Causes of Delinquency

The most influential version of control theory is that of Travis Hirschi presented in a book titled "Causes of Delinquency." Hirschi theorized that conformity is the result of a bond or tie to four elements in conventional society. As the bond weakens, the probability of deviance increases. So the strength of the bond explains the probability of an individual becoming involved in delinquency. When the bond is stronger, delinquency would be less likely and visa versa. The first element of the bond is attachment to significant others. People are thought to internalize norms and values because they respect close friends and family members. To some extent, they are sensitive to the opinions of others and are concerned about their reputation. Since members of a society share the norms of that society, to violate a norm is to act contrary to the expectations of other people. If a person does not care about the wishes of other people, he will be free to deviate. So the extent to which a person has important relations with others will effect his or her level of deviance (Hirschi, pp. 19). Hirschi views parents, schools, and peers as important social institutions from which a person develops these attachments. He therefore discusses three forms of attachment: to parents, to school, and to peers. As for attachment to parents, "the important consideration is whether the parent is psychologically present when temptation to commit a crime appears" (Hirschi, 1969, pp. 88). Children who would give little thought to parental reactions are relatively free to commit deviant acts. On the other hand, children who are strongly attached to their parents know that deviance will be a source of embarrassment and inconvenience to their parents. They care about the opinions of their parents and therefore try to avoid deviance. Hirschi theorized that juveniles refrain from delinquency due to the relationship consequences that such acts would most likely produce, i.e., that it would put the relationship between parent and child in jeopardy. Attachments therefore act as a primary deterrent to engaging in delinquency. The strength in such a deterrent largely depends on the depth and quality of the parent-child relationship. The amounts of time a child and parent spend together are equally important. This would include intimacy in conversation and identification that may exist between the parent and child. The next area is attachment to the school. In the US school system competence is rewarded and incompetence is not. So the cost of detection is assumed to be reduced for an academically incompetent person because his ties to the conventional order have previously been weakened (Hirschi, pp. 113). In other words, for the poor student, the consequences of crime may be less serious because he has less to loose. On the other hand, the more competent a boy thinks he is, the less likely he is to commit deviant acts (Hirschi, pp. 117). The reason for this is that h