SECTION FOUR
2.4 Theoretical perspectives of violent behaviour
2.4.1 Control theory
The theorist most closely identified with the control theory is Hirschi (1969). His book, 'Causes of Delinquency', launched a research revolution that dominated social control for many years. Control theories as a starting point ask: "Why do most people not commit crime?" rather than "What drives them to commit crime?" The focus is on restraining or 'controlling' factors.
The following table summarises the components of what Hirschi calls the 'social bond', that explains what prevents people from committing criminal acts.
Attachment Affection and sensitivity to others
Commitment Investment in conventional society or stake in conformity Involvement Being busy, restricted opportunity for delinquency
Belief Degree to which a person thinks they should obey the law.
According to Hirschi, criminal activity occurs as a result of a lack of personal self control.
The cause of this lack of self control can be traced back to the functioning of the family.
Families are seen as the primary agents of socialisation and as such are direct causal agents of crime. There is ample empirical evidence to support this causal relationship.
Studies by both West and Farrington (1973) and Wadsworth (1979) indicate that broken homes are more likely to produce serious delinquency than homes broken by death.
Wells and Rankin (1986) reveal a consistent statistical relationship between parental
absence and delinquency. This is closely linked to a lack of supervision and its negative effects.
The influence of step families has also been shown to increase delinquency. Both Rankin (1983) and Steinberg (1987) have linked the influence of step families to runaway behaviour and antisocial personality disorder. Punitive parenting has also been strongly related to violent behaviour. Comprehensive reviews of the literature indicate that violence breeds violence (Widom, 1989). In families where the home is dysfunctional, it has been found that incompetent, ineffective and erratic discipline is directly related to delinquency. It gives rise to a sociopathic personality disorder (Patterson, 1982; Wilson and Herrnstein, 1985). Studies on single parenting show a greater involvement on status offences such as smoking, truancy and runaway behaviour (Rankin, 1983; Flewelling and Bauman, 1990).
The literature strongly upholds that a lack of effective parenting is a direct cause of violent behaviour. Children that come from dysfunctional families do not conform to socially accepted norms. This type of behaviour spills over into the schools and serves as an instigator of violence.
2.4.2 Social Strain Theory
Merton (1957), an American sociologist borrowed the notion of anomie from Durkheim to form his own theory called the Strain Theory. Merton differs from Durkheim in that he does not see problems as being created by a sudden social change, but rather being created by a social structure that holds out the same goals to all its members, without giving equal means to achieve them. This lack of integration then causes deviant behaviour.
Merton's theory does not focus upon crime per se, but rather on various acts of deviance which could lead to criminal behaviour. He notes that certain goals are
strongly influenced by society such as education, hard work, etc. Since not everyone has equal access to achieve these goals it sets the stage for anomie.
Merton's five modes of adapting to strain caused by restricted access to socially approved goals are as follows:
1. Conformity It is the most common mode of adaptation. It involves accepting the goals as well as the prescribed means of achieving them.
Conformists accept but do not always achieve the goals of society.
2.lnnovation Refers to individuals that accept societal goals but have few legitimate means of achieving them. They could achieve through criminal acts.
3. Ritualism Individuals abandon the goals they once believed in and stick to a daily safe routine.
4. Retreatism Individuals that give up goals and the means of achieving them.
They retreat in a world of alcoholism and drug addiction.
5. Rebellion When rejected individuals create their own goals through protest and revolutionary activities.
According to Agnew (1992), strain theory states that defective family structures, adverse family processes or a disharmonious child-parent relationship exerts some kind of strain on the child who via coping processes may develop delinquent forms of behaviour.
Merton's anomie, or 'normlessness' results when a disjunction exists between social goals and the capacity of an individual to attain these goals. There would be an inevitable 'strain towards anomie', especially amongst the disadvantaged. Acceptable norms are then replaced by deviant norms. Youth become delinquent when they are unable to achieve economic and educational success as a result of poverty and seek alternate means of achieving success (Clinard and Meier, 1995). Since a school is driven by its own norms and values,youth that do not conform and integrate develop delinquent forms of behaviour which is the impetus for violence.
2.4.3Subculture Theory
A subculture is a culture within a culture that is a collection of norms,values and beliefs that are different to the accepted culture in a particular society. A number of leading sociologists are associated with the subculture theory. Cohen (1955) stated that delinquent subcultures arise as a response to status denial. By experiencing feelings of rejection, boys according to Cohen, develop a deviant subculture that revolves around an explicit rejection of everything seen as'normal, decent and good'.
• Rudeness to those in authority
• Lack of punctuality and adherence to school norms
• Petty crime and vandalism
• Violence
For Cohen those most likely to be involved in a delinquent subculture were:
• Lower class in social origin
• Educational 'failures'
• Socially disadvantaged
• Unlikely to succeed in the adult job market.
Although Cohen's work was carried out in the 1950s, more recent studies demonstrate the same trends in sub-cultural forms. Hargreaves (1967) argued that the failure of the education system to provide integrating mechanisms for working class children resulted in deviant sub-cultural responses. This was later supported by Willis (1977) who stated that subcultures represented an organised, realistic attempt to come to terms with a wider cultural world.
Basically sub-cultural theories stress the learning of norms and values as a crucial variable in relation to crime. Delinquency is seen as a strong social reaction to such things as the denial of social status and legitimate career opportunities. Non-conformity within the school generally represents a calculated response to the behaviour of those
in authority. Thus the delinquent child trades off the disapproval of teachers for the approval of peers.