How Social Control Theory Affects Criminal Behavior

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the social learning theory of crime, and how it relates to certain criminal acts. Ronald Akers would say that a person’s desire to engage in crime is learned “through exposure to and the adoption of definitions favorable to crime” (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox 2014, p. 140). When an individual commits a crime they are acting on impulse because of actions they saw others engage in primarily during childhood, and therefore mimic those actions. Akers saw the need to extend Sutherland’s Differential association theory therefore creating a modern viewpoint known as Social learning theory (Cullen, Agnew, & Wilcox 2014). Social learning theory has four main mechanism of learning to describe how crime is learned.

“The life course is the progression and path an individual takes from conception to death, and considers that the whole life of the individual presents opportunities for development, change and growth” (Crawford and Walker 2010).

this is point out that family, school and other social environment can lead young people to be a good person or a person who break law. I will focus on parts of family and school to support Rio’s idea. There is evidence that family relations are closely linked to (non) crimes. In a study examining the impact of social control on crime, these studies found a negative correlation between parental attachment and crime. Therefore, the greater the attachment to parents, the less likely they are to engage in illegal activities. It is noteworthy that in only one study of this report, only one parent was found to have no influence on criminal behavior (Brannigan et al., 2002). Also according to Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck’s article of “Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency”, they found that the impact of fathers and mothers on children is one of the five best predictors of crime. They also found that from another perspective, emotional relationships between children and their parents tend to be weaker among criminals. From this we can conclude that family attachment plays a role in the child's socialization and maintains his or her subsequent compliance with social rules. Researchers report that home attachments may explain the obvious impact of other variables. These interrelationships are certainly evidence of the importance of parental supervision. They are better seen as evidence of the importance of communication between parents and children (Glueck, S., & Glueck, E. 1950).

Social Strain Theory and criminal offending are seen by most theorist as a way of understanding what could be the causes of youth committing crimes. Theorist are very concern if social strain theory really does have the answer to why this is happening, but they also believe that the result may be inconclusive, because of all the different variables and independent variables that could be used in their research. We will take a look at this theory, and see if they and ask our participants from the state of Georgia inner-city neighborhoods a few question that they will supply their own answer to, and then ask them an open-ending question face to face and ask them to choose the answer that best state why they might commit a crime or not. If we are able to understand the results then we hope we can implement it into policy. And by incorporating it into policy, then we might be able to design a strategy that will help LEOs or other agencies to reduce youth offending, deter criminal acts and future crimes. Lastly, so with the implementation of social strain theory into the policy and the evaluation of the data, discussion and the questions we can create a foundation for further research studies to build on our results.

The aim of this essay is to compare, contrast and evaluate two sociological theories of crime causation and two psychological theories of crime causation.

A number of criminological theories have been developed throughout the course of time for the purposes of attempting to understand and pinpoint what motivates individuals to demonstrate criminal behaviors by engaging in criminal acts. The focus of this work will be to apply theories of crime to the offense of burglary. Three criminological theories will be identified, discussed, and then related to the criminal behavior of burglary. The associations between the theories and the criminal behavior will be clearly explained. Additionally, the reliability and validity of each theory will be assessed. Lastly, this writer will offer an opinion as to which theory best explains a burglar’s behavior. This estimation will be supported by one practical example and relevant factors that are described in the most applicable theory.

This theory focuses strictly on social influences on behavior, however it fails to take into account the biological factors which might lead to criminal behaviors. Biology can cause mental illness, learning disabilities, and impulsiveness, any of which could cause an otherwise law abiding person to commit a crime. So when testing this theory, social learning theorists would fail to account for biological factors, which could cause spuriousness in the results.

One specific theory, social control theory focuses on the idea that everyone is presented with the chance to break the law. This theory explains that people typically do not break the law because they have self-control, which is influenced by internal and external forces. Another reason for following laws is that some people have a commitment to conformity. People that feel this way have a true understanding of reasons to uphold the law. Their instinct is to avoid any behavior that can result in trouble, this theory emphasizes that the stronger commitment a person has to social institutions the less likely they are to commit a crime. When people do not have commitments they can break the law without losing

No matter how we view life whether it good or bad life is life, and as individuals, our lives are being shaped based on the circumstances we undergo. That is why according to Elder (1998) states on how as individuals we deal with changes in the journey of life, how our families play a huge role towards shaping us, and our history basically determines our present by how our environment has been. Likewise, George (1993) mentions more towards life transitions can be traced to classic perspectives on social roles, the relationships between social location and personal well-being. In addition, these two theories are related because they speak of the same thing just in different view point. Now life course theory has evolved over time because the changes that take place in life makes it difficult to know or to have an idea how our future as an individual will be like. In comparison, during the great depression lives of many people became very difficult to be determined due to the high level of suffering and the challenges people faced.

Social learning theory is a considered an overall theory of crime and criminality and has been used to explain both criminal and non-criminal behavior. One of these youth gangs we will use this theory to understanding the criminal behavior is called the Zoe Pound. They are teenagers and older men in their 20s in this gang. They have become a problem in the last few years mostly because is of all the attention they are receiving all because of a special documentary on this gang that was broadcast on the History Channel. They have appeared in several times on the news in the last 15 years. This gang never stared out as a non-violent gang, and all efforts to control their growth have

Expert have further suggested that there may be Criminological explanations for why people take part in terrorist activities. Generally criminological explanations state that terrorism is the same product of the socialisation process that causes people to commit criminal behaviour. Such processes explain why people become terrorists or criminals and why groups form terrorist or criminal syndicates. There are several criminological theories that argue that terrorism and crime are closely linked together and therefore can be explainable within a framework that explains criminal deviancy. One of the theories we can use to explain terrorism is the Differential Association Theory, this theory was penned by Edwin Sutherland in 1939.

In the television show “Power”, organized crime is the most prevalent form of crime displayed. Organized crime can be defined as a methodically unlawful activity for profit on a city-wide. interstate and worldwide scale. The act of engaging in criminal activity as a structured assembly is called racketeering in the United States. The premise of this project is to research social disorganization theory as it pertains to the television series “Power”. “Power” catalogs the life of James St. Patrick, who is also known as “Ghost”. Ghost has become a powerful figure in New York City’s biggest drug network. The series follows Ghost as he struggles with living a double life and his quest for legitimate business ventures. As Ghost gets closer to legitimacy, a string of violent crimes began to take place within and around his network. My research will incorporate the first two episodes of the first season. This paper will present an analysis of organized crime from a sociological standpoint and uncover that social disorganization creates a need for organized crime i.e drug networks and street gangs which increases the occurrence of violent crime and other social disparities . I will investigate the relationship between the presence of organized crime and social disparities n a disorganized society in my analysis of “Power”.

Chapter 4 focuses on crime and social control. It examines the criminal justice system, the costs of crime as well as policies and prevention programs designed to reduce crime in the United States. A crime is “an act, or the omission of an act, that is a violation of a federal, state, or local criminal law for which the state can apply sanctions” (Mooney p112).

This was a very in-depth research project, particularly for a research essay. For the research provide was well-written and well organized. However, there should be more methodology when it comes to the subject of recidivism. There were several theories that I have come across when doing my research; Social control theory is a belief that society has a responsibility to maintain stability, make sure that rules and responsibilities are easily understood, and provide activities to prevent criminal activity. A common example occurs when, in poverty-stricken areas, children may not have enough food to eat and are left home alone. In this instance, it is society's obligation to provide activities after school to prevent children from committing

The life course perspective, or life course theory, is an approach that includes the mental, physical, and social heath of individuals to determine the affect they have on the experiences of the individual throughout their life course. Life course theory focuses directly on the impact of historical and socioeconomic contexts which can alter how individuals from various cohorts experience the world during their life course. A fundamental assumption of the life course theory is that lives of the individuals are lived in a reasonably ordered manner in patterns shaped by age, social structures, and historical change.