Question

Compare any two social control theories of crime. What type of control (direct, indirect, internal) do they emphasize? Are the policy implications similar or different?

Answer 1

• The Social Bond Theory of Travis Hirschi emphasizes on the importance of social bonds or relations in controlling deviant behaviors in the individual. These social relationships or bonds imply an indirect control on the deviance, the parents control the behavior of their children,thus they indirectly control the deviant behaviors in the children. The policy implication includes more secure attachments in family and school settings where primary socialization of children occur.
• Age-graded theory of social control by Robert Sampson and John Laub- This theory also emphasizes on the importance of social bonds and relationships but with a difference that this theory includes the age factor in it. This theory states that the relationships of an individual with parents in the childhood, the peers during adolescence, with spouse during adulthood and the job satisfaction in the adulthood, plays an important role in keeping the individual from deviance. This theory too emphasizes on the indirect control within the family, emphasizes on the importance of secure bonding with parents, school settings and spouse, and stresses on improved work place environment for deviance control.

The policy implication of both the theories emphasizes on secure attachments in different social context to control deviance.