There are many social theories which attempt to break down crime and criminality. Two of those theories are Marvin E. Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti’s theory of subculture violence and Travis Hirschi’s social control/bond theory. There are significant ways that both social control theory and subculture theory addresses the problem of crime. While one focuses on a collective level of analysis the other focuses on an individual level of analysis.
Wolfgang and Ferracuti’s theory on the subculture of violence doesn’t focus on a specific person's thought process but rather on a group of people all together. Therefore, subculture theory is a collective level analysis study on crime and violence. Wolfgang and Ferracuti define a subculture as a group …show more content…
First of all is attachment which focuses specifically on human relationships. An individual will most likely take into consideration the opinions of someone special they look up to before committing a criminal act, mostly out of fear of disappointment. Commitment focuses on a person's dedication to conventional goals. This focuses on an individual's personal investment into conformity. Hirschi explains that if an individual has too much stake in conformity, they are less likely to engage in delinquency and crime since it is more difficult to throw away what one has already invested so much into. The amount of time and energy spent into commitment is one's involvement with these goals. The higher degree to which that person is involved in their conventional goals will greatly deplete the amount of time/energy they can invest into deviant behavior. Beliefs focuses on the internalization of values and how strong those morals/beliefs are to the …show more content…
This theory does not focus on why people commit crimes, instead it keys in on why a specific person does not commit crimes. Hirschi does not explain the causes of crime, different types of crime, or crime in general. Instead he focuses on what is learned by a specific individual and how these different levels of personal experience determine how likely a person is to become criminally deviant. His theory focuses on individual thought processes rather than explaining behaviors of a group of people in general as opposed to Wolfgang and Ferracuti’s subculture theory. Both these theories vary in their forms of explanation and generalization although neither includes extreme cases. Subculture looks at criminality and the general population. Hirschi focuses specifically on the individual thought process and social bonds.
If one looks at an area with high crime rates, using Hirschi’s social-control theory, one can conclude that specific area doesn’t offer adequate levels of social-control as opposed to areas with lower crime rates. The Homicide Map provided by the Los Angeles times, for example, shows the highly concentrated amounts of homicide reports specifically within southern Los Angeles. This area has a reputation for high crime rates as well as overall lower standards of living therefore it is fair to believe that levels of control exposed to most individuals
Wolfgang and Ferracuti’s theory on the subculture of violence doesn’t focus on a specific person's thought process but rather on a group of people all together. Therefore, subculture theory is a collective level analysis study on crime and violence. Wolfgang and Ferracuti define a subculture as a group …show more content…
First of all is attachment which focuses specifically on human relationships. An individual will most likely take into consideration the opinions of someone special they look up to before committing a criminal act, mostly out of fear of disappointment. Commitment focuses on a person's dedication to conventional goals. This focuses on an individual's personal investment into conformity. Hirschi explains that if an individual has too much stake in conformity, they are less likely to engage in delinquency and crime since it is more difficult to throw away what one has already invested so much into. The amount of time and energy spent into commitment is one's involvement with these goals. The higher degree to which that person is involved in their conventional goals will greatly deplete the amount of time/energy they can invest into deviant behavior. Beliefs focuses on the internalization of values and how strong those morals/beliefs are to the …show more content…
This theory does not focus on why people commit crimes, instead it keys in on why a specific person does not commit crimes. Hirschi does not explain the causes of crime, different types of crime, or crime in general. Instead he focuses on what is learned by a specific individual and how these different levels of personal experience determine how likely a person is to become criminally deviant. His theory focuses on individual thought processes rather than explaining behaviors of a group of people in general as opposed to Wolfgang and Ferracuti’s subculture theory. Both these theories vary in their forms of explanation and generalization although neither includes extreme cases. Subculture looks at criminality and the general population. Hirschi focuses specifically on the individual thought process and social bonds.
If one looks at an area with high crime rates, using Hirschi’s social-control theory, one can conclude that specific area doesn’t offer adequate levels of social-control as opposed to areas with lower crime rates. The Homicide Map provided by the Los Angeles times, for example, shows the highly concentrated amounts of homicide reports specifically within southern Los Angeles. This area has a reputation for high crime rates as well as overall lower standards of living therefore it is fair to believe that levels of control exposed to most individuals