Assumptions about “Motivation towards crime”

1. Assumptions about “Motivation towards crime” • Strain theory: motivation from some sort of strain (e.g. blocked opportunity) • Learning theory: motivation from delinquent peers • Control theory: there is enough natural motivation towards crime • No need to “build in” extra motivation

2. Types of Control • Direct Control • Direct punishments, rewards from parents, friends • Indirect Control • Refrain from deviance because you don’t want to risk friends, job, etc. • Internal Control • Good self-concept, self-control, conscience

3. Travis HirschiCauses of Delinquency • Identified 4 Elements of the Bond • Attachment (emotional element) • Commitment (stake in conformity) • Involvement (in conventional activities) • Belief (in the validity of the law) • Focus here is on indirect controls

4. Evidence in Favor of Bonds • Attachment • Attachment to parents (wish to emulate, identify with) • Commitment • Grades, educational aspirations • Belief • Neutralizations

5. Criticisms of Hirschi’s Theory • Delinquents do form relationships • Attachment to delinquent peers or parents increases, rather than decreases delinquency • Which comes first, bonds or delinquency? • Bonds more salient for females, and early in adolescence

6. Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) • A General Theory of Crime • Same control theory assumptions • If we are all inclined to be deviant, why conform? • Because most of us develop “self-control” • “Internal control” • Developed by age 8, as the result of “direct control” from parents

7. Nature of Crime, Nature of Low Self-Control Criminal Acts… Provide immediate gratification of desires Are risky/thrilling Are easy/simple Require little skill/planning Provide few/meager long term benefits Result in pain/discomfort to a victim People with low self-control are therefore… Impulsive Risk-taking Physical (as opposed to mental) Low verbal ability Short-sighted Insensitive

8. The implications of low self-control • Explains “stability of criminal behavior” • But, how does it explain “aging out?” • Explains all crime and analogous behaviors • Analogous = same “nature” as criminal acts

9. Patterson Revisited: Revenge of the control theorists Parents supervise and punish deviance • Parenting • Context Child’s Antisocial Behavior Is Patterson a “social learning” or “control” theorist???

10. Empirical Support • Moderate relationship between low self-control and both crime and analogous behaviors • Holds for both males and females • BUT • Not the “sole cause” of crime • May not explain white collar crimes

11. Policy Implications • Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory • Target attachment, commitment, belief • Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory • Must focus on early childhood prevention • Train parents?

12. REVIEW CONTROL VS. LEARNING • Assumptions about motivation (and human nature) • Differences over attachment to “deviant others” • Similarity? • “Direct Controls” are similar to “Mechanisms of Learning”