Social Bonds Control Theory in Criminology (Research Paper Sample)

Social Bonds Control Theory in Criminology
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Introduction
Social bonds such as the family bonds reduce the likelihood of onset and persistence in offending in several different ways. The influence of social bonds in delinquency is explained by the social control theory is also known as the social bond theory. According to Pixley, McCarthy, & Wilson (2014), social bonds are characterized by elements such as attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. Attachment is the strength or weakness of relationships, commitment is the level of investment an individual makes in a relationship, involvement is the amount of time an individual spends in conforming or non-conforming behavior, and belief is the extent to which an individual has been socialized into being a law abiding individual (Sandra 2007). Various components of social bonds such as attachment, commitment, involvement and belief influence individual’s attachment to social norms, which prevents them from participating in deviant behavior (Andersen & Taylor 2007). This indicates that social bond such as the family bonds reduce the likelihood of onset and persistence in offending of an individual through promoting the attachment of the individual to the society, commitment of the individual to the convections of the society, involvement of the individual in the activities of the society, and the beliefs of an individual in the regulation and the rule of law.
Social Bond Theory in Criminology.
In a social bond, one can be attached to different members of the society such as family members, friends and members of the community since an individual always relate with other people in the society. The relationship attaching an individual to other individuals in the society might be positive or negative. Moreover, the relationship might be weak or strong. The strength of the relationship a person has with the family, friends, community, and society varies with individuals (Cornwell & Waite 2009). This is because a person’s relationship with other members of the society is influenced by several personal factors such as the personality of the person, his attitude towards others, gender, and age (Cornwell & Waite 2009). According to Shepard (2009), conformity to social norms depends on a strong attachment between the individual and the society. The stronger the attachment between an individual and the society, the more likely the individual is to conform to social norms. Conforming to social norms demotivates a person from being involved in criminal activities (Matsueda 2008). Social bonds such as the family bonds therefore reduce the likelihood of onset and persistence in offending through the attachment between an individual and the society that make then individual to desist from non-conforming behavior that might result to onset and persistence in offending.
Family Bond
A very important form of attachment of an individual to other members of the society is a family bond. The family bond is the social bonds an individual has with society members that are related to him by blood such as the parents, grandparents, sons and daughters and the siblings (Raines 2010). Social control theory founded that the attachment that an individual has with the members of his family, like other social bonds play, a significant role making the individual to conform to the norms of the society. The relationship a person has with the family member, influence the willingness of the person to do certain things that might disappoint the other person (Winters, Globokar, & Roberson 2014). In particular, if a person has a strong relationship with his parents, then he would be highly unlikely to do certain things that might disappoint them. This would result to conformity to the social norms defined by the society, especially those that are upheld by the parents. The achieved conformity to the social norms would result to a reduction in the likelihood of onset and persistence in offending of an individual.
Social bonds such as the family bonds are not the only means of reducing the likelihood of onset and persistence in offending. This is because the deterrent theory indicates that direct control of crime such as use of punishments as effective ways of reducing the causes of delinquency (Braga &Weisburd2012). However, use of punishments, which is the key direct control of causes of delinquency as indicated by the deterrent theory, requires to be implemented by another individual such as a parent, a teacher, or a police officer. In a family, parents are not always present to install direct control of causes of delinquency such as the use of punishments and yet the children do not deviate from the norms of the society. This indicates that there is an indirect mean of controlling causes of delinquency, which is the relationship an individual has with other members of the family such as the parents. This is because research has shown that youths and young adults with strong relationships with their parents are less likely to be involved in crime (Johnson, Giordano, Manning, &Longmore 2011).
However, there are individuals in the society with strong relationships with other members of the society but are still involved in criminal activities. Moreover, there are individuals with weak relationships with other members of the society such as parents but are not involved in criminal activities. This makes us doubtful that the role that is played by a person’s relationship with other members of the society, thus reducing the likelihood of onset and persistence in offending of individuals. The self-control theory explains this by indicating that apart from the relationship a person has with other members of the society, the way a person handles himself when he is alone and when he is with other members of the society also influence the causes of delinquency significantly (Gottfredson&Hirschi 1990; Clarke, & Cornish 1986; Vito &Maahs 2011). If an individual has the ability to control his anger when he is with his parents, then he is likely to have a low likelihood of onset and persistence in offending regardless of whether he has a strong relationship with parents or a weak relationship with parents.
Commitment to Convectional Future
Another important component of the social control theory is commitment to a convectional future, which is the level of investment an individual makes in a relationship (Haynie&Kreager 2013). Some individuals invest heavily in their relationships with other members of the society while others invest lowly in their relationships with other members of the society. In the case of a family, some individuals put more effort in their relationship with other members of the family such as the parents and the siblings unlike others. The more an individual invests in his relationship with other members of the society such as parents, the more likely the person will value the relationship and the less likely the person will be to do anything that might affect the relationship negatively. The person who values his relationship with other members of the society would be highly bonded to the other members of the society. In a family, a person who values his relationship with his relatives such as parents is likely to be highly bonded to those relatives.
Haynie&Kreager (2013) indicate that inclination towards delinquency is controlled when an individual develops bonds withthe society. This indicates that the social bonds such as the family bonds control the inclination of an individual towards delinquency. One of the possible ways of developing bonds to the society is through investing on the relationships one has with other people in the society (Lee 2012). Investment in the relationships, especially the relationship one has with the parents, can make an individual to be committed to a convectional future and to the achievement of the convectional goals of the society, which are guided by the norms of the society. The commitment to a convectional future and the convectional goals of the society therefore results in conformation to the society norms. Conformation to society norms makes an individual to desist from doing something that is against the norms thus resulting in a reduced likelihood of onset and persistence in offending.
Commitment as a component of social bond theory also plays other roles in reducing the likelihood of onset and persistence in offending of an individual. Individuals who invest highly in their relationships with other individuals in the society are less likely to be involved in criminal activities (Bouffardet al 2000; Sherman et al 2011). This is probably because investing in the relationships makes an individual to align his personal goals with the goals of the society or not to aim at achieving his personal goals at the expense of the goals of the society. Individuals with personal goals that are aligned to the goals of the society are less likely to be involved in criminal activities (Ismail 2009). This is probably because the goals and objectives of the society are always against majority of the criminal activities. Individuals who are not self-centered and the ones who do not aim to achieve their goals at the expense of the goals of the society are less likely to be involved in criminal activities (Docobo 2005). This indicates that the commitment component of the social bonds such as the family bonds reduces the likelihood of onset and persistence in offending by making individuals to align their personal goals to the goals of the society and by making individuals not to aim at achieving their personal goals at the expense of the goals of the society.
Like in the case of relationships that one has with other people in the society, the inves...