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Prof. Michelle Furlow's Criminal Justice Courses

25 Oct, 75 tweets, 62 min read

IF ... and only if ... you were to be arrested, mug shot across the front page of the paper, who's the first person you'd worry about seeing your photo?

Join me tomorrow at 1pm, cst, as we discuss #SocialControl theory

#CRJ105 #MoraineValley

Hi friends, we are going to get started today looking a question that some criminologists say is the MOST challenging question in the entire field, "Why do people obey the law?"

Let's jump in! #CRJ105 #Criminology

So let's start with a THINKING CHALLENGE.

Why do people obey the law?

#CRJ105 #Criminology

Let's carry on with a short "#PopQuiz". There are NO right or wrong answers, rather let's get a sense of your values.

TRUE / FALSE: I have someone to turn to in a time of need

#CRJ105 #Criminology

TRUE / FALSE: I have a lot of close friends

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TRUE / FALSE: My family members are good role models

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: I don’t smoke or have recently quit

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: I try to take care of my health

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: I don’t drink to excess

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: I haven't cheated on a spouse or significant other

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: I haven't experimented with illegal drug use

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: I do not engage in risky sexual behavior

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: I generally keep busy

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: I do not pretend to be someone other than myself on social media

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

TRUE / FALSE: Generally, the law should be obeyed

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

@michelle_furlow

Why is @michelle_furlow 🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♀️ asking all these questions?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105

Today we are going to be examining the EXACT opposite of every theory we've taken a look at so far.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Rather than try to ask why do people break the law ...
... why do people obey the law??

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Social control theory focuses on the techniques and strategies that regulate human behavior and lead to conformity

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Confession Time!

My brother would NOT let me play Grand Theft Auto as a kid ...

... because I tried to complete the missions without breaking the law.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

There are both macro-sociological and micro-sociological perspectives of social control, as well as theories regarding movement between conventional and delinquent behavior

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

The influences of family and school, religious beliefs, moral values, friends, and even beliefs about government are the centerpiece of social control theory

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Macrosociological studies explore formal systems for the control of groups:
•The legal system, laws, and particularly law enforcement
•Powerful groups in society
•Social and economic directives of governmental or private groups

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Macro-sociological perspective argues that society reins in undesired behavior through official sanctions, punishment, and shaming

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Is there a behavior we all try to get away with ...

...but only cease when we are being watched?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Not me, of course not, but you?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

THINKING CHALLENGE: What advice would you go back to give to your teenage self to resist peer pressure?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

"Dearest younger me ... "

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

I'd like to think I'd tell myself to REALLY not worry what other people think ...

but would I have believed it? #MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

More importantly, would your teenage self have believed you?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl #PeerPressure

In other words, there is a benefit to fitting in to society.

There is RISK in being isolated or excluded.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

While American society is based on a sense of individual rights and independence, we need conformity to be overall successful in society

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Consider any job / housing / background application that you may have filled out.

Your commitment to conforming to society's rules *always* is a consideration

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Social Control theory acknowledges that temptation is everywhere, it takes a specialized discipline not to give in.

What is YOUR guilty pleasure that you find it hard to resist?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

I'm working really hard to reducing carbs & sugar from my nutrition plan and it's an interesting challenge

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

@jockowillink

Where does discipline to avoid temptation come from?

@jockowillink

@Prof_357

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Historically & globally, some of the most long-standing understanding of 'discipline' has been the study of religion & religiousity

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

THINKING CHALLENGE: Do you believe in the concepts of heaven / hell?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

THINKING CHALLENGE: If you do believe, do these ideas influence your behavior?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

@TEDTalks

Plenty of good things are done in the name of religion, and plenty of bad things too. But what is religion, exactly — is it good or bad, in and of itself?

ted.com/talks/kwame_an…

@TEDTalks

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

How do we measure how religious an individual might be?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

In contemporary Social Control, Hirschi claimed that social control theory explains conformity and adherence to rules, not deviance.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Hirschi posited four social bonds that promote socialization and conformity:
~ attachment,
~ commitment,
~ involvement, and
~ belief

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

The first bond attachment takes three forms: attachment to parents, to school (teachers), and to peers

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

In other words, when we have strong social support, we adhere to society's norms because we do not want to disappoint or upset our loved ones

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

I love my F&F 'family' memes!

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

When we have strong social support, we adhere to society's norms because we do not want to disappoint or upset our loved ones

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Commitment looks at our relationships with our membership in formal and informal social groups, the more involved we are in our communities, the more we have to lose by unconventional behavior

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Hirschi’s third bond is involvement, or preoccupation with activities that promote the interests of society

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Also, the busier an individual is with conventional behavior, the less time they have for illegal or deviant behavior...

"I'm too busy to be bad!"

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

The last of the bonds, belief, consists of assent to the society’s value system.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

THINKING EXERCISE: What values do you have that you absolutely would NOT compromise?

Belief examines how strongly we stand by our personal values

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

For me, personally, a strong belief that I have is being a mother.

While there are many things I may want to do, I always consider what is in the best interest of my kids, first.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

A quick recap of Social Control

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

How does this relate to all my nosy questions at the outset of this discussion?

Those were only a few of the questions that Hirschi asked in defining the strengths of bonds!

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

While social control theory has held a prominent position in criminology for several decades, it is not without weaknesses

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Social control theory seeks to explain delinquency, not adult crime. Questions also have been raised about the bonds.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

In the 1960s, David Matza developed a different perspective on social control that explains why some adolescents drift in and out of delinquency

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

According to Matza, juveniles sense a moral obligation to be bound by the law. A “bind” between a person and the law, something that creates responsibility and control, remains in place most of the time

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

When it is not in place, youths enter into a state of drift, when he or she exists in limbo between conventional and crime, responding in turn to the demands of each, flirting now with one, postponing commitment, evading decisions

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

THINKING CHALLENGE: Why do even the smartest teenagers do "stupid" things?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

An interesting look at why teenagers do stupid things, it very well might be their brain

cbsnews.com/news/whats-wro…

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Adolescents justify their delinquent acts by developing techniques to rationalize their actions.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

These techniques are defense mechanisms that release the youth from the constraints of the moral order

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Albert J. Reiss, a sociologist, was one of the first researchers to isolate a group of personal and social control factors.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Jackson Toby proposed a different personal and social control model. Toby discussed the complimentary role of neighborhood social disorganization and an individual’s own stake in conformity.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Containment theory assumes that for every individual, there exists a containing external structure and a protective internal structure, both of which provide defense, insulation against delinquency.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Reckless suggests that the probability of deviance is directly related to the extent to which internal pushes, external pressures, and external pulls are controlled by one’s inner and outer containment.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Francis Ivan Nye developed that multiple control factors determine human behavior. Social control involves “needs satisfaction,” how well a family can prepare the child for success at school, with peers, and in the workplace.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

Integrated theory combines a criminological theory, such as differential association, with a number of social controls.

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

So how did we do? We covered Social Control quickly, what's your feedback?

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl

And if you made it THIS far, your extra credit opportunity includes sharing with me your nickname or any name other than your formal name that family & friends call you ... it will all make sense next week!

#MoraineValley #CRJ105 #SocialControl