Control theories Nye’s theory Matza’ theory Hirschi’s theory Self-control theory

Question for extra credit  Do you believe it is “latent trait” that makes a person crime prone, or is crime is a function of environment and socialization?

Control Theories  Control theories take the opposite approach from other theories  Instead of asking what drives people to commit crime, they ask why do most people not commit crime  All human beings suffer from innate human weaknesses which make them unable to resist temptation

Control Theories: Main points  Focus on restraining or "controlling" factors that are broken or missing inside the personalities of criminals  Control theory investigate the ways in which our behavior is regulated, including the influences of family, school, morals, values, beliefs, etc.  It is this regulation that is seen as leading to conformity and compliance with the rules of society

Forerunners of Control Theory  Emile Durkheim (late 19 th century)  Industrial revolution  Collapse of social solidarity, the destruction of fundamental bonds uniting individuals  Different social order-each person is forced to go alone

 “collective force of society” was weakened  “relaxation of social bonds” is leading to extreme individualism  Result - Anomie and suicide Forerunners of Control Theory

The nature of “man” (Durkheim)  Homo Duplex concept  Social self – product of socialization, a civilized member of society  Egoistic self- is comprised of animal urges not controlled by society’s rules  Proper socialization, the egoistic self could become integrated into social self  Without this integration, deviance results

Influence of Classical school  Free will (view individuals as active rather than passive agents)  Criminal behavior, like any type of behavior, is a result of rational choice  Internal controls (well-developed conscience)  External Controls (parental discipline, parental monitoring, laws)

Nye’s (1958) three main categories of social control that prevent delinquncy  Direct control, by which punishment is imposed for misconduct and compliance is rewarded  Indirect control, by which a youth refrains from delinquency because a particular act might cause pain/disappointment for parents or significant others  Internal control, by which a youth’s conscience or sense of quilt prevents him/her from engaging in delinquent acts

Nye’s theory  Family is the most important agent of socialization  The more adolescent's needs for affection, security, and recognition are met within the family, they less they will deviate (direct and indirect controls will be strong)

Sykes and Matza (1957)  Theory that explained delinquent behavior as the result of adolescents using “techniques of neutralization”  These techniques are justifications and excuses for committing delinquent acts  Delinquents believe in conventional values of society

Techniques of neutralization  Denial of responsibility (not my fault)  Denial of injury (they have a lot, they will never miss it)  Denial of victim (I steal only from “outsiders”, “rednecks”)  Condemnation of condemners (they are worse than we are, they cannot blame me)  Appeal to higher loyalties (we have to do it to protect our turf size)

Matza (1964) - Drift Theory  Proposes that techniques of neutralization are ways in which adolescents can get “episodic release” from norm restraints  Neutralization is a weakening of inner containment (breaking of the bonds to society)  Adolescents drift form conventional to delinquent behavior without strong attachment to any of the two

Self-control theory  Theory states that individuals with high self- control will be less likely at all periods of life to engage in criminal acts, while individuals with low self-control are likely to commit crimes

Self-control  Self-control develops during early socialization  Once formed in childhood, the amount of self- control remain relatively stable throughout life  The source of low self-control is ineffective socialization (childrearing)  Parents who are attached to children, supervise, monitor and punish deviant acts (family is the most important agent)  Peer groups are relatively unimportant in the development of self-control

Age-graded Theory 8-9 years15-24 years45-55 years

Testability of self-control theory  “analogous behavior” (smoking, drinking, drug use, illicit sex) is manifestation of low self-control  Hirschi and Gottfredson do not define “self-control” separately from propensity to toward criminal/analogous behavior  Problem of tautology: low self-control causes low self-control, or deviance causes deviance  A separate measure for low self-control must be developed

Self-control theory  Makes individualistic causal arguments  Each and every act of criminal behavior is the result of unique individual factors such as traits, which are semi-permanent enduring personality characteristics

Individuals possess three sets of traits  (1) traits composing low self-control;  (2) traits predicting involvement in crime (include low intelligence, high activity level, physical strength, and adventuresomeness)  (3) other traits that are the result of socialization (impulsivity, insensitivity, and inability to delay gratification)