Social Controls Essay Social Control Theory The Control Theory Essay examples

1. Social Controls Essay
Critically evaluate the claim that it is social controls that prevent us all from committing crime.
This essay will thoroughly examine and evaluate the claim that it is social controls that prevent us
from committing crimes by looking at different social control theories. Firstly we must determine
what a social control theory consists of, according to Hopkins (2009) 'social control theory is
fundamentally derived from a conception of human nature that proposes that there are no natural
limits on elementary human needs and desires. People will always want and seek further economic
reward and it is thus not necessary to look for special motives for engaging in criminal activity.
Human beings are born free to break the law and will only...show more content...
This is where Hirschis believes the essence of internalization of norms lies in the attachment of
individuals to others and states that it has several advantages over internalization of the norms of
society (cited in Cullen and Agnew 2006, p.221–222). Reasoning for this being if a man were to get
divorced and commit a crime by using the assumption of internalization the blame would go on his
inner self which is his psychological side. Whereas by using the idea of attachment it would show
that the loss of his wife made him commit the crime because the attachment was the control and it
would be easier to measure and help him. The stronger attachment an individual makes with parents,
teachers, friends and society the more likely they are to not commit crime as they will worry about
what one of them might think.
The next social aspect of Hirschi's (1969) bonding theory to be looked at is that of commitment.
The idea behind commitment is that a person invests time, energy, himself, in a certain line of
activity for example education, building up a business, becoming a footballer. Whenever this person
considers deviant behaviour, the person must weigh the costs of this deviant behaviour. The social
investments the person has made will be put at risk by committing a crime (cited in Newburn 2009,
p.237). This is essentially a rational actor model of cost–benefit argument and those who invest most
in conventional social life have a greater stake in conformity and
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2. Social Control Theory
Social Control Theory There are many things in today's society that unknowingly control our
actions and behaviors. Bonds that exist with our surroundings have a profound effect on how we
live our lives. Since the 1900's conformity has been the focus of every society here on Earth. If
people are given an idea about what is right or wrong and the outcomes for each decision are clearly
shown; the chance for deviance is greatly lessened. This summary will contain history of the social
control theory and how its ideas and beliefs have evolved today. The earliest known definition of the
social control theory was taken from E.A. Ross, a sociologist from the 1900's. He believed that the
things people believed in made them conform to their...show more content...
The things people choose to believe make them who they are. There are negative beliefs and
positive ones. Everyone has them, most are brought up to believe a certain way or practice a
certain type of religion. Families pass down beliefs and ways of life from generation to
generation. Different races believe in different things, many religious but others exist too. When
people believe in the system its government provides they give back to it, and respect it. However,
what some people believe in conflict with the beliefs of others, and when two different types of
beliefs clash the result can be ugly. The bond between people and their society lessen when they
don't believe in what it stands for. Demonstrators for abortion or war are perfect examples of the
beliefs people have and how they choose to express their emotions physically. The containment
theory states that every person has an exterior structure and a protected interior structure. Both of
these different types of structures are used as a buffer for delinquency. Examples of a person's
exterior structure could be belonging to a group of people, the opportunity to gain a certain type of
status within society, or a set of limitations or responsibilities. Internal construction can be
capitalized on by having a general positive outlook on life, believing in ones self, and a good
conscience. When these different constructs weaken in a person the chance for deviant acts increase
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3. The Control Theory Essay examples
Control Theory is the theory of support. This theory demonstrates an individual's social bonds in
relation to their performance. Since certain bonds are stronger in certain kinds of lifestyles the
affects will be different in all situations. Control theorists believe "in the rationality of the criminal
act that the individual behaves in a criminal manner for ordinary reasons, and this behavior arises
out of the person's own free will" (Moyer, 2001, 133). However, deviant behavior is prevalent in
today's society. It is a major problem concerning adolescents all across the world. This theory carries
serious paternalistic roles. When we are born our brain lacks knowledge. It is innate for the
individual to absorb the environments...show more content...
Some combinations of methods where use in order to determine the measuring control ratios for
any individual. First, in 1998 a questionnaire was distributed to several undergraduates who were
enrolled in criminal justice courses (Piquero, 1999). The questionnaire was a number of questions
and different scenarios to evaluate control balance theory among the 146 students who participate.
Statistical methods that he used were segmented regression, segmented non linear regression
estimates, and also descriptive statistics. In 1991 mothers with newborns were recruited from
hospitals at 10 different data collection from the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development across the United States (Vazsonyi, 2010).Their mainly focused was when the child
was 4.5 years, 8.5, and 10.5 from the 1,155 families that were recruited. For instance, all those
cases were review yearly to focus on the behavior if the child was engaging any misbehavior within
the years. For example, if single parents were going to have more issues controlling their children
misconduct or has they are getting older was the probability for them to change. However, they used
different scales to evaluate. For example, descriptive statistics of the study construct a scale score
that mothers will complete to include a self–control analysis, another scale was about the
correlations among the parent's self–control and deviance. Also, they tested if at
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