Cultural Control Theory of Juvenile Delinquency
Underlying Assumptions
Travis Hirschi’s Social Control theory of deviance assumes that deviant actions are largely an event of the connectedness of the individual to his or her society; more specifically, Hirschi’s assumptions are that juvenile delinquency, and criminal deviance more generally, are inversely related to this elements of connectedness between the person and the community: involvement, determination, attachment, and belief (Akers Sellers, 2005; Huebner Betts, 2002).
Composition of Theory
Hirschi applied the concept of participation to describe the way in which and level to which the individuals participates the so-called “conventional” activities, such as extracurricular school capabilities and other prepared opportunities intended for socially effective youth entertainment available in the city (Macionis, 2008). Hirschi employed the concept of commitment, to describe the standard “acceptance” inside the most basic senses, of fundamental interpersonal and behavioral norms, values, and anticipations in the individual’s community and society. Hirschi referred to the idea of attachment to characterize the caliber of the interpersonal relationships inside nuclear and extended people and among and amongst peers too (Akers Sellers, 2004; Huebner Betts, 2002). Hirschi utilized the concept of idea to describe the amount to which the accepts and shares the dominant societal beliefs of the community outside of the expanded family (Akers Sellers, 2005; Huebner Betts, 2002).
In respect to Hirschi, in theory, individuals who are attached to their community communities and to their societies more generally tend to conform their behavior to the anticipations of those communities and communities (Macionis, 2008). By contrast, people who are not linked to their regional communities and also to their much larger societies by virtue of the four elements of societal connectedness outlined by Hirschi are at much larger risk of juvenile delinquency early on and to deviance (including lawbreaker conduct) after in their lives (Schmalleger, 2009).
Strengths and Weaknesses of Social Control Theory
In many respects, Hirschi’s Sociable Control Theory of deviance, criminality, and juvenile delinquency is completely like more general concepts of social psychology and the emotional development of individuals (Henslin, 2009). In that perception, it is difficult to argue that connectedness as described by the 4 elements comprehensive by Hirschi is not really substantially linked to the degree where individuals value cultural norms and social values. Obviously, the more linked the individual is to his contemporary society and community the more crucial it will be to get him to take on its sociable values and also to fulfill the different behavioral objectives of individuals in that society. Alternatively, individuals who lack involvement within their communities, who also do not share a determination, to the same ideals and expectations while those of all their communities and society, who have develop fairly little connection to the dominant values and norms with their societies, and who preserve fundamentally different beliefs than those generally espoused by their friends and neighbors and community members are much more likely to act out in ways that are disapproved of or truly prohibited by laws of their societies (Schmalleger, 2009).
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