SOC 2700 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Takers, Shoplifting, Paternalism
Document Summary
Control theories: social & self control (week 7) Police can help prevent crime by enforcing less serious public order laws. Crime is the result of lax social control efforts. Why don"t we all commit crime: fear of consequences (jail, family, monetary, social control theories are concerned with factors that prevent crime, not the factors that motivate crime. We conform to norms in response to controlling forces (social bonds and internalized law- abiding norms: when controls are absent we are more likely to commit crime. Control theories assume that humans are self-interested and require socialization to prevent offending. Crime requires little skill and is opportunistic. Causal logic: ties/bonds to conventional society are weakened therefore free to commit crime. Hirshci"s social bond theory: stakes in conformity. Social bonds to conventional society prevent crime/deviance. Stronger bonds = less likely to become deviant: elements of social bond. Connection to conventional people (parents, family, teachers) Time, energy and effort is spent in non-criminal activity.
