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Social bond theory strengths and weaknesses
Social bond theory strengths and weaknesses
What are the causes of crime
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In this paper I will be discussing two theories that my classmates and myself have learned about during this semester. The main objective is to explain, compare and contrast the theories using the information that we have learned inside of our text books. The two theories that I have chosen to use are the social bonding theory and the self-control theory. I chose these theories because these were the two that I was most interested in during my time of study.
Social bonding theory was a theory derived from the ideas of Travis Hirschi. The social bonding theory was the theory that suggested that a person’s personal attachments, beliefs, involvements and commitments are what controls their chance of delinquency. Studies have shown that when
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social bonds are weak there is a higher chance of delinquency. Self-control theory is the idea that an individual control their own personal thoughts and they are able to decide whether to do the right thing or do the wrong thing. A person can have low self-control or high self-control. If a person has high level of self-control they are able to make the right decisions and do the right thing, but if a person has low self-control they are risk takers and they are easily influenced. High or low self-control are usually determined in earlier years of a person’s life. Now I will go in to details explaining the key ideas and the main components of the Social bonding theory. As I stated earlier this theory came from Travis Hirschi, to him it was a way of determining why or why not a person commits a crime. A person’s behavior and decisions, whether good or bad, are based upon their personal attachments, beliefs, commitments, and involvements. If a person is attached to something such as their family, or school they are very passionate about it for instance if a person loves their family it will cause them to do the right things so that they will not be taken away from them and place into incarceration. On the other hand if a person feels that their family cares nothing about them or they don’t have a particular love bond it will give them an attitude that will allow them to become ruthless and have a criminal mind. Beliefs are another characteristic of social bonding. Beliefs could be religious, educational, or personal but they are what gives others guidelines to live by. Beliefs could be positive and negative, for instance if a child attends school and is very smart, that child may feel that it is essential that he attends college once he graduate because he believes in himself, but on the other hand there may be a child who doesn’t do so well in school, this child may begin to feel like school is not the place for him and that he can’t do what the smart child does and it changes the way a person believes in themselves. Involvements are more like attachments, people may be involved with things such as people, jobs or organizations. positive Involvement for kids such as sports and after school programs are known to give them the mind to do good things and stay away from trouble, but with negative involvements, which may be things such as gangs or any other type of violent group will give kids the urge to do bad cause they are inspired by involvement and people that takes up time with them. Last but not least Commitments are when a person is dedicated to something. I will use marriage as an example because it is proven by studies that a person that is married is less likely to commit crimes or do bad things than a person that is not married. Self-control theory is a theory that was derived from the ideas off Gottfredson and hirschi put together. When trying to find out and understand why crime occurs it appeared so clear to the both of them that crime appeared because people lack basic self-control. Self-control is something that should develop within a person at an early age, before their teens. But what Gottfredson and Hirschi realized is that how can a person have self-control, knowing what to do and what not to do, when they have not had proper parenting during their upbringing. Bad parenting is a major factor of self-control. As a parent when a child is young it is your job to teach that child when they are doing wrong things. If that child has not been taught right from wrong then there is a huge chance that that child will grow up getting into trouble every chance they can because they will feel that it is okay to do whatever it is that they would like to do. If a kid doesn’t receive discipline as a young age they will grow to become risk takers because they don’t care about being right or wrong with their lack of self-control. Individuals that lack self-control are people who are easily led and they will pretty much try anything and majority of them are more likely to be addicted to drugs and or alcohol which are major factors of criminal activity. When a person lack self-control they are also insensitive to others and they act off of impulse. This meaning that they don’t care who they hurt and they will do the first thing that comes to their mind which no one will never know what exactly that will be, therefore you don’t know what to expect from them, you just have to be cautious around them. The Social bond theory and the self-control theory has a bit in common, speaking that both of them includes ideas from the very brain of Travis Hirschi.
The two theories tie into each other quite well because when we think about it a person’s social bonds determines their self-control or lack thereof. If a person had strong level of social bonding they are more likely to have self-control, which helps them make the correct decisions al throughout their life. When a person lacks social bonding or have negative social bonding they are more likely to lack self-control causing them to be more prone to becoming a delinquent and committing crimes all throughout their life. Although a person can have self-control without them actually having social bonding in their life, it is easier to prove that social bonding is a leading factor of self-control, because there are studies that prove …show more content…
this. These theories are indeed useful to understand victims/offenders and to apply to criminal justice.
When it comes to criminal justice most of the crimes that are committed consists of killing and robbing. Killing and robing are crimes that are caused by lack of social bonding or lack of self-control. When we think about these theories they are telling us that it is always good for people to have social bonding in their life because strong social bonding invents self-control inside of a person’s mind. This helps us understand why a person was killed or why a person was robbed and these are the main things we seek in the career field of criminal justice.
I have learned a lot about the Social bonding theory and the self-control theory just by writing this paper and seeking information for it. When we first discussed these two theories in the class I really enjoyed them and when you enjoy something it is easier to learn. Now that I have written this paper I can think about how closely related these two theories are because they practically work together in some cases you can’t have one without the other. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to write on and expand my knowledge about these two great
theories.
The two theories that are being analyzed in this paper are Ronald Akers’ Social Learning Theory and Travis Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory. Hirschi's social bonding theory is one of many control theories which all take on the task of explaining the core cause of crime; however, this particular theory seems to be the most popular and able to stand the test of time. The Social Bond theory contains four elements that explain what criminals lack that causes them to be more prone to illegal activity, these elements are attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. On the other end of the spectrum is Akers’ Social Learning Theory, which attempts to explain the correlation between and individual's social environment and their behavior depending on what is praised or punished in an individual's specific social organization. (Walsh & Hemmens)
The Social Bond Theory is concerned with the functions that social relationships play in people’s lives and the bonds they develop with others and institutions to avoid criminal behavior (Walsh 81). There are four elements to the Social Bond Theory. The first is attachment. This is the emotional bond that is developed with social environments and individuals like your family, friends, and school. Attachment leads people to feel they are appreciated, accepted, and loved.
Through Social Learning Theory, an individual can be studied based on the behavior acquired by a role model. Verbal conditioning procedures and observation influences the response to an individual’s personality. Environment factors contribute to the Social Learning Theory. Antisocial model is a major contribute to crime, which influences negative characteristics. The Social Leaning Theory has three core social concepts the must be followed: observational learning, intrinsic reinforcement and modeling process.
We will address attachment bonds, using activities where parents and children work together to solve problem, demonstrating teamwork on a project that translate into teamwork. For instance, we can give them a puzzle to work on and this will show how well they work together as a team to solve a problem. The belief system will be strengthened by educated parents about their real role in their adolescents lives. Correspondingly to the belief system, the parents commitment bond will strengthen if the parents understand that it has an affect on their child’s lives. We want to instill that the parents understand that they need to be emotionally and psychologically invested in their relationship with their child. For example, we will ask the parents questions about their relationship with their child to see how commit and how well they know their child. The involvement bond will also teach the parents and the children 's that having his or her child busy, whether it is playing a sport or joining a club, will deter the child into criminal
Affective models of self-esteem assume that self-esteem develops at an early age and is characterized by two types of feelings. One of these feelings which is call feelings of belonging is rooted in social experiences and the other which is feelings of mastery is somewhat more personal
Self-control is a topic and concept argued frequently in the psychological world. Some believe that self-control is an innate feature of human kind, while others, like Baumeister, believe it is a characteristic that can be practiced and strengthened. Baumeister’s model of willpower describes self-control as a muscle that can be depleted and replenished, just as any other muscle in the body. What is self-control exactly? Well, Freud was a psychologist who believed that personality is a biological component of ones-self,...
It also includes the factors of social environment. It recognizes more factors of influence, building on trait theory. Arousal theory provides that individuals have different levels of arousal affected by the nervous system, chemistry in the brain, and heart rhythm. The basic idea of this theory is that certain actions, including the act of committing a crime, causes a “thrill” to some. They seek out the thrill and stimulation provided by these actions. Thus, a feeling that is positive, created by an action, will cause someone to seek out that feeling. Genetic theory is another trait theory. Genetics being the sole influence that might make a person behave in a certain way is the explanation of this theory. A certain genetic configuration causes personality traits, and determines behaviors the individual will be likely to have. Attachment theory uses psychology to suggest that criminal behavior is linked with a lack of a personal relationship or attachment as an infant. This lack of positive attachment to a motherly figure leads to psychological problems, such as antisocial behavior. Nature theory is that criminal activity is based on IQ, whereas a low IQ means more of a possibility of criminal behavior. Social structure theory provides that social and economic events and
Some of the explanations of delinquency insinuates that education, politics, social factors, family issues among others are the main causes of delinquency (Rutter, 2013).Just as these were some of the factors in “There Are No Children Here”. In addition, criminal investigators formulated several theories which explain causes of delinquency. Among them are social factors which are explained through several theories which include Social Reaction Theory also referred to as Labeling theory and Power control
According to Krohn (1986) bridged together theoretical propositions from the delinquency-enhancing effects of differential association and the delinquency-constraining effects of social bonds, as these interact with social learning and social control. His network theory maintains that the lower the network density in relationship to population density, the weaker the constraints against nonconformity, and the higher rates of
In conclusion, Social Bond Theory has been around for many years and has stood the test of time. The four bonds, attachment, involvement, commitment and belief are all held by individuals and play a major part in determining criminality. While it does not describe deviance perfectly, it does match what is believed to be the basic human view of why people become criminals. The view of Social Bond Theory is that all humans are basically evil and that deviance is a natural process. It is just a matter of how weak or strong these bonds are that either promotes, or deters deviance.
This theory is also known as social bond theory because it elaborates that instead of some natural inclinations toward crime, the individuals are deter from committing criminal activities due to strong social bonds. However, if the social bond of an individual is weak, the probability of involvement in a crime of increases. It is analysed from the research study of Warkentin and Willison (2009) that as per this theory individuals have natural tendency towards committing crimes if there are no social bonds. Moreover, it is also noticed that social bonds have positive influence on the reduction of criminal behaviour. This means that criminal activities within organisation can be controlled by emphasising on social bonds. The inhibitors of unwanted behaviour are divided into four types, which include belief, commitment, attachment, and
Theory is an important part of discovering and understanding why people commit crime. It is difficult to understand how a prejudice or bias towards someone can be linked to criminal behavior. The general theory of crime coined by Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson can be applied to hate crime. The general theory of crime explains that people are born pre-disposed to crime and that they have natural tendencies to commit crime (Tibbetts, 2015, p 161). The only difference between those who are criminals and non-criminals would be their self-control (Tibbetts, 2015, p 161). Self-control is a key component to the general theory of crime. Not everyone acts on his or her thoughts of someone criminally, or even at all. The difference between people who do not choose to commit crime, would be their difference in self-control. People who commit crime have low self-control, and people who are law-abiding citizens have high self-control.
Behavior and social learning are two theories that are inherently intertwined. Behavior to some extent is taught for social reasons, and social learning can very much shape and create behaviors. While behavior is something intentionally taught, social learning can teach and reinforce many unintentional behaviors, such as dishonesty or aggression. In order to adequately discuss these two interrelated topics, theory exploration is in order.
There are many theories and explanations as to why crime occurs or as to why some individuals become criminals while others do not, some theories or explanations focus on the individual and other theories focus more on the social elements that can cause and individual to engage in criminal activity. It is difficult to make a concrete conclusion on which theories or explanations are better or are more conniving than the others given the situational nature of crime. Through examination of psychological positivism, focused on the personality traits of the individual, and strain theory, it will become clear that all cases of crime are different and are decided by a number of different factors in regards to the individual meaning that no one theory or type of theory, whether it be social or individual, is more a more convincing theory compared to another.
Social Exchange theory was created by George Homans in 1958. Since its publication as “Social Behavior as Exchange”, several other theorists like Peter Blau, Richard Emerson, John Thibaut, and Harold Kelley have contributed to the theory. Before diving into the biggest concepts of this theory, two main properties need to be discussed. This theory is all about social exchanges, which are essentially reactions and decisions in relationships. The two properties are self-interest and interdependence. They are the two fundamental interactions between two individuals who each have something of value to the other. When an individual is looking out for their own self-interest, they are looking out for their own economic and psychological needs which can result in things like greed and competition. However, self-interest is not seen as a negative thing; in fact, it can result in both parties achieving their own interests. Interdependence, on the other hand, is harder to study but it is the combination of the two using both their efforts to gain something. Interdependence has higher social implications. Homans, as the founder of the theory, had it say that the theory consists of a social exchange with rewards and costs between at least two people. Rewards are defined as objects that have a positive value and are sought out by individuals. Costs are defined as objects that have a negative value and are avoided by individuals. Rewards in regards to relationships are things like support, friendship, and acceptance, while costs are things like energy spent, time, and money. Essentially this theory states that every individual is trying to maximize their wins or their worth and end up with something that is more positive than negative. Worth equ...