otherwise would have in the absence of such social bonds (i.e., beliefs).
Perhaps the most significant element of Hirschi’s theory is that, taken together, these social bonds combine in a way that controls our behaviour indirectly—that is, we do not need to have these bonds directly present in our lives to keep our behaviour in check. Instead, the prosocial bonds we have formed can control our behaviour even when they are no longer there.
So, to sum it up: Travis Hirschi Control Theory
Continuing with an examination of large social factors, control theory states that social control is directly affected by the strength of social bonds and that deviance results from a feeling of disconnection from society. Individuals who believe they are a part of society are less likely to commit crimes against it. Travis Hirschi (1969) identified four types of social bonds that connect people to society:
Attachment
Attachment measures our connections to others. When we are closely attached to people, we worry about their opinions of us. People conform to society’s norms in order to gain approval (and prevent disapproval) from family, friends, and romantic partners.
Commitment
Commitment refers to the investments we make in the community. A well-respected local businesswoman who volunteers at her synagogue and is a member of the neighborhood block organization has more to lose from committing a crime than a woman who doesn’t have a career or ties to the community.
Involvement
Similarly, levels of involvement, or participation in socially legitimate activities, lessen a person’s likelihood of deviance. Children who are members of little league baseball teams have fewer family crises.
Belief
The final bond, belief, is an agreement on common values in society. If a person views social values as beliefs, he or she will conform to them. An environmentalist is more likely to pick up trash in a park because a clean environment is a social value to him (Hirschi 1969).