The Nature of Criminality: Low Self-Control Theory of Crime
The Nature of Criminality: Low Self-Control
Introduction to Criminality
Definition of Criminality: A term to describe the propensities of individuals committing criminal acts.
Classical Theory Overview:
No unique propensities are inherent in criminals; they act on the universal tendency to seek pleasure.
Variation between criminals and noncriminals is based on awareness of sanctions and social consequences.
Example:
An individual cut off from the community faces less social ostracism.
Lack of knowledge about consequences reduces self-restraint.
Beliefs about life after death can influence concern over legal penalties.
Control Theories:
Emphasize preventing crime through painful consequences for the individual.
Moral vs. Legal Sanctions:
Classical theorists highlight moral sanctions like goodwill, love of reputation, and the desire for social acceptance as significant.
Bentham's Restraining Motives:
Begins with goodwill, love of reputation, and desire for amity.
Fear of detection is linked to concerns over reputation and social acceptance.
Asociality and Criminality
Relation between Crime and Social Motives:
Crime indicates weakened social motives; criminals are less social than noncriminals.
Assessment of Criminal Associality:
Greater the mischief or depravity of crimes, the higher the perceived moral depravity of the offender.
Control Theories on Asocial Nature:
Measure asociality not by traits like aggressiveness but by their acts.
Theories suggest that individuals act asocially only to the extent required by their crimes.
Quote by Bentham:
The inherent bias in every individual tends to conform to societal pressures over time.
Positivism vs. Classical Theories:
Positivism posits that criminals possess inherent traits conducive to crime.
Classical logic infers motivations limited to the context of criminal acts without inherent criminality.
Self-Control as a Concept:
Transition towards viewing differences in criminal behavior through the lens of self-control.
Understanding Self-Control
Definition of Self-Control:
Stable individual differences impacting the likelihood of committing criminal acts.
Self-Control vs. Criminality:
Self-control emphasizes restraint from crime rather than compulsion toward it.
Characteristics of Low Self-Control:
Immediate Gratification Tendency:
Individuals with low self-control focus on immediate rewards from crime (money, power, excitement).
Short-Term Orientation:
Lack long-term commitments (jobs, family). Often lead unstable personal lives.
Risk-Taking Behavior:
Engage in thrilling, dangerous activities.
Cognitive Demands of Crime:
Most crimes require little skill, thus individuals lacking self-control may not pursue academic or skilled pursuits.
Emotional Insensitivity:
Criminal acts often result in harm to others; those with low self-control may be indifferent to this suffering.
Tolerance to Frustration:
Low self-control correlates with poor frustration tolerance and physical conflict over verbal resolution.
Examples of Non-Criminal Manifestations:
Traits also manifest in non-criminal acts like substance abuse, aggression, and accidents.
Implications of Self-Control Research:
Trait Persistence:
Traits linked to low self-control can be identified before age of criminal responsibility, remaining stable over time.
Versatility of Offenders
Concept of Offender Versatility:
Criminal acts show a lack of specialization, with individuals engaging in various crimes.
Support for Versatility in Criminal Behavior:
Research (Hirschi, Hindelang, Wolfgang, etc.) suggests offenders tend not to specialize but engage in multiple acts.
Contradiction to Specialization Theory:
Theories like those of Cloward and Ohlin posit specialized subcultures; empirical evidence suggests otherwise.
Understanding Non-Criminal Analogues:
Noncriminal acts typically associated with low self-control form psychological links to crime (e.g., smoking correlating with theft).
Family Influence on Self-Control
Effect of Family Dynamics on Self-Control:
Ineffective parenting practices lead to lower self-control in children.
Research Findings on Parenting and Delinquency:
Presence of parent’s criminal history correlates with child delinquency rates; inadequate supervision leads to deviant acts.
Child-Rearing Conditions:
Essential elements include monitoring behavior, recognizing deviance, and appropriate punishment.
Lack of affection/personal investment undermines effectively raising socially capable children.
Role of Parent-Child Affection:
Positive parental feelings encourage proper supervision and foster self-control in children.
Socialization Beyond Family
Impact of Schools on Self-Control Development:
Schools monitor and teach self-control to some degree, although their power is strained in families that are already failing to socialize effectively.
Truancy as an Indicator:
Early school absences are predictive of long-term low self-control.
Stability of Self-Control Over Time
Findings on Persistence of Criminal Behavior:
Research consistently shows a strong correlation between prior behavior and future criminality.
Age and Decrease in Crime:
The likelihood of engaging in crime decreases with age, aligning with increased self-control.
Social Institutions as Influences:
The notion that institutions alone convert law-abiding citizens into criminals is challenged by findings on individual differences.
Personality Traits and Criminality
Critique of Conventional Views on Personality:
Sociological and psychological perspectives differ on whether specific personality traits can characterize criminals.
Self-Control as a Key Trait:
The level of self-control becomes the primary distinguishing factor between offenders and nonoffenders.
Alternative Theories of Criminality
Common Frameworks in Size of Theories:
Limited theories exist that can account for all distinctive criminal acts and behaviors.
Focus on Decision-Making Situations:
Theories either focus on immediate behavior or broader life forces, but a balanced model is necessary to understand criminality.
Conclusion on Theory Dynamics:
The need for a cohesive theory addressing self-control must encompass self-restraint, immediate vs long-term gratification, and behavioral motivations to truly explain crime and deviance.
Introduction to Juvenile Delinquency
Current Explanations:
Two major classifications of juvenile delinquency explanations:
Personality Disturbances/Emotional Conflicts:
Focuses on individual psychological issues as the root cause of delinquent behavior.
Social Environment Interaction:
Views delinquency as learned behavior within a deviant sub-culture contrasting with societal norms.
Conflict of Theories: There is tension between the two views as professionals often align with their respective disciplines, leading to bias in interpretation.
Common Assumption: Both perspectives assume that delinquents are fundamentally deviant, opposing the norms of the dominant middle-class social values.
Key Arguments of the Paper
Misrepresentation of Delinquent Values:
The authors argue that delinquent values are not as deviant as portrayed and are correlated with leisure values of the dominant society.
The perception of delinquency stemming purely from opposition to mainstream society is misleading; many delinquents agree with societal norms but practice them ineffectively.
Techniques of Neutralization:
Delinquents utilize mechanisms such as:
Denial of responsibility
Definition of injury as rightful revenge
These techniques allow them to evade societal controls that otherwise govern behavior.
Attraction to Delinquency:
The paper raises the question: What makes delinquency appealing to individuals?
It posits that underlying values of delinquency are less deviant than generally perceived, challenging the oversimplification of middle-class values.
Values of Delinquency
The authors suggest three major themes reflect the values of juvenile delinquents:
Search for Excitement:
Delinquents actively seek thrill through dangerous or thrilling activities, which provide excitement often lacking in legitimate activities.
Criminal behavior is hence defined as thrilling, marking a stark contrast with mundane life and serving as a vehicle for adventure.
Disdain for Work and Money:
Delinquents often disregard typical occupational aspirations and exhibit aimlessness or lofty dreams without a realistic path to success.
They prefer exploitative methods of gaining financial resources without engaging in traditional hard work, favoring smartness and manipulation instead.
Delinquent activities often have a non-utilitarian aspect, suggesting a complex relationship with money that may reflect a want for fleeting excitement rather than long-term financial security.
Aggression as Masculinity:
Aggression is commonly manifested in delinquent behavior, framed as a proof of toughness and masculinity—a cultural expectation that transcends delinquency alone.
Delinquency and Leisure Class Values
There is a noted resemblance between the values held by delinquents and those ascribed to the leisure class by theorists like Thorstein Veblen, where:
Daring, avoidance of work, taste for luxury, and respect for toughness characterize both.
Misinterpretation of Daring:
Acts perceived as delinquent may also showcase courage within their context rather than mere rebellion against authority.
Societal Views on Values
The paper argues that society generally holds some admiration for the qualities embodied by delinquents, including the pursuit of excitement and aggression, as evidenced through cultural artifacts like movies and literature that celebrate violent acts.
This societal perspective complicates the notion of delinquency as a purely deviant stance, instead suggesting the shared values between delinquents and normative society.
The Role of Subterranean Values
Definition: Subterranean values refer to those held privately which conflict with public morals that individuals cherish yet recognize as deviant.
The study suggests that these values exist within individuals and can motivate behavior that seems at odds with publicly acceptable norms.
It proposes that societal attitudes towards leisure and work are not strictly delineated, with many seeking enjoyment through non-traditional avenues of success, akin to the delinquent’s pursuits.
Intersection of Delinquency and Social Class
Juvenile Delinquency and Class Relation:
Delinquency rates are historically viewed as higher in lower classes, attributing certain values and existential frustrations unique to these strata of society.
Contemporary studies hint at delinquency widespread across social classes, suggesting middle and upper classes experience and express delinquency as well.
This shifts the understanding of delinquency beyond mere lower-class distinctions towards a more nuanced view acknowledging diverse motivations and expressions across all social layers.
Conclusion of the Findings
The exploration of delinquency suggests a convergence of leisure values within the larger social framework, rather than strict opposition to societal norms.
The complex interplay of values offers insights into understanding the motivations behind delinquency as a societal reflection, rather than solely an individual anomaly.
Further exploration is called for regarding the circumstances that lead some adolescents to manifest delinquency, reinforcing that delinquent behavior cannot be simplified into singular motivation but rather an array of influencing factors in the social environment.
Week 9 - Control Theories
Overview of Control Theories
Control theories focus on understanding why individuals choose to conform rather than deviate from societal norms.
Key idea: the presence of social controls and the absence of constraints influence behavior.
Key Concepts in Control Theories
Social Bond Theory
Developed by Travis Hirschi.
Proposes that strong social bonds to family, community, and social institutions (e.g., school) lead to conformity.
Components of Social Bonds:
Attachment: emotional ties to others.
Commitment: investment in conventional activities.
Involvement: participation in legitimate activities.
Belief: acceptance of social norms.
Self-Control Theory
Introduced by Gottfredson and Hirschi.
Suggests that low self-control leads to deviant behavior.
Characteristics of Low Self-Control:
Impulsiveness.
Lack of diligence.
Risk-seeking behaviors.
Routine Activity Theory
Focuses on situational factors influencing crime.
Crime occurs when three elements converge:
Motivated offender.
Suitable target.
Lack of capable guardianship.
Applications of Control Theories
Understanding juvenile delinquency and crime prevention.
Criminal justice policies can benefit from these theories by enhancing social bonds and guardianship practices.
Critique of Control Theories
May overlook structural factors such as poverty and discrimination.
Some argue that these theories do not account for individual motivations and circumstances that lead to criminal behavior.
Conclusion
Control theories provide valuable insights into the mechanisms that deter crime and promote social order.
Highlight the importance of social bonds and personal self-control in understanding criminal behavior.
Control Theories Study Guide
Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory Elements:
Attachment: Emotional ties to others.
Commitment: Investment in conventional activities.
Involvement: Participation in legitimate activities.
Belief: Acceptance of social norms.
Differentiation from Later Work on Self-Control: While social bond theory emphasizes strong ties to societal structures to prevent deviance, Hirschi's later work on self-control focuses on individual characteristics that predispose people to deviant behavior, positing that low self-control is a key factor leading to criminality.
Role of Criminal Legal Systems and Sanctions:
Control theorists view the legal system as a means of establishing social control through sanctions that deter individuals from engaging in criminal acts. They emphasize the consequences of actions and the awareness of such consequences to reduce deviant behavior.
Strengthening Social Bond Throughout Life Course:
Control theories suggest enhancing supervision and support in families, schools, and communities to reinforce social bonds.
Next Steps When Control Fails: When social controls fail, interventions such as counseling, community programs, or stricter legal consequences are recommended.
Example: A youth showing signs of delinquency might be provided mentoring programs to enhance social ties and support systems.
Gottfredson and Hirschi
Rejection of Criminality Idea:
The authors argue that criminal behavior does not stem from unique characteristics inherent to criminals but rather from the interaction of low self-control and situational factors.
Elements of Self-Control:
Impulsiveness, lack of diligence, risk-seeking behaviors.
These elements interact to influence behavior; for example, a person seeking immediate gratification might indulge in theft for an instant reward instead of pursuing long-term goals.
Definition of Self-Control:
Stability in individual differences that affect the likelihood of committing criminal acts.
Possible Issues with Definition: It may oversimplify the complexity of human behavior and does not account for situational influences.
Development of Self-Control:
Self-control is shaped largely by family dynamics, particularly through parenting practices, and remains stable over time.
General Theory:
This theory is termed a “general theory” because it seeks to explain all forms of deviant behavior through the singular lens of self-control rather than specific situational contexts.
Matza and Sykes
Attractiveness of Delinquency:
They suggest delinquency is seductive due to the excitement and adrenaline it offers; this appeal may be universal or vary among individuals based on their social surroundings and personal experiences.
Example of Such Behavior: Engaging in vandalism for the thrill associated with defying authority.
Characteristics of Deviant Individuals:
Deviants may value excitement, toughness, and disdain for societal norms, but this evaluation might overlook underlying social contexts affecting behavior.
Subterranean Values:
Subterranean values refer to values held privately that conflict with public morals, which can be found across various socioeconomic groups.
These values suggest a complex interplay between social expectations and personal beliefs, indicating that delinquent behavior can manifest across different demographics.
Sykes and Matza
Process Allowing Deviance:
Individuals may deviate through a cognitive process by rationalizing their actions and justifying deviant behavior.
They argue this process is crucial for justifying actions to avoid guilt and maintain self-image.
Neutralization Techniques Examples:
Denial of Responsibility: “I didn't mean to; it just happened.”
Denial of Injury: “No one was really hurt.”
Denial of Victim: “They deserved it.”
Condemnation of Condemners: “They do it too.”
Appeal to Higher Loyalties: “I had to do it for my friends.”
Difference from Subcultural Theory:
Neutralization theory emphasizes individual cognitive processes enabling deviance, contrasting with subcultural theory, which highlights group values and norms.
Situational Factors Matter: Specific contexts can influence the likelihood of deviating behavior, indicating that situational triggers can sway individuals toward or away from deviance based on the circumstances they find themselves in.