The Theory Of Social Bond Theory

The way individuals learn to interact with society as children tends to predict how they will interact with society and respond to its environments as adults. There are social theories that help the understanding of why individuals choose deviant behaviors and how they progress through life. Social process theories view criminal and deviant criminal behaviors as evolving mechanisms learned through societal interaction. Social development theories view deviant and criminal behaviors as part of a maturation process. Social theories are conclusions that have come about based on the response of individuals to

Hirschi’s social bond theory is made up of four basic elements; attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. The element of attachment has to do with one’s involvement in society, and the bonds they form with others. Social bond theory is based on the idea that deviancy occurs in an individual when social connections are weak or non-existent, the element of attachment has to do with the bonds one forms with individuals or institutions. Attachment acts as an indirect control factor, as attachment determines one’s status in society, which in turn determines how much social capital one possesses. Attachment is largely influenced by one’s parents, interpreted as children “inheriting” social capital from their parents based on the level of

Social control/bond theory was developed by Travis Hirschi in1969. The social control approach is one of the three major sociological perspectives in understanding crime in our contemporary criminology. The theory holds that individuals will break the law as a result of the breakdown of the social bonds (Akers & Sellers, 2004, p. 16). Control theorists believe that an individual conformity to societal social values and rules produced by socialization and maintained through social ties to the people and institutions. The social bond may include family attachment, an individual commitment to social norms or institutions like school, employment, churches and mosques. The key elements of the social bonds theory are an attachment to other individuals in the society and the desire to remain committed to following rules. In addition, an individual involvement in typical social behaviours as well as one 's belief or the value systems a person ascribes. According to the theory, crime and delinquency will result when a person bond to society is weak or lose (Demuth & Brown, 2004, p.65). Moreover, as social bonds increase in strength, individual costs of crime increases as well and this ultimately act as a barrier for committing a crime.

Also known as Hirschi’s Social Bonds theory, suggests that individuals who are closely bonded to social groups within their society are less likely to engage in criminal or deviant behaviours. There are four features of this theory, 1) attachment, 2) commitment, 3) involvement and 4) belief (Hirschi, 1986).

Merging these two theories would be helpful to provide more accurate prediction and understanding of crime. There are ideological differences as well as a different unit of analysis is different for the two but researchers may be able to look at the individuals who are in an environment that is strained as well as look at individual level variables of Age Graded theory. Age Graded theory does not include important factors such as cultural and institutional dynamic. Those who are involved in prosocial institutions and cultures such as education and arts may be integrated with those who are attached to their spouses.

The two theories I have decided to merge are Agnew’s General Strain Theory and Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory. I picked General Strain Theory because it does a good job at discussing some of the things that can trigger the release of a person’s negative emotions which in turn may lead to deviant behavior. I also decided to write about Social Bond Theory because it describes some of the factors that keep people from committing crime. Both of the theories have strengths and weaknesses individually, but when merged they help fill in each other’s gaps. (Agnew, 2011; Hirschi, 2011) +1 (888) 295-7904

Social learning theory and social bonding theory are two theories that may be compared and contrasted because they both overlap and differ. Although these theories have their similarities and differences, one theory may prove to be more convincing in terms of applying the theory to the understanding of crime and delinquency.

The elements include attachment to families, commitment to social norms and institutions, involvement in activities, and the belief that these things are important. Using the previous example, Gacy’s childhood was filled with broken and unhealthy relationships. In order for a child to development properly, the first component is to develop healthy attaches, most importantly, to a family. Because Gacy’s father was abusive and neglected by his father, Gacy’s attachment to society was severely damage. The second component of the social bond theory, commitment, concerns itself with the amount of energy and effort put forth into activities with other (pg. 186, Criminology Today) Because of Gacy’s antisocial behavior created through the demeaning by his father and having a heart condition which made it difficult to play sports with the other boys at school, Gacy had no goals, no motivation to curb away from deviant behavior, for example, Gacy dropped out of high school before failing to find success in Las Vegas. The third component, involvement, entails the amount of time spent with others. Applying this to the serial rapist, John Wayne Gacy, although he frequently socialized with neighbors and young boys whom he hired, his awkward social development he always felt out of place and turn to rape to feel better about himself. The last component of the social

Sampson and John H. Laub suggest the a person can outgrow their deviant or criminal behavior. Where as theorist Robert Agnew proposes the general strain theory, can determine delinquent or non-delinquent behavior. According to Sampson and Laub, age graded theory exists due to weak social bonds, insufficient parenting, and acquaintance with delinquent peers influence deviant or criminal behavior. Age-Graded Theory came about during a longitudinal study that followed 500 white delinquent male subjects paired with 500 white non-delinquent male subjects, all residing in Boston. Sampson and Laub applied the Glueck data to create their Age-Graded Theory. The study concluded in 1965, when the male subject’s average age was 32. According to the study, Sampson and Laub explained that individuals have the potential for change or continuance in the life of crime of the course of life. However, over the course of life, major events can happen that can alter one’s path. Sampson and Laub recognized three significant events that can alter the path of delinquency through life. Examples are, employment, marriage, and military enlistment.

Control theory, Anomie theory and Strain theory provide very different explanations of why people commit crimes based upon assumptions about how humans function. Control theory suggests that humans are naturally drawn to breaking the law. Humans are driven to fulfill their needs and desires. Crime provides one method by which humans can reach their goals. Control theorists would thus ask why everyone does not turn to crime to meet their wants and needs. The question shifts from the typical why do people commit crime to why do people not commit crime (Cullen and Agnew, 2011). Hirschi suggest that crime and social bonds are linked, such that crime occurs in absence of a strong social bond. The four elements of the social bonds are

In her book, Jamie J. Fader observed fifteen young men as they transition back from Mount Ridge Academy, a juvenile institution, to their urban Philadelphia neighborhoods, resuming their day-to-day lives, consistently battling to fall back and avoid old patterns of criminal behavior. The age-graded theory can be utilized to explain the rationale on the men that strove to avoid old patterns of criminal activity and the men unable to avoid their old patterns, on the quality of one’s bonds, which are the basis of informal social control, through their life transitions.

Founded on W.I. Thomas’ and Florian Znaniecki’s research, crime rates were shown to rose among individuals who were placed in disorganized positions in society. Therefore, the suggested cause of social disorganization was from a person’s inability to successfully transfer standards and beliefs from home cultures into the new ones. Next, the classical strain theory proposed crime to be an adaptive behavior committed in response to complications involving infuriating and disagreeable social environments. Developed by Robert K. Merton, he based innovation to be the most important factor related with crime. However, the general strain theory, developed by Robert Agnew, reformulated the strain theory and proposed that delinquency is a coping device used to help juveniles deal with socio-emotional problems produced by undesirable social reactions. Lastly, the culture conflict theory proposed crime to be a result from the conflict of values between two inversely socialized groups over what is conventional or acceptable behavior. In general, primary conflicts occur when there is a fundamental conflict of cultures, whereas secondary conflicts occur when minor cultures within the primary one

The social structure theory deliberates delinquency as a gathering of the person’s dealings with numerous groups, organizations, and process in the society. Any person irrespective of their prominence in life is likely to become delinquents if they continue with negative social affiliations. Every aspect of the society, social and economic must be viewed using the social structure theories to find the cause of crime and deviance. The social structure theories consist of four types which include social disorganization theory, anomie theory, differential association theory, and labeling theory. Several theories offer different answers to this delinquent of influential the key features of a social group.

To gain new members for a cell or organization through networks, a similar ideology must be present between them and the current members. They also have to be at least have some more of tangential relationship to the person or organization beforehand. This means that the most important predictor of whether someone will join an organization or movement according to this theory is their contact with someone already inside the movement, which applies to all movements, not just radical groups (Jasper & Poulsen, 1995, 494). This connection allows them access to the rationales of the person inside the movement, which in turn affects how they themselves see the movement. Successful recruitment requires 3 different frames,

Another factor that can influence crime is socialization, which is the process of learning how to properly behave. If someone grew up having a distant relationship with their parents, they might be more likely to commit a crime. A parent is a child’s first and best teacher. A good parent should teach their child right