- How might a social control theorist respond to the idea that
a person's environment should not be used as an excuse for poor
behavior? Why?
A social control theorist would explain that a person's
environment has a lot to do with a WHY a person might commit a crime,
not necessarily as a defense for the behavior. “...the rise of the
study of criminal justice as a discipline helped move criminology in
a more pragmatic and system-oriented direction. The increase in the
government’s interest and funding for criminal justice projects and
crime fighting served to enhance the pragmatic nature of the
movement. As a result, criminology was relatively free of theoretical
work and until about 1990 was left with its final theoretical
inventions from the 1960s (Williams, 1984). The theory meeting
nearly everyone’s personal explanation for criminal behavior was
Hirschi’s version of social control theory. “(Williams &
McShane, 2014, p.162). In addition, the presence of crime within a
society is considered a normal situatiom.
- What kind of information about Gardner's background would a
social control theorist require in order to be fully informed about
Gardner's environment and to explain how he improved his life? Why?
A social control theorist would want to know about Gardner's
family and how it disciplined him during his formative years as well
his peer groups as a child and especially as a teenager. This
information would give the social control theorist an idea of the
social norms that he learned as well as the punishments and rewards
used to teach him those norms.
- Can the environment of individuals impact the likelihood that
they would be able to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps and
succeed in a conventional lifestyle?” How?
Yes, the environment, especially as a young person, has an effect
on a person's ability to live by social norms as opposed to deviant
standards. Turner discusses the factors that affect a person's
resiliency to even bad environments. He categorizes them as ”four
different domains: (1) intrapersonal; (2) family; (3) peer; and (4)
neighborhood.”(2001, p.28)
- If Gardner, frustrated with his life, had taken up a career
of crime, which criminological theories could have been utilized to
defend his actions?
No theories could DEFEND criminal actions, but had Gardner turned
to crime we could use several ideas to EXPLAIN his behavior. If we
use differential association theory, we sould compare “bad”
Gardner to “good” Brescia, who “might have learned positive
values from people who might have been close to him. He, therefore,
refrained from ever doing anything against the law. ( South
University Online, 2010, para. 2) We could have then have then looked
to “bad” Gardner's past associates to see if they were deviantlly
oriented. Similarly, we could have used social learning theory to
discuss the concept that “ behavior is a product of present and
past events in the life of the individual. The contingencies of
reinforcement and punishment (aversive stimuli) determine whether the
frequency of any particular behavior is increased or diminished.We
discuss here six basic principles: positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment,
discriminative stimuli, and schedules.” (Williams & McShane,
2014, p.179). We could have then attempted to examine those factors
in young “bad” Gardner's life
- What social control mechanisms might Gardner have encountered
in his early life that could have aided his behavior later in life?
Family, school, peers that would have reinforced social bonding,
church, the support of neighbors, and and a variety of youth programs
could have all played a part in why Gardner chose to perservere in
his life.
Does labeling count as a social control mechanism? We have the
example of Oprah's grandma, who made sure that Oprah had a positive
self-image from early childhood.
South University Online. (2010).
MCJ6003: Criminological Theory: Week 5: Mike Brescia (2 of 2).
Retrieved May 5, 2014 from myeclassonline.com
Turner, M. (2001) Good kids in bad
circumstances: A longitudinal analysis of resilient youth. National
Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Retrieved May 5, 2014
from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/188263.pdf
Williams, F. & McShane, M. (2014)
Criminology Theory (6th edition). Pearson
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