NCJ Number
75441
Editor(s)
T Hirschi,
M Gottfredson
Date Published
1980
Length
141 pages
Annotation
Articles in this collection represented recent criminogenic theories which lie outside the scope of Sutherland's concepts of normative conflict and differential association. They assume that crime may be influenced by individual qualites and that it may be contrary to the values of the groups in which it occurs.
Abstract
The multiple factor approach is a departure from criminological traditions established by Sutherland. It studies correlates of crime as individual qualities to determine the risks of different categories of persons. The factors reevaluated in the first two essays are long-discredited ones that link family stability and religious upbringing to the reduced likelihood of criminal behavior. The first study shows that children from broken homes are more likely to commit a variety of delinquent acts under a variety of conditions. The paper on religion cites data on cities where higher church membership correlates with lower crime rates and concludes that religion does play a central role in sustaining the moral order. The third paper considers the relationship between crime and the concept of defensible space in environmental design. Another study reports the systematic observation of delinquent children interacting with their parents and ascribes an active role to children in their own socialization, showing how antisocial children train parents and teachers to cease making demands. Papers in the second part of this volume use conceptual schemes derived from disciplines outside sociology. A study of family violence develops the thesis that the ultimate origins and current distribution of child abuse may be found in a single principle of evolutionary biology. A paper examining behavior patterns of aggression, attachment, and violence questions Sutherland's subculture of violence theses by showing how pursuits of basic sociability can result in violent behavior contrary to the values of the group. Papers on juvenile delinquency and group home treatment represent approaches using a combination of psychological learning principles and differential association. Tabular data and references are included with individual papers.