Travis Hirschi's Social Bond Theory

The social bond theory, which was introduced and elaborated by Travis Hirschi, attempts to dive deep into the ongoing topic of delinquency in young men. Hirschi takes the research put together by other sociologists, analyzes them, and attempts to try to answer the important questions that surrounding the behavior of delinquency. This research is composed of four main elements that play a role in the psyche of a delinquent when confronted with a decision. Those elements are: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. He goes into detail with all four elements to try to make sense of why a person would or would not violate the law, what or who plays a factor in their lives, and if there is a motivational factor. Hirschi explains that …show more content…
This according to Hirschi attempts to answer the question “Why do people violate the rules they believe in?” This is very common in American society because you have people who have morals and standards that they live by every day, and you have other’s who also have morals and standards but tend to deviate from them for many different reasons. For example, a person who doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke is someone who believes that those standards are a bad example to live by. Especially when under the influence, a person is not in control of their actions. On the flip side, a person who believes it is wrong to drink and smoke, but does it anyway has violated their own morals and beliefs. Hirschi explains why this is the case using control theories two approaches. The first being that when it comes to violating morals, a person’s word does not matter. The second approach is once the belief has been violated the deviant will try to justify their reasoning for breaking their morals, so they can do it …show more content…
They also consider Travis Hirschi’s social bond theory and implement it into their study. This research study dives into detail of where the trust between the police and different juvenile racial groups to better understand why this is the case. For example, the article talks about racial discrimination being a big factor for black African Americans and Hispanics. The researchers of this article state “Negative relations that stem from perceived racial discrimination can foster crime and delinquency” (pg. 447). Blacks tend to be on the receiving end of discrimination more often than most races, especially when it comes to police