Social Control and Self-Control Theories

Social control and self-control theories explain conformity through bonds and control, asking why people do not offend. Social control theory, developed in Hirschi's Causes of Delinquency from roots in Hobbes, Durkheim and the Chicago School, rests on four elements of the social bond, attachment, commitment, involvement and belief, and attachment and commitment have strong and consistent empirical support. Self-control theory, which grew out of the transition from social control, centers on the nature of low self-control and its development, and has drawn critiques about adult social bonds, deviant peers and whether self-control is stable or changes.