Hirshis Theory of Social Bond: Analysis with - Case Study Example

Hirshi’s Theory of Social Bond: Analysis with Case Study Travis Hirsch’s in his book Causes of Delinquency (1969) proposes the social bond theory (SBT) and challenged the Differential Association Theory (Edwin Sutherland and Donald Cressey) on the impact of delinquent peers on delinquency. He proposed that delinquent peers would have no direct effect on delinquency when social bonds inhibiting delinquency were taken into account. He holds that similarly unattached youth drifted together into delinquent groups because weak social bonds failed to prevent both association with delinquents and delinquency itself. He further holds that the groups that could strengthen the bonds were family, school, peers, religious institutions, etc. to him the social bond had several elements which were: Attachment to parents, peers, or school which refers to a person's sensitivity to an interest in others. Commitment to conventional lines of action which involves the time, energy, and effort expended in conventional lines of action, such as getting an education and saving money for the future. Involvement in conventional activities leaves little time for illegal behaviour. Belief in a common value whereby he beliefs that people who live in the same social settings often share common moral beliefs; they may adhere to such values as sharing, sensitivity to rights of others, and admiration for the legal code In this theory he argues that youths who were strongly attached to their parents were less likely to commit criminal acts. He further argues that commitment to conventional values, such as striving to get a good education and refusing to drink alcohol and "cruise around" was indicative of conventional behaviour. He believes that youths involved in conventional activity, such as homework, were less likely to engage in criminal behaviour while those involved in unconventional behaviour, such as smoking and drinking, were more delinquency prone. Also those who maintained weak and distant relationships with people tended toward delinquency. Looking at the case study of Len Wade it is obvious that he has been convicted of many offences in the past and this seem not to have limited the practice. From the prison probation officers report, it is stated that lane once released goes home and leaves with the family. His father is suffering from a mental problem and the report holds that this seems to have compounded the behaviour of lane. The family has been under care of the mother who has been under intense pressure trying to maintain the family single handed. Wade also admits to having suffered from tantrums when he was a child. The difficulties experienced in life as a child by wade led to him seeking for solace among his peers which led to him adopting their lifestyle and anti social behaviour. He was willing to return home with no plans of what he was going to do since although he was willing to undertake courses he had not been given that opportunity. From the home area probation officers report concerning the attitude towards offence and offending behaviour, it shows that wade was introduced to offences by his beers and when he started using hard drugs he could feel ok doing the offence repeatedly and that as a child he was self centred and selfish. It is also evident from the parole board members report that wade started using drugs at 13 and that he was the only delinquent in a family of five in which he is the last born. Comparing this case study with the theory of social bonding it is clear that Wade’s family bond was weak that led him to get involved with other delinquent groups that introduced him to crime. It is also clear that Wade maintained a very weak and distant relationship with the family hence tended toward delinquency. Wade has admitted to having been the only one in the family of five with this kind of behaviour and even sees himself as a disgrace to the family. It is also clear that Wade’s father’s condition worsened the condition and there was no family bond. He was thus to associate himself with other delinquent groups to find solace there. Hirshi also holds that those youths involved in unconventional behavior, such as smoking and drinking, were more delinquency prone. Looking at our case study, Wade admits to having been introduced to drugs at the age of 13 and this seems to have contributed to his persistence commission of crimes. It is evident from the parole board members report that when he stopped using drugs he started hating crime and even felt pity for those he had stolen from than when he was under the influence of drugs. Further, this theory suggests that conventional figures, such as parents, when bonded make a huge impact in the deterrent of criminal acts1. He holds that attachment to other peers tend to be just as supportive as parental ties, just as long as these ties are positive and do not deviate from the social norms of society. To Hirschi (1969) other attachments, such as school, play a tremendous role in conventional society. However, one element of weakness of Hirschi’s (1969) bond theory is that he makes little or no distinction of importance of each of the elements of his social bond. Some recent researches have suggested that there may be differences between each of the elements that he names. Understanding fully the theory of Hirshi and how it relates well with this case study is to look at the American society at the time when he wrote his book. It is clear according to Hirshi that in the 1960s, American society was growing tiresome of the social disorganization perspective of criminology that had been previously dominating criminological thought for quite some time. At the same time, Hirschi was observing a loss of social control over individuals in the society. He observed that social institutions, such as organized religion, the family, educational institutions, and political groups lost favour with the advent of rock and roll, drugs, and the civil rights movement encouraged individuals to sever ties with conventional social norms (Lilly et al, 1995:95). He felt that the most noticeable feature of the 1960s was the breakdown of the typical American family hence in his theory blamed the family breakdown, rather than social disorganization, for society's growing ills (Hirschi, 1969:83). In our case study we can see that this has a bearing as Wade’s family seem to have broken down with the mother mental illness of the father and the mother taking over the role of bringing up the family singlehandedly. It is also evident that when Wade was introduced to drugs he further severed his ties with the family more. It is also clear from the reports that although Wade was willing to undertake training and find something that could occupy him; he has not had that opportunity hence he will always find himself in the delinquent groups again after being released. It is clear like in any other theory that this theory has weaknesses and one of them is in relation to the definitions used in the concepts. The definition seems to be skewed and biased hence it can easily alter the results. For instance, Hirshi concentrated in his research on the homeless Americans hence his theory might not well fit our case study because the subject in question was not homeless. Another theory that can have a bearing to this case scenario is the self control theory propounded by Michael R. Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi2. This is a more refined control theory than originally presented Hirschi. This utilitarian theory evolved to propose that self-control is the general concept around which all of the known facts about crime can be organized in the society (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990:85). In this theory the authors provide their own definition of crime as “acts of force or fraud undertaken in pursuit of self interest" (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990:15). They argue that low self-control is supposed to explain an individual's propensity to commit or refrain from committing crimes, just as high self-control explains an individual's likelihood of conforming to social norms and laws (Akers, 1991:201). These theorists explain that the concept of self control is not deterministic (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990:87). They also state that people involved with crime also engage in analogous behaviours that provide short-term gratification (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990:91). Some of these analogous behaviours will include smoking, drinking, gambling, irresponsible sex, and speeding in cars and these may be manifest in criminal individuals who seek instant gratification. From the above theory and comparing it with our case study, it is seen that Wade was selfish centred and selfish when he was a child and that this was even evident from the family. It thus be argued that his behaviour have been due to his low self control that has made it difficult for him to conform to social norms and laws since he is the only person in a family of five with this kind of behaviour. This theory holds that children with behavioural problems will tend to grow into juvenile delinquents and eventually into adult offenders (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990:155). Wade seem to have had behavioural problems in the early stages of his life as we are informed from the area probation officers report that he was the way ward child in the family and that he had been lying to them. It is evident from this theory that the path toward or away from crime commences early in life, they contended further that the level of self-control depends on the quality of parenting in a child's early years. The theory purports that parenting is the most important factor which will determine one's level of self-control. If a child has an abusive or neglectful upbringing as is evident in Wade, he will tend to be impulsive, insensitive, physical, risk-taking, short-sighted, and nonverbal, and they will also tend to engage in the analogous criminal acts. Self-control theory argues that a lack of self-control is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for crime to occur, because other properties of the individual or of the situation may counteract one's likelihood of committing deviant acts (Hirschi and Gottfredson, 1993:53). The theorists have implicitly stated that "their perspective, unlike many others, is not meant to predict any single type of activity since most deviant behaviour, by its very nature, is impulsive and opportunistic. Therefore, everything else being equal, low self-control3 and a weak bond to society should positively and significantly predict a variety of deviant and criminal conduct in a youth (Polakowski, 1994:62). Though lack of self-control and the family's role in its failed development do not mean that one will unequivocally become deviant, it will provide circumstances that will make conditions favourable for delinquency. Recent Empirical Criminological Literature The youth lifestyle survey (YLS) carried out in 1998-1999 reported offending by 4,848 people aged between 12 and 30 living in private households in England and Wales4. The YLS focused on 27 offences including arson, theft, burglary, shoplifting, and buying and selling stolen goods. Four types of fraud offences were asked about (tax evasion, benefit fraud, and making false expenses and insurance claims). Violent offences ranged from threatening someone with a weapon to fighting and assault. This was the second survey after the Graham and Bowling (1995). However, this second survey included a wider age group than the first one so as to gain a more complete picture of the extent and nature of youth crime and also to test whether the findings of the first YLS still hold. In that report, it was found that some kind of offending is common among young people. It held that half of 12- to 30-yearolds admitted committing at least one of 27 offences at some point in their lives with men having a higher percentage than women. . In that report the higher rates of offending among the male youths reflected their involvement in fights, in buying stolen goods, other theft and in criminal damage. It is therefore in line with our case studies that young male have a higher prevalence to offending and the offences involved were more related to what Wade was doing. Further studies and research have supported the theory of Hirshi while some have criticized it. There is a relationship between homelessness and offending behaviour. For example, Graham and Bowling1 discovered that in a sample of 2,500 young people, those who had a poor relationship with their parents, which led them to leave home were particularly likely to offend while MIsspent Youth 1999 found that young people living in unstable conditions were more likely to offend and Nacro2 identified that considerably more homeless young people have committed offences after, than before becoming homeless. It is thus likely that one of the factors contributing to offending by youths is homelessness. Furthermore, by comparing the childhood characteristics of prisoners with the prevalence of these same characteristics in the general population as in our case study of Wade, it is possible to illustrate how society’s use of custody reflects its inability or unwillingness to invest sufficiently and effectively in psycho-social preventive interventions at an early age. Wade was not given an opportunity to advance in his studies although he had the desire to undertake any training that could assist him5. The Audit Commission (2004), in their comprehensive assessment of the Government’s Youth Justice Reforms, shows how huge savings in downstream criminal justice and penal costs could be made if only a small proportion of those children who go on to develop criminal careers were prevented from so doing by receiving the right assessments and interventions during their childhood as in our case study. Further studies and reports have shown that many young people engage in or are persistent in their offending because of anti-social behaviour /attitudes, negative experiences in school, undesirable behaviour by family members, poor relationship with family among others. In conclusion, the link between youth and crime is long and enduring and involvement in criminal activity can be an integral part of adolescence for many young people (Graham and Bowling, 1995). However, the causes of offending are seriously disputed and explanations are insufficient, as the origin of offending is complex. It is evident from the studies that at more recent times, criminology has come to emphasize the multi-dimensional nature of crime. More extensive research literature has underpinned by developmental crime prevention, links factors in the key domains of young people's lives e.g. family, school, neighbourhoods, peers, psychological/emotional to an increased risk of offending and other undesirable behaviours. The case study of Wade is a good example of how and why some youths have engaged in criminal activity and why most of the usual methods failed to prevent further engagement in crime. References Akers, Ronald L. 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