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Travis Hirschi's Social Control Theory

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Everyone has seen the consequences of breaking the law, whether it is in real life or on television, people are aware of what happens after illegal acts are committed. People like to believe that they do not have the potential to deviate from the law, but the truth is everyone possesses that potential. Travis Hirschi categorized that potential as he developed his social control theory. Instead of asking why people committed crimes, he asked why they do not commit them. He took previous ideas conjured by philosophers of the past and put forth a new theory that would change the world of criminology today. While Hirschi played an important role in the development of Social Control Theory, its roots existed years before he was born. In fact, the first ideas of social control theory are found as far back as the Enlightenment period, where famous philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes studied human behavior using ideas inspired by parts of the theory (Kempf-Leonard & Morris, 2012). Other…show more content…
J., Harley, D., & Lenhoff, K. (1995, October 1). Hirschi's Social Control Theory: A Sociological Perspective on Drug Abuse Among Persons with Disabilities. The Journal of Rehabilitation . Bernard, T. J. (2018, February 26). Travis Hirschi. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from Encyclopædia Britannica : https://www.britannica.com/biography/Travis-Hirschi Haag, M., & Kovaleski, S. F. (2018, February 14). Nikolas Cruz, Florida Shooting Suspect, Described as a ‘Troubled Kid’. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/us/nikolas-cruz-florida-shooting.html Hirschi, T. (2002). Causes of Delinquency. Piscataway: Transaction Publishers. Kempf-Leonard, K., & Morris, N. A. (2012, July 24). Social Control Theory. Retrieved March 21, 2018, from Oxford Bibliographies: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0091.xml Siegel, L. J. (2011). Criminology: The Core. Wadsworth: Cengage
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