NCJ Number
146141
Date Published
1993
Length
69 pages
Annotation
This paper proposes a static and dynamic formulation of an integrative multilayered control theory of criminal behavior.
Abstract
The discussion begins by distinguishing various types of theoretical activities, specifically integration, elaboration, and modeling. It then defines the levels of explanation of the criminal phenomenon: the crime, the criminal, and the criminality. Starting from these layers of the criminal phenomenon, the authors elaborate an integrative multilayered control theory. The paper proposes a static and a dynamic formulation of the generic control theory, defines the components of the theory and their organization in a particular structure, and states the theory from a process point of view. The three layers of the control theory rest on four assumptions about the human nature and the social order. The first assumption is that humans are unsocialized at birth and during the life course socialization is never perfect. These conditions favor the emergence and the maintenance of the criminal propensity of the individual. The second assumption is that a social order always implies some consensus on values and informal and formal mechanisms of interactions. The third assumption is that communities and individuals are self-seeking and have mutual influence on each other. A fourth assumption is that the event, the individual, and the community are influenced as much by their environment as they are induced by external forces. The authors discuss how the proposed theory is integrative, isomorphic, and "dynamical." Deficiencies of the multilayered control theory are noted. 3 notes, 43 references, and 10 figures