Hirschi- Social Control:

• According to Hirschi, social control and social order are maintained through the process of socialisation

• Hirschi’s ideas come from a view of examining why people do not commit crime rather than why they do

• Hirschi suggests that people feel social bonds that control them from committing crime due to the negative impacts of the society they live in

Bonds of attachment:

• People are integrated into society through the social bonds they have. Hirschi outlines 4 bonds that control the behaviour of people:

  • Attachment

  • Belief

  • Commitment

  • Involvement

Attachment:

• People have goals and activities they do in order to achieve these goals

• Employment, Education, Family Life, and community involvement could all be interrupted by any possible criminal activity

• This leads to conformity to society’s norms and values- as deviance may mean they lose out on future opportunities -, a e.g. criminal record might influence career prospects

Belief:

• Belief refers to the individual’s commitment to the norms and values of society

• This is dependent upon the socialisation of individuals into a value consensus

• Individual beliefs that criminal activities are morally wrong will influence them into not committing crime

Commitment:

• Commitment refers to the interactions that people have with others within their community

• Those committed to community are unlikely to want to go against the wishes of others

• Being committed also refers to the extent to which people will be protective of the interests of others in the community - for example, not committing crime as it would shame their their family

Involvement:

• Involvement within local community means people have less opportunity to commit crime

• People aware of potential damage that criminal behaviour can do to their community

• Alleviates other frustrations such as employment, as status can be gained through being known in community

How does this lead to crime?

• Hirschi suggests that absence of these controlling factors could lead people to commit crime

• This is heightened if there is an opportunity for crime - lack of social bonds alone is not an explanation according to Hirschi

• Lack of integration and inadequate socialisation into society can impact on an individual’s desire to conform to that society for the greater good

Evaluations of Hirschi’s Bonds of Attachment:

• As a control theory, it is suggests that under certain circumstances everyone has potential for deviance and acknowledges social conditions behind crime

• Offers little in the way of explanation for how crime is caused or the specific nature of criminal behaviour

• Assumes that social bonds mean the same to all individuals; it does not explain why some choose not to integrate into community