Control Theories

• Reiss 1951- delinquency results when there is a relative absence of internalised norms and rules governing behavior in conformity with the norms of the social system to which legal penalties are attached
• Reckless Containment Theory:

  • we as individuals are subjected to varying forces, for some it pushes us to crime and for others protects against involvement
  • inner containment- regulate individual no matter that the circumstances externally were. self concept (seeing yourself as law abiding), goal orientation, frustration tolerance, norm retention
  • outer containment- opportunities, groups, associations
• Sykes and Matza Neutralisation and drift theory

  • delinquent activity is a temporary state, usually in adolescence and early adulthood, generally diminishing after that
  • drift- most of the time delinquents are law abiding usually. delinquency often a matter of drift, controls have loosened, making it easier for the person concerned to be influenced by social forces
• Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime:

  • people commit crimes for immediate gratification
  • low self control and opportunity causes crime and deviance. impulsiveness, risk-seeking
  • low self control is a result of poor parental control.
• critiques of the general theory of crime:

  • self control is hard to research, prove and measure
  • is it capable of explaining all crimes?
  • if low self control is stable, why does crime decrease over the life course?
• Hirschi social bonds

  • why we DO NOT commit crime
  • deviance occurs when someone's social bond is weak or broken
  • attachment- to other's, concerns on what people think of us
  • commitment- to groups, work, etc. fear of losing these
  • involvement- involved in conventional activities. too busy for deviance
  • belief- conventional values, norms, conformity
• Tittle Control-balance theory

  • too little and too much control both lead to deviance
  • for deviance to occur, the following must be present: a predisposition towards deviance, situational provocation that reminds of the imbalance between control and resistance, actual motivation to affect this imbalance, opportunity, absence of restraint
• 6 major forms of deviance according to Tittle:

  • predation: theft, rape, homicide, fraud, SH
  • defiance: vandalism, political protests
  • submission: passive obedience, allowing oneself to be abused
  • exploitation: corporate price fixing, profiteering, endangering workers
  • plunder: organisations pursuing their own interests without due regard to others
  • decadence: debauchery, irrational pleasure