Social Bond Theory

The most prominent control theorist, Travis Hirschi (1969), introduced social bond theory during the late 1900’s as a means to explain one’s resistance to crime (Lilly, Cullen & Bell, 2015). Hirschi (1969) claimed that the potential benefits of committing crime equally motivated most individuals, therefore, the primary concern was how individuals resist such temptations (Lilly et al., 2015) The answer, involves the social control exerted upon an individual through social bonds that keep them from committing crime (Lilly et al., 2015). When social ties are weak or missing, crime is more likely to prevail. When social ties are strong, individuals typically reject unlawful behavior and conform. However, the authors present a significant point,
Attachment refers to one’s emotional closeness to others, particularly adults, with parents being the most significant for youths (Lilly et al., 2015). According to the text, closeness involves intimate communication with parents, “affectional identification”, as well as, a sense that parents know what the youth is doing and where they are (Lilly et al., pg. 120). This idea provides parents with indirect control that makes the youth feel as though their parent is physically present at all times, and decreases the likelihood that they will commit crime (Lilly et al., 2015). Youths with high attachment to others are less likely to engage in crime because they value the opinions of those they are attached to and fear disappointing them (Lilly et al., 2015). The second factor that influencing social bond is the rational component of social bond theory, commitment (Lilly et al., 2015). Commitment is based upon a youth’s stake in conformity that makes them shy away from crime because the costs of crime is too high (Lilly et al., 2015). The degree to which an individual invest interests into certain activities, such as an occupation or education, pushed their ideas about crime. The time and energy they put into conforming to law makes the social bond stronger, making crime too detrimental and not worth losing the things that they have invested
This tenant of social bond theory reflects the degree to which one is attached to a system, in that, when one is attached to a certain system they embrace the moral validity of the law and conventional norms (Lilly et al., 2015). When the attachment to the system declines, ones beliefs also decrease (Lilly et al., 2015). According to Hirschi (1969), crime occurs when an individual is not socialized adequately into conventional beliefs, such as, breaking the law is wrong (Lilly et al., 2015). These beliefs in the law and other norms throughout our society, controls any impulses to commit crime, however, if conventional beliefs are weak, crime could occur (Lilly et al.,