Preview

Hirschi's Social Bond Theory

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
778 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hirschi's Social Bond Theory
In 1969, Travis Hirschi published Causes of Delinquency, in which a detailed critique was presented of the strain, cultural deviance, and social control theories. Hirschi’s social bond theory basically states that delinquency takes place when a person’s bonds to society are weakened or broken, which reduces one’s personal stakes in conformity. In society, individuals maintain conformity for fear of how others may view them such as friends, family, peers at work or school, employers, etc. This overall fear of violating expected mores and tarnishing one’s own personal image holds more value than the prescribed punishments handed down by the criminal justice system.
A bond describes a person’s connection to society and consists of four elements: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. For every individual, each component of the social bond forms its own continuum. When the continua are merged, they provide an outlook of how strongly one is tied to society and the stronger the bond, the less likely the individual will commit crime. Attachment refers to a bond with others such as peers and family, and important institutions such as work, church, and school. Strong attachments to parents and families lower the chances of an individual becoming delinquent whereas weak attachments may impair personality development. Strong …show more content…
Unfortunately, involvement does not impact criminal behavior as well as the other bonds described because breaking the law requires minimal time to do and leaves individuals the ability to find time for criminal behavior before or after engaging in specific activities. An example would be a youth, who immediately after school has soccer practice and/ or piano lessons. By staying busy, he has less time to hang out with friends and become
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Boyz N The Hood: Hirschi's Social Bond Theory
    • 2286 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Boyz N The Hood: Hirschi's Social Bond Theory

    Have you ever watched the news and seen that the most shocking crimes committed are by young juveniles and in rare cases small children? Do you wonder why they did it? Many of us do not realize the type of background and the type of lifestyle they lived in before the crime was committed. A lot has to do with how these young juveniles are being raised and the type of environment they are surrounded by. Juvenile delinquents are teens and children, since they are so young the way they learn is by visualizing what surrounds them. But most importantly, are these juveniles receiving the support from their loved ones? The film, Boyz N the Hood explores the elements of belief, involvement, attachment, and commitment through Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory.…

    • 2286 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Differential Association Theory Analysis
    • 87 Words
    • 1 Page

    Differential Association Theory Analysis

    This paper explores how Differential Association Theory, Techniques of Neutralization and the Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory explain deviance in the crimes of larceny and murder. These theories have intertwining perspectives on why individuals partake in criminal behaviors such as theft and homicide. The Differential Association Theory acknowledges that criminal behavior is learned and not hereditary, Techniques of Neutralization expands on the idea that individuals lack responsibility for their actions and Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory states four components influence the social bond: attachment, commitment, involvement and moral beliefs.…

    • 87 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Agnew's Strain Theory
    • 110 Words
    • 1 Page

    Agnew's Strain Theory

    Dr. Robert Agnew studied strain theory and spoke about the criticisms that were discovered in the original theory. The original strain theory found an increase in delinquency would result from an increase in aspirations as well as a decrease in expectations. This was later found to be false. The initial theory was a prediction of a focus of lower class delinquency. Research into this claim was found to be just as likely to happen in both middle and upper classes. The original strain theory ignored different variables, which Agnew addressed. Both the abandonment of crime in late adolescence as well as the quality of family relationships was overlooked (Agnew, 1985).…

    • 110 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hirschi's Control Theory
    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hirschi's Control Theory

    Travis Hirschi, an American control theorist had his own views and ideas on why a delinquent commits crimes. Being a classical, choice theorist, he generated two major versions of control theory. The first being his control theory of delinquency, and this theory was presented in ‘Causes of Delinquency’ (1969), which had an interesting origination in the social disorganisation perspective, which I will go into more detail about. The othe major theory was the Self control theory of Delinquency, mainly presented in Gotttfredson and Hirschi’s ‘A general theory of crime’. This theory proposed that ‘people involved in crime also engage in analogous behaviours that provide short term gratification’ (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990:91). Crime is also…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 4 Notes
    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Chapter 4 Notes

    Attachment: The bond between parent and child or between individuals and their family, friends, and school.…

    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    General Strain Theory
    • 2128 Words
    • 9 Pages

    General Strain Theory

    Hirschi described social bonding theory as, “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” (Alston 1995). Forming social relationships is one of the most important aspects to staying out of criminal activities. The four basic principle elements of this theory are attachment, commitment, involvement, and beliefs. Attachment is the degree of value an individual holds in a society. The most important attachment most individuals form is family. Family helps to form an idea of what the world is from a very young age. They teach how to behave in specific situations and what is wrong or right. With attachment, an individual learns what to expect from society as well as what the society expects from him or her. A person who doesn’t form a strong attachment to family or society has trouble fitting into the norms (Alston 1995). Commitment is said to be the second step to attachment. One has to commit to the norms of society and uphold to expectations. An individual without a strong attachment will find it difficult to commit. The third element, Involvement is giving importance and time to society. Its engrossing oneself and participating in conventional activities. Finally, beliefs are the the rules and certain values of society a person has to follow. For example, having a monogamous relationship is a norm in the United States. Not following this norm or any other norm causes an individual to deviate from society. They become outcasts and lose their sense of responsibility to society. This in turn encourages that individual to participate in criminal activity and deviance (Alston…

    • 2128 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Delinquency In The 1920's
    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Delinquency In The 1920's

    Here are nine formal propositions that demonstrate that social interaction and learning lead to delinquency. The first one is criminal behavior is learned. Sutherland said delinquency is a function of learning. The second one is criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication. The third one is intimate personal groups is the principal part of the learning of criminal behavior. So you can learn delinquent behavior from families such as parents. The fourth one is when you do criminal behavior; you learn the techniques of committing the crime, specific directions of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. The fifth one is the specific direction of motives and drives is leaned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable. The sixth one is a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of the law over definitions unfavorable to violation of the law. A favorable definition happens when a youth is exposed to ideas or behaviors that are deviant. When a juvenile is associating with others, he has obtained more definitions that are favorable to the violation of the law than are unfavorable, and then delinquency is likely to occur. The seventh is differential associations may vary…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Relationship Between Attachment And Social Connectivity
    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page

    Relationship Between Attachment And Social Connectivity

    It might be interesting to measure the relationship between attachment and social connectivity. Attachment is an emotional bond that drives the social behavior to connect one individual to another. It is fundamental to human relationship by explaining the parent-child relationship and how personality in adulthood can be shaped through the influences of social and cognitive development.…

    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Social Bond Theory Essay
    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Social Bond Theory Essay

    According to the article, Juvenile Delinquency in the High Schools of Ankara, Turkey, the social bond theory was tested on juvenile delinquency in Turkey, a developing country. They surveyed 1,730 students regarding how many times they have used force on teachers; hitting other students; fist fighting; attacking someone; carrying knife, bat, etc.; using force on students; sexual harassment; etc (Ozbay, 2006). The result was that the attachment to teachers, conventionality of peers, family supervision, school commitment, belief, and school involvement are statistically significant and have negative influence on total delinquency (Ozbay, 2006). This study further proved that the lack of presence of a social bond can increase one’s risk of committing…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of The Strong African American Juvenile Delinquency
    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Examples Of The Strong African American Juvenile Delinquency

    There are so many children world wide exposed to parental instability and adverse early experiences that make them more vulnerable to long-term deviancy. The SAAF program has the potential to possibly lower African American juvenile delinquency and prevent long-term deviant behavior by implementing theoretical mechanisms of differential association theory and social bonding and control theory. Studies have consistently supported that there is a correlation between parental instability and juvenile delinquency in all cases. However, there seems to be a higher impact among African American adolescents. According to Edwin Sutherland’s theory (1947), deviant behavior is a result of a process of social learning, in which criminal definitions are learned either favorably or unfavorably, which is usually in many cases a matter of culture conflict (Matsueda and Heimer,…

    • 1553 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Collaborative Coercion Theory
    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Collaborative Coercion Theory

    6). To that end, Colvin concluded that ‘both impersonal and interpersonal coercion are positively related to delinquent involvement” (p. 6). It is evident that the theorist attempted to validate his hypothesis through the application of an empirical study. The deferential coercion theory relates to the parental theory by the present deficits. Parental social bonds, and school social bonds where among the deficits. The differential coercion theory is yet a small branch of the Social Bond Theory and Social Control Theory. In another attempt to validate the theory based on the parental theory, one can examine and analyze the policy implications that follow. For example, Dolu and Büker (2010) explain how parents should “develop a strong social bond to legitimate institutions and especially to the family, children should be disciplined in a consistently non-coercive fashion” (p. 7) in order to retract from criminal behavior. This can be done through training programs. Simply put, criminal behavior can be reduced through consistent, non-coercive controls. This sub-theory relates overall due to the interactions, both personal and interpersonal, relationships individuals have with one or others, much life Social Bond Theory and the attachment, or involvement one has in…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Examining Theory Paper
    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Examining Theory Paper

    There are many theories in the field of criminology that seek to explain the reasons behind why people commit crimes. Social process theory is one such theory and asserts that criminal behavior is learned through interactions with others (Schmalleger, 2012). There are four types of social process theories including: social learning theory, social control theory, labeling theory, and dramaturgical perspective. This paper will explore two of the theories including social learning theory and social control theory. The paper will discuss social process theory and the history of its development, the theory’s importance to criminology, examples of the theory, and any positives or negatives associated with the theory.…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Juvenile Delinquency Family Structure
    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Juvenile Delinquency Family Structure

    It will further go on to explain that individuals conform because they have strong affective bonds to parents, risks in conformism, involvement in predictable actions and acceptance of social norms. This theory originally claimed that the attachment between parent and child is dominant and the strength of the relationship is one of the utmost important factor in determining delinquent behaviour. This theory will be used to explain that youth who come from a divorce or better known as nontraditional families may experience injured connections with their parents, therefore increasing the chances of negative influence to engage in crime and delinquency.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    John Bowlby's Case Study
    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages

    John Bowlby's Case Study

    The ability to form and maintain relationships is an essential part of healthy emotional and physical development. John Bowlby, the first attachment therapist, believed the early bonds a child forms with his caregivers will have a great impact on the relationships he has as an adult. To understand what attachment is, we first need to understand bonding. Bonding is the process of forming an attachment, it creates a connection between two people. In this case, we are referring to the connection or bond between the infant and its primary care giver, most likely the mother. If the bond is nurturing, comforting and pleasurable between caregiver and child, the child will become securely attached, otherwise the child will have an insecure attachment.…

    • 1265 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    social bond theory
    • 728 Words
    • 2 Pages

    social bond theory

    Social bond theory was created by Travis Hirschi and it is a form of social control theory. Social control theorists are more interested in explaining why someone is not being deviant rather than why they are. In this theory it is expected that deviance will occur at some point. Hirschi's social bond theory explains that deviane is expected to occur because crime is easy to do; you do not need any special skills to commit crimes. Everyone has the same amount of motivation to participate in deviance. Social bond theory is made up of four bonds; attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Each bond is a bond to conformity and that keeps individuals from doing deviant behavior. Hirschi argues that the strength of social control a person has is what differentiates people who committ offenses from those who do not.…

    • 728 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics