Social Support and Crime

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of Cullen’s (Justice Q 11:527–558, 1994) social support theory. Different aspects of social support theory, from its definitional and measurement challenges, its broader contributions to criminological thinking, the bulk of research testing its main propositions at different levels of analysis, and its policy implications are discussed throughout the chapter. Overall, the current chapter reaffirms the theoretical, empirical, and policy value of social support theory. First, social support maintains theoretical relevance and provides promising directions to move the field forward. Social support theory highlights the prosocial facets of human relationships and the support provided by an individual’s social environment. Social support theory constitutes an integrative approach that builds on other mainstream criminological theories to better understand differences in criminal involvement at the individual level and differential crime rates across different ecological units. Thus, social support is deemed to reduce crime directly but also indirectly by affecting criminogenic factors such as social control, social learning, or strain and moderating their effect on crime. Second, different tests of social support theory have shown its empirical validity. However, tests of social support theory—using comprehensive measures of the construct—are still in short supply. More research on the different propositions of social support is needed. Third, social support has important policy implications. Social support theory focuses on individuals’ social environments and in prosocial human relationships, rather than individuals themselves. Thus, social support theory expands the set of policy targets beyond the individuals to their families, communities, and a broad set of government and non-government institutions and allows to think alternative crime reducing and security building policies.