Power Control Theory Essay

1249 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Crime and socioeconomics

Question #1

Power-control theory of crime combines Marxist conflict theory, social control theory and feminism and was theorized by Canadian criminologist, John Hagan. A prominent theme throughout the power-control theory is that social power in society is predominantly patriarchal, or male dominated. Deutschmann (2007) identifies five elements of the power-control theory: (1) The social class system determines the hierarchal ranking of individuals in terms of social power; (2) The class position of a parent in the occupational structure is reflected in her or his relative power within the family class structure; (3) The family structure and the social class structure are patriarchal and is reflected in the reality that women are subjected …show more content…

If women in the family are held to more social control, and men hold more social power, these practices are further replicated, allowing boys more freedom, and forcing more rigid boundaries and control over girls. More freedom provided to male youth could explain why the rate of total crime for male youths is higher than female youths, as the opportunity for delinquency is much higher for males than females. However, the egalitarian families who raise their children with equal levels of supervision could explain why female youth delinquency (total crime rate) still exists, although at significantly lower rate than that of male youths. The same concept applies for the differences between adult male and female total rates of crime, which are similar to the rate differences between male and female youths. Power-control theory could also explain the differences in total crime rates between adults and youths. This theory identifies family roles as a major factor in determining delinquency. As people age, they begin to take on greater responsibilities within the family. An example is a youth eventually aging and becoming a parent to a child. That individual, no matter the gender, now has greater responsibilities such as providing for and raising the child. With more responsibility, comes less opportunity for delinquency, explaining the lower crime rates amongst adults compared to

Show More
Related

  • Juvenile Delinquency: Exploring Factors of Gender and Family

    1512 Words  | 4 Pages

    The differences in behind gender and juvenile delinquency are strikingly apparent. To start it has been proven that females have a significantly higher emotion IQ than males. Females are far greater at controlling their emotions than males. Young boys need supervision and guidance from their mothers. Aggression is a trait that is more evident among males and combined with the fact that males are less apt to be concerned fitting in groups favoring independence more than females, exacerbates an inherent problem.

    Read More

  • Life Imprisonment for a Fifteen Year Old Juvenile

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Booth, J., Farrell, A., & Varano, S. (2008). Social control, serious delinquency, and risky behavior: A gendered analysis. Crime & Delinquency, 54(3), 423-456.

    Read More

  • Parental Involvement in the Youth Criminal Justice System in Western Canada

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hillian and Reitsma argues if one starts with the conceptual approaches to youth justice, parents are usually missing. When parents are added, there are different ideas about what can be expected of them, where they can fit, and what support there should be. However, in crime control approaches, there are high expectation of parents and punishments if they do not parent well and their children break laws.

    Read More

  • Juvenile Boot Camps Do Not Reduce Juvenile Delinquency

    2996 Words  | 6 Pages

    Wiatrowski, M.D., Griswold, D.B., & Roberts, M.K. (1981). Social control theory and delinquency. American Sociological Review, 46(5), 525-541.

    Read More

  • Control Theory Vs Social Learning Theory

    165 Words  | 1 Pages

    Agnew and Passas talked about the similarities between the macrolevel of anomie and control theory, but emphasized that the micro level theory of strain should be considered separate from control theory. Agnew also compared strain theory to control theory and social learning theory. The theories differ by the type of social relations that they stress and the motivations on which they are based. While control theory rests on the premise that the breakdown of society frees the individual to commit crime, strain theory is focused on the pressure that is placed on the individual to commit crime. Social learning theory is based on the forces from a group that lead to a positive view of crime. According to strain theory, individual

    Read More

  • The Increase in Female Juvenile Offenders

    2044 Words  | 5 Pages

    Between 1991 and 2000, arrest rates for girls increased more than arrests for boys, and by 2004 girls accounted for 30 percent of all juveniles taken into custody. Researchers have yet to establish if this trend is representative of a quantifiable increase in female juvenile crime, or if social attitudes and law enforcement response to girl’s delinquency have influenced the increase (Zahn, “Causes” 1-3). Juvenile crime overall has been declining since reaching its peak in the late 1990’s, yet the rates of girls have not experienced the same rate of decline when compared to boys.

    Read More

  • Theories Explaining Juvenile Crime

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many theories, at both the macro and micro level, have been proposed to explain juvenile crime. Some prominent theories include Social Disorganization theory, Differential Social Organization theory, Social Control theory, and Differential Association theory. When determining which theories are more valid, the question must be explored whether people deviate because of what they learn or from how they are controlled? Mercer L. Sullivan’s book, “Getting Paid” Youth Crime and Work in the Inner City clearly suggests that the learning theories both at the macro level, Differential social organization, and micro level, Differential association theory, are the more accurate of the two types of theory.

    Read More

  • Feminist Criminology

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    While all feminist theorists share a common focus on gender inequality, there are differing views on the source of the problem and the ultimate solution. Liberal Feminists Freda Adler and Rita argued that sociological factors, not physiology, best explain women’s criminality. There is a strong relationship between women’s emancipation and the increase in female crime rates. As women become more liberated and become more involved in full time jobs, they are more likely to engage in the types of crime that men commit. Thrasher, a leading exponent of the social disorganization perspective, felt that girls and women committed less crime because they were more closely supervised by boys and men. These arguments lacked any factual support.

    Read More

  • female juvenile crime

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    Traditionally, there has been little research on or interest in the impact of female crime in modern society. In addition, juvenile crime rates are on the rise, which combine for a void of research or information on female juvenile offenders. In general, crime rates for women offenders have risen since the 1990's. Increasing numbers of young women are also offending at higher rates. In a 1996 U.S. Department of Justice Report, the number of arrests of young women had doubled between 1989 and 1993. Twenty percent of all juvenile arrests were committed by girls, an increase of 87 percent. However, according to The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, males are far more likely to admit to criminal involvement than are females. For example, 12 percent of males and 4 percent of females reported carrying a hidden weapon other than a pocketknife in the past year (Wilson, p.150). There are several theories for this rise in crime proposed by modern feminists, including that the introduction of women into traditional male roles prompted women to commit increasingly dangerous and violent crimes. However, this paper will rely on Meda Chesney-Lind's theories from The Female Offender.

    Read More

  • There Are No Children Here Essay

    2455 Words  | 5 Pages

    Some of the explanations of delinquency insinuates that education, politics, social factors, family issues among others are the main causes of delinquency (Rutter, 2013).Just as these were some of the factors in “There Are No Children Here”. In addition, criminal investigators formulated several theories which explain causes of delinquency. Among them are social factors which are explained through several theories which include Social Reaction Theory also referred to as Labeling theory and Power control

    Read More

  • Female Delinquency

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    Delinquency in and of itself has been observed, studied, sifted, put into one form of statistical data or another and published for years. The question of “should girls’ delinquency be studied separately from boys’ delinquency?” can only be answered with an answer of yes. Data from every aspect of delinquency should be studied whether it be age, race, type of crime, along with gender. Without viewing all aspects of delinquency in regards to gender, any conclusions found would be biased, possibly leading to the enforcement of inappropriate laws and or treatments.

    Read More

  • Psychological Theories Of Criminology

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the main ideas that cover the link between crime and the role of the family was that single parenthood is a risk factor. It was suggested that father absence in childhood was a cause of crime but this may not be as relevant in today’s society as divorce is much more common and it may have been more about the social exclusion the children experienced from the outside world because of their parents divorce (ref). Both Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber (1986) along with Farrington (1991) researched into the affect of the number of siblings in the family on the likelihood of committing crime. Both pieces of research found that if the family contained more children, money was short creating chaos and mischief was generally less detectable (ref). Altogether this can lead to children not being able to distinguish good behaviour from bad due to lack of punishment/operant conditioning which may carry on to them performing the same behaviours (such as using violence to get their way) in the outside world, making them more likely to commit crime. Another way OC affects the likelihood of committing violent crime is if violent behaviour was observed within the family in childhood. For instance many studies have been conducted into this topic and findings generally conclude that if children witness or experience violent physical or sexual abuse within the family it is

    Read More

  • Female Delinquency Case Study

    1735 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 2011, a total of 61,423 youths in the United States were considered juvenile and of that statistic 14% were females (Child Trends, 2013, p.1). The topic of Female Delinquency is important to discuss these days because it wasn’t until recent years that researchers even looked at females and the reasons behind their crime rates. Society normally looks upon males as being the normal criminal; however, with recent studies, females can be just as delinquent as males. Most people look at females as being feminine and not participating in criminal behavior, which is why not until recent years we have stepped out of this incorrect view and saw that not all females are the same. Therefore, we need to understand these female delinquents and gain

    Read More

  • Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    Booth, J., Farrell, A., & Varano, S. (2008). Social control, serious delinquency, and risky behavior: A gendered analysis. Crime & Delinquency, 54(3), 423-456.

    Read More

  • Families and Juvenile Delinquency

    2008 Words  | 5 Pages

    Families serve as one of the strongest socializing forces in a person's life. They help teach children to control unacceptable behavior, to delay gratification, and to respect the rights of others. Conversely, families can also teach children aggressive, antisocial, and violent behavior. In adults' lives, family responsibilities may provide an important stabilizing force. Given these possibilities, family life may directly contribute to the development of delinquent and criminal tendencies. Parental conflict and child abuse correlate with delinquency. Though not all children who grow up in conflictive or violent homes become delinquent, however, being exposed to conflict and violence appears to increase the risk of delinquency. At this point, researchers have not pin pointed what factors exactly push some at-risk youth into delinquency. A child with criminal parents faces a greater likelihood of becoming a delinquent than children with law-abiding parents. However, the influence appears not to be directly related to criminality but possibly to poor supervision.

    Read More

More about Power Control Theory Essay

Open Document