Running head: THE SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY

The Social Control Theory

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THE SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY

The Social Control Theory

The social control theory gained popularity in the 1960s when sociologists sought different

concepts of crime. Travis Hirsch put forth this theory in the bid to explain the roles of the society

in the control of criminal behavior. The theory suggests that when individuals lack bonds within

their society, they are more likely to commit crimes. The theory focuses on strategies and

techniques that monitor and regulate human behavior thus leading to the conformity to societal

rules. Unlike the other theories that try to explain the existence of deviant behavior, social

control theories question why people refrain from offensive behaviors. According to Hirschi,

these bonds are based on the commitments that an individual has invested his time and energy,

the individual’s belief in wide social values, the attachment of an individual to his or her friends,

family, coworkers as well as teachers and the attachment of an individual to activities that

prevent him or her from defiant behaviors. Cheung believes that Hirsch and Gottfredson’s social

theory explains the individual level of defiance at the same time rejecting the sociological

explanation of defiance. Cheung examines the strength of the social control theory in the

forecasting of deviant behavior among Hong Kong adolescents. Le Blanc and Morizot base their

findings on several longitudinal studies that indicate that most individuals desist from deviant

behavior in their early years of adulthood or by the end of their adolescent stage. The above

scholars strongly support the fact that the social control theory plays an extremely significant

role in the shaping of an individual’s behavior negatively or positively.

Morisot and LeBlanc conduct a test of the launch and contemporaneous effect models to

determine the behavioral, social and self-forecasts of resistance from criminal activities. The

contemporaneous effect model suggests that different social and self-control measures may

either restrain or accelerate the deviant process during different development stages of an
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individual. The launch effect model, on the other hand, indicates that extremely few social

control variables can be used to forecast the trajectories of defiance of an individual from crime

throughout a 25 year period. The two scholars use three hypotheses to explain an individual’s

resistance from crime. The first hypothesis that they make is that aging contributes to an

individual’s resistance from crime. The two scholars argue that when individual ages, he or she

becomes familiar with maturity thus gaining self-control that prevents him or her from

committing crimes. They further argue that environmental influences to do not contribute to an

individual’s decisions to desist from criminal activities. The scholars further add that the

maturity helps individuals to make informed decisions that also prevent them from engaging in

drug and substance abuse. Le Blanc and Morizot argue that the self-control trait is naturally

embedded in individual’s bodies and that the improved self-control plays a major role in helping

individuals desist from criminal activities (Morisot & Le Blanc, 2007, p.51).

The second hypothesis that Morizot and Le Blanc use to support the resistance from crime is the

social control theory. The scholars argue that individuals are more likely to desist from crimes

when they involve themselves in more conventional social roles. The two scholars argue using

Hirsch’s theory by stating that the involvement in prosaically conventional activities, the beliefs

in conventional virtues, commitment to social institutions and a stronger attachment to others

increases the probability of an individual to desist from criminal activities (Morisot & Le Blanc,

2007, p.51).

The two scholars conducted a study with the sole purpose of testing several traditional elements

of social and self-normative processes in desisting from criminal behaviors. The study assesses

individuals who are in adolescence to adults of 41years of age. The study utilized data from the

MTLS. The study recruited several French-speaking male adolescents in the mid-1970s. The
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individuals were interviewed as well as given questionnaires based on the integrative theory of

antisocial and delinquent behavior. The same individuals were used three more times as they

attained different ages; after every ten years. At every period of data collection, the participants

were questioned about various aspects about their lives. The questions involved the participant’s

personality traits, prosocial interpersonal affiliation, substance use, self-reported criminal

activities, commitment to conventional social roles, and school and family experiences. In the

analysis obtained from the above experiment, a latent trajectory modeling design was used to

study the trajectory resistance from criminal activities of the participants (Morisot & Le Blanc,

2007, p.55).

For the launch effect model, a conditional LTM consisting of individuals from the age of 15

were utilized. Measures utilized indicated various individuals’ persistence to crime and other’s

resistance from crime. Various traditional activities such as school attendance showed no link to

criminal versatility. The adolescent individuals who were addicted to substance use displayed an

extremely high link to criminal activities. The affiliation with prosocial friends, parental

supervision, and late onset were associated with lower levels of criminal activities for individuals

at the age of 15.

For the contemporaneous effect model, LTMs were fitted with different varieties of TVCs. The

incarnation stability was positively linked with criminal activities at the stages of early

adulthood. The model portrayed that substance use hindered the resistance process at all stages

of the participant’s life. Work stability was negatively linked to criminal activity thus considered

catalysts to the acceleration of the resistance process. This first article partially supports the

social contract theory.

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Le Blanc and Morizot’s article indicate that the best way to learn the resistance process is by

investing the complex social and self-patters of an individual’s behavior at a simultaneous rate.

The study was advantageous since it collected an extensive amount of data thus allowing a

comprehensive analysis of the process of resistance from criminal activities. However, it also

had its shortcomings that include; the use of a relatively small sample size, limitation of analysis

to the processes of specialization, and the fact that the study was can only be generalized to men

(Morisot & Le Blanc, 2007, p.65).

The objectives of the study in the second article were to explore the power of self-control

theory in the prediction of defiant behavior. A combination of 1015 Chinese secondary

students aged 14-19 years was involved in the study. The results indicated that low self-

control within the adolescent individuals was highly linked to criminal activities. The range

of negative social conditions linked to social control included negative school experiences,

stressful life events, disrupted social bonds, and labeling by parents and teachers. Cheung’s

findings suggest that the combination of social factors and self-control are integral in the

prediction of defiant adolescent behavior among various cultures. The study that was

conducted by Cheung suggests that a combination of social factors and self-control

contributes to the existence of defiant behavior among adolescents (Cheung, 2008, p.413).
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Data that was collected between May and June involved the use of interviews and

questionnaires that were given to students while in their classrooms. 1030 questionnaires

were completed while 15 questionnaires of the total were discarded due to some student’s

lack of seriousness. The variables that were being tested during this study included social

bonds, labeling, self-control, strain as well as differential association. The results indicated

that students with weak social bonds were mostly associated with the lack of self-control.

The same students had a higher percentage of having negative school experiences such as

being labeled by other students, teachers as well as parents. These circumstances lead to

the underperformance of the students with low self-control; the negativities that are

directed to these students force them, to adapt defiant behaviors as a coping mechanism

(Cheung, 2008, p.418).

The second study partially supports the self-control theory. Based on thorough analysis of

the study findings, the Chinese adolescents showed that self-control theory fails to forecast

bad behavior when social variables are monitored by a third party. Although these findings

contradict most of the past studies based on the western samples, self-control stems up as

an integral element in the prediction of criminal activities among adolescents. Chueng

further suggests that the combination of social factors and self-control form a robust

ground for the forecast of delinquency across various cultures (Cheung, 2008, p.427).

Both of the above articles portray the extent to which social theory can help in the

prediction of future bad behavior among adolescents. When the society fails to teach, show

support, correct as well as engage the youth in useful activities, then the occurrence of

crimes among these children becomes inevitable. It is the responsibility of every parent,

guardian, teacher and grown up to ensure that the children within their societies are taught
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the appropriate virtues of life. The social theory perfectly explains the occurrence of crimes

among individuals who lacked guidance as they grew up. For the future research

techniques, I would recommend the use of online social media and the up to date

technology as it currently consists of a large sample of users.

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References:

Morisot, J., & Le Blanc, M. (2007). Behavioral, Self, and Social Control Predictors of Desistance

from Crime. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23(1). Doi: 50-71

Cheung, N. (2008). Self-Control, Social Factors, and Delinquency: A Test of the General Theory

of Crime among Adolescents in Hong Kong. Youth Adolescence, 37(37), 412-430.

Ontario Gov. Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews. (2015). Retrieved

December 3, 2015, from

http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volume5/chapter12_s

ocial_control.aspx