Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 284-311).

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 49 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-49).

The concept of social control has been used in sociology since the foundations of the discipline were laid almost a hundred years ago. At the turn of the century social control developed two distinct orientations. The concept has referred to the process of socialization or how individual behavior is regulated in primary group relations, and alternatively, to how the large macrosocial institutions such as education, religion, law and the political system maintain order in society. Early research in social control focused on the development of inventories of societal means of social control. Changing standards of science, however, forced an abandonment of that perspective and research became more directly concerned with the socialization process. Most recently, social control arguments have centered upon the primary group aspects of socialization and the relation of that socialization to delinquency and have been unattentive to larger social institutions and secondary group factors that also influence behavior. The version of social control theory developed by Travis Hirschi in "Causes of Delinquency" (1969) has been shown to be an exemplary model of social research. He claimed that in early childhood many youths form a bond to society which prevents some of them from becoming involved with delinquency while others who fail to form a bond become delinquent. Hirschi's theory was strongly supported by the research he conducted which showed that delinquency involvement was inversely related to the strength of an individual's relationship to society. Despite the importance of Hirschi's research there is mounting evidence that various institutional experiences such as tracking and grading in school operate as contingencies experienced by adolescents which affect their ability to pursue the legitimate careers which is central to Hirschi's thesis and and which may force some youths into patterns of delinquent behavior. Similarly, youngsters who come from different positions in the class stl'ucture may vary in their likelihood of obtaining access to high status positions or conversely participating in delinquency if they fai1. Yet the impacts of educational policies and the effects of social class background have not been incorporated into social control arguments. This dissertation extends the explanatory model developed by Hirschi. First, it argues that the socialization levels reached by youngsters in primary group socialization are sometimes altered by subsequent experiences. Secondly, it contends that those changes are related to school experiences and social class backgrounds of youths. Finally, it avers that those changes increase or decrease the likelihood that adolescents will become involved in delinquent behavior. The data for this research was obtained from the Marion County Youth Study, an ongoing survey of a panel of male youths who were high school juniors in 1964. A twenty-five percent random sample of the panel in 1967 comprised the group used in this research. The group's 1964 responses were identified, and this served as the basis for the data analysis. The first part replicated Hirschi's contentions that the bond was formed in the family. One element, not fonned in 1964, emerged prior to the youth's graduation. Secondly, this research diverged from Hirschi's contention that social class was not related to the levels of bond achieved by youths or delinquency. Delinquency and two of the four elements of the bond were found to be related to social class. Third, the social bond was found to be moderately unstable and change was somewhat related to the educational and social background of the youth. Finally, these changes in bond and secondary group factors were translated into significant variations in the delinquency rates for the youths who comprised the analysis groups.

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Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

LD2668 .T4 1966 D383 / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

The two criminological theories that conflict most sharply in terms of their fundamental assumptions about human nature and social order are control theory and cultural deviance theory. This research tests two major hypotheses derived from these theories. The first is that norms regulating the use of "force and fraud" are universal, and the second is that deviant behavior is caused by parents' failure to adequately socialize their children. The first hypothesis is tested through an analysis of the sanctioning practices of 100 cultures, drawn from the Human Relations Area Files. The results indicate that norms regulating the use of force and fraud are universal, and that the circumstances under which such acts are not sanctioned are quite limited. Apparent exceptions occur mainly when the consequences of the acts for social order are less severe or nonexistent. These findings indicate that certain norms are universal, and this fact can provide insight into human nature. If all societies prohibit some of the same acts, then these acts must present a threat in all societies, and members of all societies must perceive them as such. This indicates that people naturally tend to engage in criminal acts, since it is implausible that all societies would teach people to engage in behavior that they then punish. In order to identify the causes of the failure to learn cultural norms, micro-level data from the National Survey of Children are analyzed. According to Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990), delinquency is most likely to occur among children whose parents do not adequately care for them. The results show that parents with lower self-control are less attached to their children, they do not adequately supervise their children, and they are more likely to use punitive forms of punishment. In turn, their children are less attached to them, they are less likely to report feeling guilty after deviation, and they are more likely to engage in a wide range of deviant acts. In sum, the evidence shows that children's deviance is the result of inadequate child-rearing practices.