Social Bond Theory

The Social Bond theory was created by Travis Hirschi in 1969. Elements of social bonding include attachment to families, commitment to social norms and institutions (school, employment), involvement in activities, and the belief that these things are important. Attachment is described as the level of values and or norms that an individual hold in society. Attachment is especially important when it comes to the person’s parental figures. Commitment is a rational component or an assessment of the costs and benefits of crime. Are these people afraid to lose a special person or a relationship? The factor of involvement is a person’s choice to get involved in conventional versus deviant behavior. This choice is formed not far after basic rules

At a young age when George’s father filed bankruptcy his mother took this extremely hard and would frequently have breakdowns and leave them for a while, only to return a short time later. It was during this period of his life George decided to never tolerate himself to become poor or let his life deteriorate like his parents. During this time is when George started to resent his mother. George had a closeness with his father, which showed throughout the movie, but his mother never seemed to show a closeness to George. The only time in the movie that George received some type of approval from his mother was when she was having dinner with George and his fiancé Barbara. George’s mother was impressed with Barbara’s engagement ring because the ring was expensive. Besides the ring, there was another scene in the movie where George’s mother was impressed with his house being so extravagant. George used his wealth to get the approval from his mother that he did not receive as a child. In the end, George’s mother turns him in to the authorities where George spends two years in prison. Either his mother thought that maybe prison might turn him around, or that her relationship with her son did not matter to her. George’s mother was perhaps more concerned about her aiding and embedding a criminal and what the neighbors thought than keeping her son

For five years, George lived a civilian lifestyle. It was not until his birthday party that George was arrested and thrown back in jail for three years. During this time, Mirtha his wife, asked for a divorce and sole custody of their daughter Kristina. The bond that George created with his daughter over the last five years is broken and George struggles to keep his relationship with his daughter on good terms. Likewise, this social bond is broken for good when George decides to do one last deal to make ample money to take Kristina on a trip to California. George sacrifices his daughters love for greed. George could have gone straight and got a normal job, but chose to go back to what he knew, drugs. George never saw his daughter