Deck 6: Social Bonding and Control Theories

Question 1

In social bonding theory, delinquency is controlled by beliefs that specific delinquent acts are wrong rather than by general law-abiding beliefs held by adolescents.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In Hirschi's social bonding theory, the concept of "commitment" refers to the stakes in conformity that could be lost by engaging in delinquency.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

According to social bonding theory, strong attachment reduces the probability of delinquency regardless of whether the peers or parents to whom the adolescent is attached are themselves conforming or deviant.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

According to Gottfredson and Hirschi, the major cause of low self-control is ineffective child-rearing in the family.

Question 5

Gottfredson and Hirschi's self-control theory posits that differences in self-control account for the stable differences between individuals in their propensity to commit most major crimes, but not less serious petty offenses, across all circumstances.

Question 6

A major weakness in Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime is that it may be tautological because they do not clearly define self-control as distinct from the propensity to commit crime.

Question 7

Self-control theory proposes that differences in individuals' propensity to commit crime operate only during the adolescent and young adult years rather than in all periods of life.

Question 8

The only part of Reckless's containment theory that has been systematically tested is that part that hypothesizes that delinquency will result when inner pushes toward delinquency are not counteracted by strong external containment.

Question 9

Matza's "drift theory" proposes that only neutralizations are needed for adolescents to drift toward delinquency and that positive causes are not needed for adolescents to choose delinquent rather than lawful behavior.

Question 10

Hirschi's theory suggests that people become criminal because they develop close ties to other people who condone or encourage the commission of crime.

Question 11

In contrast to other theories, control theories emphasize restraints on crime over motivations or inducements to crime.

Question 12

Nye's control theory includes both barriers to delinquency and positive inducements to delinquency.

Question 13

According to Hirschi's social bonding theory, the stronger a youth's attachment to others-even if those others are delinquent-the less likely it is that she or he will engage in delinquency.

Question 14

Hirschi's research showed that attachment to delinquent peers makes delinquency more likely.

Question 15

Research indicates that, compared with relationships of law-abiding youths, relationships of delinquent youths with others tend to be distant, cold, and unstable.

Question 16

Tests of social bonding theory provide weak to moderate support for the theory.

Question 17

The earlier control theories, such as Reckless's containment theory, included both internal and external controls.

Question 18

Hirschi's most recent revision of the concept of self-control now defines it as the same as social bonds and characterizes it as the ability to take into account all the long-term and short-term consequences of behavior.

Question 19

Gottfredson and Hirschi's self?control theory posits that differences in self?control account for the stable differences between individuals in their criminal propensity, but they contend that the theory is not intended to explain less serious offenses or what they call "analogous behavior."

Question 20

According to Hirschi's social bonding theory, it is attachment to others itself that controls delinquency, and it makes no difference to whom (deviant or nondeviant) one is attached.

Question 21

The Social Development Model of delinquency prevention program developed by Hawkins and associates in Seattle is based on both social bonding and social learning theory.

Question 22

The Teaching Family Model for group homes for delinquents, although based on social learning theory, also explicitly relies on principles of social bonding in order to teach the kids self-control.

Question 23

Behavioral measures of self-control, as suggested by Gottfredson and Hirschi and used by some researchers, rather than attitudinal measures of self-control, solve the problem of tautology in self-control theory.

Question 24

Individual items such as risk-taking tendencies or impulsivity predict offending better than does the overall scale that contains several items of self-control.

Question 25

Research by Hay found strong support for the hypothesis that low self-control results from ineffective monitoring, recognition, and punishment of deviant acts of their children by parents.

Question 26

Research has found that neutralization does not mitigate guilt anticipated by "hardcore" offenders who violate their own code of the streets.

Question 27

Most of the research evidence on Hirschi's social bonding theory:

A) provides weak to moderate support for the theory
B) provides better support for hypotheses on beliefs and commitments than for attachment
C) supports the hypothesis that delinquency is related to low religiosity
D) supports the hypothesis that school achievement is negatively related to delinquency
E) all of the above

Question 28

Reckless's containment theory proposes that delinquency results from:

A) weak inner containment
B) weak outer containment
C) strong inner pushes
D) strong outer pulls
E) all of the above

Question 29

Social control theorists:

A) argue that crime is a "normal" act within the context of a deviant subculture
B) suggest that we are all motivated to commit crime
C) tend to focus on barriers that prevent individuals from acting on the temptation to violate the law
D) view crime as a product of frustration among disadvantaged segments of the social structure
E) b and c

Question 30

Nye's control theory and research focus on:

A) peer interactions
B) school attachments
C) family relationships
D) attitudes toward the law
E) religiosity and church affiliations

Question 31

The social control theorist who brought most attention to the role of self-concept in delinquency was:

A) Travis Hirschi
B) Albert Reiss
C) Walter Reckless
D) David Matza
E) Michael Gottfredson

Question 32

Which of the following images of the delinquent is most consistent with Hirschi's social bonding theory?

A) a lower-class boy with high ambitions and little opportunity to realize them
B) a boy who hangs out on street corners and observes adults in his neighborhood making money dealing in drugs
C) a boy with low self-esteem who tries to earn status among his fellows by earning a reputation for fighting and stealing
D) a boy who is insensitive to the feelings and opinions of others
E) an emotionally disturbed boy who has been physically abused by his parents as a young child

Question 33

According to Matza's "drift theory," youths who become delinquent:

A) have histories of chronic family neglect that permit them to drift into deviant ways
B) are hedonists who seize opportunities for immediate gratification whenever they present themselves
C) get caught up in delinquent subcultures whose values run counter to those of conventional society
D) are not strongly committed to deviant values, existing in a kind of limbo between conventionality and crime, flirting with one and then the other
E) are a group of chronic misfits who lack the intelligence and social skills to be accepted among their conventional peers

Question 34

Which of the following is not one of the key concepts in Hirschi's social control theory?

A) commitment
B) involvement
C) belief
D) attachment
E) definitions

Question 35

From Hirschi's perspective, the concept that best fits the college student who has avoided delinquent involvement by doing well in school and working toward a promising career is:

A) commitment
B) involvement
C) ambition
D) belief
E) attachment

Question 36

"Belief," as Hirschi uses the term, refers to:

A) the strength of endorsement of general conventional values and norms
B) the strength of one's religious or spiritual values
C) the strength of one's support for particular laws
D) the strength of an individual's belief in the trustworthiness of his/her fellows
E) the strength of an individual's belief that others perceive him/her to be trustworthy

Question 37

Hirschi's own research found that, contrary to his expectations:

A) attachment and belief are inversely correlated
B) integration is not related to delinquency
C) attachment to deviant peers seems to support, rather than inhibit, delinquency
D) involvement is correlated with delinquent values
E) c and d

Question 38

Gottfredson and Hirschi attribute low self-control to:

A) childhood experiences of frustration in school
B) ineffective supervision and nurturance of children by their parents
C) disturbances of the central nervous system that render some children hyperactive and more difficult to train or "parent"
D) lack of experiences in childhood that give youths a sense of mastery or control over their environments
E) a welfare system that promotes feelings of helplessness

Question 39

According to Akers and Sellers, the most serious deficiency of self-control theory is that:

A) it is such a new theory that there has not been time to test it
B) it lacks clear implications for social policy
C) it is tautological
D) it is parsimonious
E) although it explains impulsive crimes, it is unable to explain offenses that are carefully planned

Question 40

According to Hirschi, the primary task of criminological theory is to:

A) identify the social barriers that prevent people from becoming delinquent and criminal
B) identify the social structural sources of strain that push people into crime and delinquency
C) specify more clearly the processes involved in the learning of crime and delinquency
D) specify more clearly the content of the learning that promotes crime and delinquency
E) identify how biological, psychological, and sociological factors interact to produce crime and delinquency

Question 41

The most frequently discussed of the social control theories, and the one that has come to occupy a central place in criminological thought, is the one developed by:

A) Nye
B) Reiss
C) Sykes and Matza
D) Hirschi
E) Reckless

Question 42

The Social Development Model (SDM) and programs such as Raising Healthy Children implemented by J. David Hawkins and his associates in Seattle includes which of the following?

A) job skills training
B) proactive classroom management
C) parenting skills training
D) a and c only
E) b and c only

Question 43

Research on the impact of religion on delinquency and crime has found:

A) religious faith and activities are protective against criminal behavior
B) extreme involvement in religious activities turns people into fanatics
C) those who participate in religion have the same crime rate as those who do not participate
D) certain religious denominations have higher rates of crime than others
E) religiosity is a risk factor for criminal and delinquent behavior

Question 44

Control theorists claim that they take deviance for granted and want to explain conformity, but Akers and Sellers argue that the questions and assumptions in control theory do not differ much from those in other theories. Discuss this issue, indicating its relevance or lack of relevance for theories of crime and delinquency. What position would you take on the issue?

Question 45

Identify and define the major concepts of social bonding theory, and state the central propositions in social bonding theory using the concepts to explain criminal and deviant behavior. What research has been done on the theory, and to what extent have research findings supported or not supported the theory?

Question 46

You have just been appointed principal of the Travis Hirschi Junior High School. You wish to remain faithful to the ideas of the school's namesake as you plan curricula, programs, and activities for the coming year. Identify at least three programs or activities that you would want to implement, and discuss the rationale for them in light of Hirschi's social control theory of delinquency.

Question 47

Akers and Hirschi are having lunch at a recent meeting of the American Society of Criminology. You are seated at the next table, overhearing the conversation, which focuses on explaining apparent decreases in the incidence of juvenile delinquency over the past five years. Assuming that each approaches the issues from the perspective of their respective theories, what does each have to say, and how does each respond to the other?

Question 48

Explain the concepts of "neutralization" and "drift," and discuss their significance for crime and delinquency.

Question 49

Evaluate Gottfredson and Hirschi's self-control theory in terms of (1) the clarity and measurability of its key concepts, (2) empirical validity, and (3) usefulness in guiding social policy.

Question 50

What are the policy implications of social bonding theory? Describe at least one policy or program based on or consistent with the theory that has been implemented. How effective or successful has the program(s) been?

Question 51

Identify the 4 elements of Hirschi's social bond theory. Which of these elements do you feel is the most important to crime prevention? How would you suggest improving that element in delinquent youth?

Question 52

Discuss techniques of neutralization. Explain whether techniques of neutralization explain why people commit crime.

Question 53

If you were trying to develop an early-intervention program for at-risk youth based on Gottfredson and Hirschi's self-control theory, how would you design the program? What would your main goals be?

Question 54

Do the revisions to the definition of self-control made by Hirschi address the tautology problem associated with the theory of low self-control? How do the revisions change the theory?