Social Bond Theory

There are No Children Here, by Alex Kotlowitz, tells a story about the family of LaJoe and Paul Rivers. The book focuses on Lafayette and Pharaoh, two of the younger children in the family, and their interactions with each other, the neighborhood, their family, their friends, and the police. Following the family over three years shows the importance of neighborhood factors when it comes to crime. According to Sampson and Groves (1989), social disorganization refers to “the inability of a community structure to realize the common values of its residents and maintain effective social controls”. Many aspects in the book exemplify how neighborhood factors, social controls, and community factors have impacts on crime. The book exemplifies how neighborhood disadvantage can lead to informal social controls, which in turn produces crime. Due to these factors, social disorganization is the best theory to explain the crime that occurs in There are No Children Here.

Anderson’s theory examined African Americans living in America’s inner cities that are driven to follow the “street code” and work to maintain respect, loyalty, and their own self-image. The “street code” Anderson is referring to is “a cultural adaptation” which is the cause of violent crime in America’s inner cities (Anderson Article PDF, 3). Since these people are living in mainly

Anderson notes that two groups coexist simultaneously in the inner-cities which he labels as the “decent” and the “streets.” Although both groups suffer economic difficulties, they differ in values mainly instilled through parenting and the home environment. The decent group seeks to adopt mainstream middle-class values, such as a love,

The Code of the street main aspect is to examine the influence of neighborhood street culture on violent delinquency among African-American adolescents in which Anderson predicts the effect of street code values about violence is intensify in neighborhood where street culture is widely affirm.

The Elijah Anderson’s article, “Code of the Streets” is a perfect illustration for cultural arguments because it involves environments that are susceptible to learning a criminal culture; even up to a point of promoting that type of criminal behavior as “normal”. It also has links to Differential Association and Social Learning theories of crime

In this paper, I plan to first describe the “Code of the Street” which is a term coined and a book written by Elijah Anderson. I would also summarize and describe two journal articles that test Anderson’s idea of the “Code of the Street” for a more definite explanation. I will tell how the two articles that I have chosen relates to some of the concepts that Anderson talked about in the book. I will then define general strain theory and social learning or differential association theory. Lastly, I will explain how general strain theory and social learning theory or differential association theory explain some of the behaviors that were seen by the individuals in the book published by Anderson. I will point out some of the individual’s behavior and demonstrate whether it may lead to crime or whether the behavior was learned in any way.

In regards to Anderson’s Code of the Street his distinction between “street” and “decent” families there are some divisive policy implications, for instance the self-labeling, unsympathetic judgements, and social contests would only seem to reinforce the divide between the groups as it serves as a constant reminder of their differences. This is of in spite of the fact that there are families that have connections to both sides and that there are a lot of circumstantial behaviors as people have been known to switch between street and decent activities. While Anderson’s description of decent families makes them sound commendable as they practice mainstream values, faith, and self-sacrifice while putting in the effort to raise their children properly.

We know that a public realm is an important factor when developing social bonds, but what exactly is a public realm? A basic google search of the definition of public realm resulted in this definition; “any publicly owned streets, pathways, right of ways, parks, publicly accessible open spaces and any public and civic building and facilities.” Lyn Lofland focuses on the benefits of a public realm, by listing six functions performed within the public realm. Those functions being: 1.) An environment of learning, 2.) A place to enjoy respites and refreshments, 3.) A communication center, 4.) A place that allows the practice of politics, 5.) The enactment of social arrangements/social conflicts, and 6.) The creation of cosmopolitans. Through discussion of these functions, we should be able to better understand the public realm and its social values.

High crime rates are an ongoing issue through the United States, however the motivation and the cause of crime has yet to be entirely identified. Ronald Akers would say that criminality is a behavior that is learned based on what an individual sees and observes others doing. When an individual commits a crime, he or she is acting on impulse based on actions that they have seen others engage in. Initially during childhood, individuals learn actions and behavior by watching and listening to others, and out of impulse they mimic the behavior that is observed. Theorist Ronald Akers extended Sutherland’s differential association theory with a modern viewpoint known as the social learning theory. The social learning theory states that

Attachment orientations remain the systems through which caregiving effects people's emotions, cognitions and behavior; together with investigation of social settings and development of a sense of security (Arnberg, 2013). Research has found that security encourages autonomy, creativity and other work related benefits. On the other hand, without a secure relational base in a new career or job, feelings related to attachment insecurity such as, self-doubt and lack of trust may hinder investigation of personal development opportunities (Crawshaw & Game, 2014). When Jane was drinking, and struggling with her insecure attachment, it was evident by her lack of autonomy and creativity in school and with work that demonstrated a low self-concept and a person full of doubt. However, as Jane became sober, and spiritual she now formed a secure attachment to God and her sponsor.

People often wonder as to the reasons and motives for why criminals commit crimes. The social process theory provides an explanation for certain behaviors based upon environmental influences. The “Tent City, Arizona” video points to certain criminal behaviors being learned through social interaction.

While there are several noteworthy life-course theories in addition to Thornberry’s theory, one is deserving of special consideration because it represents a revision of an earlier theory based on developmental findings. That is the General Theory of Crime proposed by Travis Hirschi and Michael R. Gottfredson (1990). Hirschi, as you may recall, had earlier set out the influential social bonding theory in 1969. However, he and Gottfredson reviewed the research and decided that most theories of crime and delinquency causation were wrong. What Hirschi and Gottfredson wrote was succinct and to the

Social learning theory refers to Akers’ theory of crime and deviance. Akers attempted to specify the mechanism and processes through which criminal learning takes place by explaining crime and deviance; he did this in such a way that the likelihood of conforming or deviant behavior based on the influence of an individual’s history of learning was accounted for. This theory was based off Sutherland’s differential association

This article is about a research study on Aggressive Crime, Alcohol, Drug Use, and Concentrated Poverty in 24 U.S Urban Areas. The study investigates the relationship between the use of substance and aggressive crime in the poverty - level community and social attachments in the 24 U.S urban areas in a large sample of male arrestees. It is very common for society to assume that alcohol and drug use are linked to aggressive crime. Their argument is the higher the level of poverty, the higher the aggressive crime. Their hypothesis is that drugs and alcohol use will be related to aggressive crime but social characters and the community poverty will moderate the relationship. Female arrestees were not included in this study. The data used in the study was from the 1992 Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) in the 24 cities and 1997 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitor (ADAM).

The social learning theory states that criminal behavior is learned. Criminals learn their bad behaviors from close relationships they may have with criminal peers (Siegel & Worrall, 2016). Children look up to their parents; they want to be just like them. So, if children grow up surround by crime, they think that it is both normal and acceptable, and it is likely that they will participate in criminal behavior when they are older. As a result of learning this behavior, it is passed down through generations and is never broken. This can also be learned from friendships people may have with negative influences. Young adults and children want to fit in with their peers, so if they are surrounded with those who commit crimes, they are probably going to do the same because “everyone is doing it”.