Soc 8300 Criminological Theory
Soc 8300 Criminological Theory
Social Control Theories
1. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990), what is the “nature of crime?” How do they use the nature of crime to derive the “nature of low self-control?”
2. Describe the different forms of informal social control (see especially Akers and Sellers). Provide an example of each.
3. How does Agnew measure “attachment” and “commitment?” How well do these measures predict delinquency?
Things to consider:
1. How do Gottfredson and Hirschi portray “criminal behavior?” Is this an accurate portrayal of crime? Do you agree with their contentions?
2. Get the gist of Hirischi’s social bond theory.
3. What is the “cause” of low self-control? How might one critique this?
4. What are the policy implications of Hirschi’s bond theory? How is this different from the policy implications of the General Theory (low self-control)?
5. Pay attention to the “tautology” issue discussed in Akers & Sellers regarding Gottfredson and Hirschi’s theory. What are “behavioral” and “attitudinal” measures of low self-control.
6. What is the underlying assumption of all control theories about human nature? How does this compare to deterrence theory? How does it compare to strain or social learning theories?
7. Psychologists accuse Gottfredson and Hirschi of “bottling old ideas” and selling it as new wine (or some such thing). Do the elements of self-control as they list them all seem to conceptually hang together? Does it make sense to put them all together under the rubric of “self-control?”
8. How Gottfredson and Hirschi’s ideas similar to and different from Felson’s?
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.