Hirschi Bonds of Attachment

Question 1

Overview

Answer 1

Hirschi focuses our attention on what forces hold people’s behaviour in check, rather than what propels them into crime. He argued that criminal activity occurs when people’s attachment to society is weakened in some way. The attachment depends upon the strength of the social bonds that hold people to society.

4 social bonds that bind us together

Question 2

Bonds

Answer 2

1. Attachment: To what extent we care about other people’s opinions & wishes.
2. Commitment: Refers to the personal investments that each of us makes in our lives. What have we got to lose if we commit a crime?
3. Involvement: How busy are we? Is there time & space for law-breaking & deviant behaviour?
4. Belief: How strong is a person’s sense that they should obey the rules of society?

Question 3

Influence of bonds

Answer 3

According to Hirschi, the greater a person’s bonds to society, the lower their level of crime. His theory is useful as it both support & helpfully builds on Durkheim’s work to show us why it is that most people do not commit crime – a question that Durkheim himself did not consider.