An empirical test of social control theory

A test of social control theory was operated on a random sample of about 2000 juveniles aged 12 to 18 years. A second test was performed 2 years later on a subsample of the original one, taking into account changes in the life situation with respect to the family, school, work, leisure, peers, and some values connected with delinquency. Both self-report data and official data were collected. Using the HOMALS technique, scales were constructed of family integration (parental control, communication with parents, family activities, and family climate), school integration (liking school, commitment to school values, school performance, and social behavior), leisure and peers (nature and involvement in leisure activities, bravado), and some normative statements. Changes in social integration were measured over a period of 2 years and compared to the impact of official intervention in delinquency cases by police or prosecutor. On the basis of path analysis and a LISREL model, we were able to conclude that there was no impact of police or prosecutor intervention on later delinquency, but there appeared to be a strong and inverse relationship between changes in social integration, or the bond with society, and the frequency of offending.This article is based on two Dutch research reports, which have been published in English inJuvenile Delinquency in the Netherlands (Junger-Tas and Block, 1988).     

Linking self- and social control with deviance: Illuminating the structure underlying a general theory of crime and its relation to deviant activity

The present paper operationalizes and empirically tests the most recent theoretical speculations of Hirschi and Gottfredson regarding an individual level characteristic of self-control and its relation to earlier specifications of control theory as well as the literature on personality. Linkages are drawn between their broad delineation of self-control and personal disorders of hyperactivity, impulsivity, attention deficits, and minor conduct problems. Psychologists disagree about whether such disorders represent single or multiple traits and whether both behavioral and cognitive measures can appropriately depict personality characteristics. Employing structural equation techniques, support for several propositions derived from Gottfredson and Hirschi's thesis is found: Self-control subsumes several personality disorders and is significantly comprised by early behavioral indicators of aggression and fighting, is inversely related to other elements of the social bond, is moderately stable over a short period of time, and significantly predicts criminal convictions. However, questions remain regarding the ubiquity of self-control, the magnitude and meaning of stability, and the power of this perspective to explain all forms of self-reported delinquency.     

Social control theory: The salience of components by age,gender, and type of crime

Most social control theorists do not consider definitions of delinquency problematic. Beginning with the assumption that crime is a unitary concept, researchers have combined a variety of non-normative items to create additive delinquency scales. Rarely is consideration given to whether the causes of crime differ for distinct types of criminal activity. Furthermore, the classic social control model doesnot predict that bonding variables operate differently for distinct age and gender categories. Consistent with the structuring perspective, the present research attempts to refine the social control model by specifying conditions under which the model predicts different forms of delinquency. This study examines social control theory using survey data from middle- and high-school students (N=2926). Logit regression analysis revealed that the model which best explains personal crime differs from the model which best explains property crime. Also, certain components of the model were more powerful predictors of criminal behavior for different age-gender groups. The importance of model specification is demonstrated and the implications for social control theory are discussed.     

Friendship Networks and Delinquency: The Relative Nature of Peer Delinquency

Although acknowledging the importance of adolescent friendships in the etiology of delinquency, prior studies have yet to provide a detailed examination of the role of actual friendship networks in delinquency. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1995–1996), this study's incorporation of friendship networks allows for a more rigorous conceptualization and measurement of peer delinquency based on carefully defined networks of adolescent friendships. Findings illustrate that friendship networks are very heterogenous in terms of members' participation in delinquent behavior with the majority of adolescents belonging to networks containing both delinquent and non-delinquent friends. In support of differential association's premise that delinquent behavior is influenced by the ratio of definitions favorable to those unfavorable to law violation (Sutherland, 1947), the proportion of delinquent friends in a respondent's network is most strongly associated with respondents' subsequent delinquency. This relative measure of peer delinquency is preferable to a measure of the absolute level of delinquency occurring by friends, the average delinquency committed by friends, or the absolute number of delinquent friends. Enmeshment in a friendship network where consensus about the appropriateness of delinquency is maximized (i.e., all friends are delinquent or non-delinquent) most effectively constrains the behaviors of network members to resemble the groups' behavior.     

Perceived police legitimacy: investigating its association with college-based informal social controls

Research has found that when private citizens view law enforcement as legitimate authority figures, they are more likely to obey laws and voluntarily comply with police demands. Although procedural justice has shown to be an important predictor of perceived police legitimacy, a recent line of studies has found other significant correlates of this outcome, including media exposure, ethnic identity and strain. To date, however, few studies have explored the role collegiate-based informal social controls play in predicting law enforcement legitimacy evaluations. Using questionnaire data from a convenience sample of college students, linear regression equations were estimated to explore whether Hirschi's four social bond measures predict the obligation to obey and trust in police constructs of police legitimacy. Across both models and even after controlling for procedural justice, respondent beliefs were positively correlated with these measures. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

Female delinquents in a birth cohort: Tests of some aspects of control theory

In the light of the rather low, empirical interest in the etiology of female crime and delinquency, this study presents and discusses some findings on aspects of control theory. The data are taken from Project Metropolitan, a longitudinal study of a Stockholm birth cohort comprising 15,117 cases (males and females) studied during a 30-year period. Of the females 791 cases or 11% acquired records of delinquency, drug use, or crime up to age 26. The delinquents were divided according to assumed seriousness and compared to the nondelinquents on two dimensions of the social bond called Attachment to school and Commitment to education. The results show, first, that delinquency varies with the strength of the social bond and, second, that the ability to predict future delinquency with knowledge of these aspects of the bond is limited, as the variance proportions accounted for are low. However, when comparing the explained variances to some well-known studies, we find that the differences are not so extensive.This paper is published in its complete form by the Project Metropolitan Research Report series, Department of Sociology, University of Stockholm, 1989. The summary tables presented here are found in original form in the original version.     

Unpacking collective efficacy: the relationship between social cohesion and informal social control

The investigation of social mechanisms within social disorganization theory has led to the concept of collective efficacy. Collective efficacy has typically been measured as a composite of social cohesion and informal control; however, more work remains to be done with respect to the measurement of informal control and the modeling of the relationship between cohesion and control. The present study addresses this issue by using multiple operationalizations of informal social control. Results suggest that respondents rely upon their ability to call the police as a method, by which they exercise informal control over their area of residence. Moreover, the cohesion and control scales are distinct from one another, which adds to the literature showing that they are better treated as separate scales. In regression models, cohesion emerges as largely unrelated to individuals’ propensity to intervene in neighborhood problems, but enhances their perceptions of their neighbors’ likelihood of intervention. Future research should continue investigating different types of informal control and each one’s relationship with cohesion. Policy recommendations include the need for police to be prepared to respond to a variety of neighborhood problems, many of which are not directly crime related but, nonetheless, have important implications for informal crime-control efforts.     

少年违法犯罪生成的社会学分析

少年违法犯罪现象的日益严重引起了全社会的共同关注,从理论上分析和理解少年犯罪的成因是应对和处理少年犯罪的基础。本文从社会学宏观的角度分析了少年社会化过程中社会文化、社会互动以及社会依恋与少年违法犯罪生成的关系,以期揭示少年违法犯罪形成的原因,从而有助于保护少年的健康成长。     

The Influence of Dating Relationships on Friendship Networks,Identity Development,and Delinquency

Prior research has documented general associations between dating and delinquency, but little is known about the specific ways in which heterosexual experiences influence levels of delinquency involvement and substance use. In the current study, we hypothesize that an adolescent's level of effort and involvement in heterosexual relationships play a significant role in forming the types of friendship networks and views of self that influence the likelihood of delinquency involvement and substance use. Analyses based on a longitudinal sample of adolescent youth (n = 1,090) show that high levels of dating effort and involvement with multiple partners significantly increases unstructured and delinquent peer contacts, and influences self‐views as troublemaker. These broader peer contexts and related self‐views, in turn, mediate the path between dating relationships, self‐reported delinquency, and substance use. Findings also document moderation effects: among those youths who have developed a troublemaker identity and who associate with delinquent peers, dating heightens the risk for delinquent involvement. In contrast, among those individuals who have largely rejected the troublemaker identity and who do not associate with delinquent friends, dating relationships may confer a neutral or even protective benefit. The analyses further explore the role of gender and the delinquency of the romantic partner.     

EXPLAINING THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE‐DELINQUENCY RELATIONSHIP*

We use data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey to examine the relationship between academic performance and delinquency. We estimate the effects of grades in tenth grade on delinquency in twelfth grade, and then introduce controls for social bonds and self‐control (teacher‐rated effort). The findings indicate that the feedback that adolescents receive in the form of grades does not affect their delinquent behavior, that academic performance and delinquency have instead a spurious relationship. Our evidence suggests that this relationship is attributable primarily to the effects of individual differences in self‐control, not to those of social bonds.     

Neighborhood factors related to the likelihood of successful informal social control efforts

Purpose

To expand conceptualizations of informal social control in social disorganization and collective efficacy theories to include responses to informal social control, and to examine neighborhood level predictors of responses to informal social control.

Methods

The study uses surveys of approximately 2300 residents across 66 neighborhoods, supplemented with census data at the block group level.

Results

Neighborhood mobility decreased the odds of positive responses to informal social control, measured as both “giving in” and “talking it out” when you have a disagreement with your neighbor. Disadvantage was found to decrease only the odds of “giving in.” Neighborhood level measures of social cohesion and faith in the police were also found to increase the odds of responding positively to informal social control efforts. In contrast, social ties were not found to significantly affect the likelihood of positive responses to informal social control.

Conclusions

The findings from this study broaden support of collective efficacy theory and concepts related to efficacious neighborhoods. While previous studies have raised questions about the measurement of informal social control, the findings in this paper offer support to earlier studies by providing a different approach to the conceptualization and measurement of informal social control.     

"十一五"时期控制青少年犯罪的理论思考

青少年犯罪日趋严重已是不争的客观现实.透过犯罪现象的表面,折射的是青少年犯罪防控机制组织形式、运作方式、规范体系以及社会价值等方面存在的弊端和缺陷.在经济社会全面快速发展的今天,认真审视这些弊端和缺陷,对于促进社会的和谐文明稳定发展,顺利实现"十一五规划纲要"目标,有着十分重要的意义.根据社会政治、经济、思想、文化等条件的新变化,对如何正确认识和处理控制青少年犯罪与政治体制改革、经济体制改革、改革发展稳定等相关问题进行理论探讨.     

Medicalization and social justice

Most social justice critiques of medical care focus upon the allocation of extant, but scarce, resources. In contrast to that focus, this article explores the preallocative arena of factors which shape the supply and availability of medical care. We identify four such factors: (1)medicalization — the tendency to regard as biologically caused various human problems which were in earlier eras ignored or attributed to other causes; (2)social inclusion — the bringing of economically deprived and socially marginal groups into participation in the medical care system; (3)biomedical transcendence — the elevation of biomedically derived concepts of human function into a social and personal world view; and (4)health absolutism — the ideology which holds individuals accountable for their own health and which, contrary to the thrust of the other factors, deemphasizes access and social equity for professionally provided medical care. While these forces all enhance the place of health as a social value, it is by no means certain that they will lead to a society which is more medically just. The article concludes with an appeal for critical analysis of the processes which shape both the medical care system and the broad social concern with medical care.     

Social Policy and Sexual Offenders: Contrasting United States' and European Policies

This article contrasts US and European social policies with regard to sexual offending. The three waves of social policy which are discernible in the United States' history (sexual psychopath laws, the focus on the domestic sex crimes under the influence of feminism, and a renewed attention towards sexual predators) are first described. The most significant policy trend at present concerning sex offences focuses on government controls after release. The broad overview of European countries' solutions to the same problems, concentrates on the contrasts and similarities between Europe and the United States. At present, the United States and parts of Europe are both focused on ways to increase public protection from sex offenders, particularly in ways outside the context of the criminal law. The harm caused by sex offences, in combination with the persistent nature of some patterns of sex offending, has caused citizens and governments to push for specialised remedies and powers.     

Delinquency,unstructured socializing,and social change: The rise and fall of a teen culture of independence

This article delves into the connections between time trends in unstructured socializing and other dramatic changes in adolescence since the 1950s. Osgood et al.’s (1996) individual-level application of routine activity theory proposed that unstructured socializing contributes to crime by exposing people to situations conducive to deviance, and a large body of research supports this idea. Unstructured socializing has proven useful as an explanatory bridge that links crime and deviance to key social factors like age, class, and gender. The present article expands on two recent studies (Baumer et al., 2021; Svensson & Oberwittler, 2021), which showed that changing rates of unstructured socializing help explain time trends in delinquency as well. Based on time trends across many domains of adolescent life, I argue that changes in unstructured socializing were a manifestation of the rise and fall of a teen culture of independence from the 1950s to the 2020s. The effectiveness of unstructured socializing as an explanatory bridge demonstrates the value of focusing on ordinary, everyday activities for tapping into features of life that are consequential and that vary across social conditions.     

The role of power in shaming interactions: how social control is performed in a juvenile court

Shaming is a mechanism theorists have highlighted as an important means of social control. However, this concept and the ways in which officials use shame in the context of formal social control is not easily studied. Interviews with a Southern California juvenile court judge and observations of his interactions with youths on probation are used to illustrate the reflexive nature of social control interactions. This ethnographic study illustrates how the emotion of shame is used to manage delinquent and defiant young people in a justice setting. A nuanced analysis of the various strategies used by this juvenile court judge to evoke signs of remorse, accountability, and deference from young offenders is provided. Such an investigation informs theoretical perspectives on how social control is employed, highlights the important role of power in the interactions, and provides a better understanding of theoretical concepts, such as reintegration and stigmatization.     

率实施青少年治安战略工程

青少年犯罪问题是历史性的顽症.迫切需要构建预防青少年犯罪的战略工程.即提上战略地位,提出战略对策,统一战略思路,落实战略措施.当前的问题是在许多有关部门未能摆上实际的战略地位;对这方面的研究也相当薄弱.预防青少年犯罪要突出德育.在影响青少年犯罪的意识因素中最重要的是伦理道德.我国虽对道德高度重视,但是落实上有很大差距.预防青少年犯罪要将司法对策与社会对策相结合,将对未成年人的"保护"与"预防犯罪"相结合,实现系统工程化.建立整体性领导与执行机构;统一指导意识;依靠多元动力;强化反馈控制机制.     

社会保险基金管理的现状及对策分析

作为一个稳定的基金制度，社会保险基金是社会保险可靠的物质基础和后盾。建立基金是发挥社会保险互动调剂职能的需要，是发挥社会保险储备积累、经济预防职能的需要，是增强社会保险经济实力的需要，也将有利于对宏观经济的调控。本文在分析社会保险基金管理现状及其存在问题的基础上，对完善我国社会保险基金管理提出了相应的对策。     

Vigilantism as community social control: Developing a quantitative criminological model

This paper presents the first systematic quantitative examination of participation in vigilante behavior. Data collected as part of a larger study of Jewish settler violence in the Israeli-controlled West Bank region are used to analyze the factors that lead members of a community to become involved in vigilante violence. Using logistic regression techniques it is found that settlers who fulfill requirements of the vigilante role and those located in outposts where the demand for vigilantes is greatest are most likely to be involved in vigilante activities. In conclusion, it is argued that these findings provide strong support for a criminological model of vigilante behavior that emphasizes the role of the vigilante as an agent of community social control.     

Linking informal social control and restorative justice: moving social disorganization theory beyond community policing

Much of what is at the heart of social disorganization theory’s approach to neighborhood crime prevention has been ignored in favor of policies that are more closely associated with deterrence and rational choice theories. Specifically, ideas of informal social control and collective efficacy have often been translated into policies of community surveillance and the reporting of suspicious behaviors to the police. While these policies may make neighborhoods less attractive to offenders because they create higher certainty levels of recognition, and subsequently arrest, social disorganization theory, at its heart, suggests crime prevention policies of a very different nature: policies that are more closely associated with restorative justice, re‐integrative shaming and peacemaking criminology. These associations are highlighted and provide a conceptual model for a community crime prevention program that is more consistent with the underlying nature of social disorganization theory.