Social Bond Theory Research Articles

Effects of punishment, social norms, and peer pressure on delinquency: Spare the rod and spoil the child?

Parental behavior regulation and delinquency is well established in the literature. While the precise direction of the relationship seems elusive, delinquency remains a recurring behavioral outcome of punitive forms of discipline. Opponents of punishment propose that it leads to a greater likelihood of conduct issues in adolescence and adulthood. The present study assessed the influence of punishment, social norms, and age on delinquency while examining peer pressure as a mediator. Further, gender and ethnicity were controlled. A random sample of 2011 participants from a southern Caribbean island responded to a questionnaire administered by field interviewers. Data were analyzed using path analysis, multiple group analysis, and one-way analysis of variance. Results showed that all independent variables were significant in predicting delinquency while peer pressure mediated these relationships. Further, gender and ethnic differences were observed with males and African-Trinidadians rating highest on delinquency. Findings are discussed within the theoretical frameworks of social bond theory, PARTheory, and in relation to previous research. Limitations and future research are also highlighted.

Family Social Capital, Family Social Bonds, and Juvenile Delinquency

There is a long history in criminology of examining the effects of social bonds on criminal behavior. A similar conceptual framework that developed in sociology is social capital theory. Studies using these models have addressed the effects of parent–child relationships on adolescent behavior. However, social bond theory tends to predominate as an explanation of juvenile delinquency. We developed a comparative analysis of measures of family social bonds and family social capital using nationally representative data on youth ( N = 6,432). Measurement models suggested that family social capital is a more parsimonious latent construct than family social bonds. Moreover, it is a more efficient predictor of delinquent behavior. Thus, we encourage criminologists to adopt family social capital as a promising concept and empirical variable in their quest to understand delinquent behavior.

Inmate Family Ties and Misconduct -Applying the Complex Model of the Social Bond to Prisoner Deviance-

이 연구의 목적은 가족의 방문이 수형자의 인식, 태도 및 행동에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 검증하는 것이다. 이를 위하여 수형자 방문프로그램의 근거이론이라 할 수 있는 허쉬의 사회유대 이론을 수정하여 발전된 평가모형을 제시하였다. 전국의 6개 교도 소에 수감 중인 359명의 수형자를 대상으로 설문된 2차 자료를 구조모형방정식 모형을 적용하여 분석하였다. 그 결과를 살펴보면 가족의 방문은 수형자의 인식, 태도 및 행동에 긍정적인 영향을 미치며, 교도소 내 규율위반을 감소시키는 것으로 나타났다. 이 연구는 수형자의 바람직한 교정생활과 성공적인 사회복귀를 위해 가족 방문프로그램과 교도소 내 사회질서 사이의 이론적 메커니즘을 개발하고 발전시켜야 한다는 것을 시사한다.The goal of this study is to advance scholarship on the relationship between inmate visitation and their perceptional, attitudinal, and behavioral changes while incarcerated. The current study attempts to develop the theoretical mechanisms or model by using a traditional social bond theory, which has contributed to and informed correctional emphases on visitation program. A secondary survey data on 359 inmates housed in six prisons in South Korea was used to test the proposed causal mechanisms. Structural Equation Modeling analyses that consist of measurement model testing and structural model testing were conducted. The current study found that the amounts of visitations was associated with fewer violations. Another important finding was that family visits were positively related to inmate perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors in prison. This study provided an important opportunity to advance the understanding of theoretical mechanisms between inmate visitation and prison social order.

Analysis Informal Social Control Scale toward Integrity Value of the Young People

Young people are agents of national transformation that drive the country towards global aspirations. To spur national transformation in line with religious and cultural values, applying the values of integrity of young people directly produces ethical leaders and reduces the tendency of immoral acts in the country's political system. To test the value of integrity, Informal Social Control was selected to be tested on 400 students from four Higher Education Institutions in Melaka namedly Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Multimedia University (MMU) and Kolej Universiti Islam Melaka (KUIM). The Informal Social Security Scale Instrument is formed from the Social Bond Theory and the Religious Scale to test the value of the integrity of the young through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and the establishment of Confirmatory Factor Analysis Model of informal Social Control scale. Findings show that multi-dimensional models of social control scales have achieved goodness of fit accuracy and achieve convergence validity based on significant relationship variables. This scale also achieves discriminant validity and predictive validity that supports the psychometric characteristics of the Malay version. This study directly contributes to the formation of an Informal Social Control Scale that is less attention to researchers.

Average Associations Between Sexual Desire, Testosterone, and Stress in Women and Men Over Time.

Sexual desire and testosterone are widely assumed to be directly and positively linked to each other despite the lack of supporting empirical evidence. The literature that does exist is mixed, which may result from a conflation of solitary and dyadic desire, and the exclusion of contextual variables, like stress, known to be relevant. Here, we use the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds as a framework for examining how testosterone, solitary and partnered desire, and stress are linked over time. To do so, we collected saliva samples (for testosterone and cortisol) and measured desire as well as other variables via questionnaires over nine monthly sessions in 78 women and 79 men. Linear mixed models showed that testosterone negatively predicted partnered desire in women but not men. Stress moderated associations between testosterone and solitary desire in both women and men, but differently: At lower levels of stress, higher average testosterone corresponded to higher average solitary desire for men, but lower solitary desire on average for women. Similarly, for partnered desire, higher perceived stress predicted lower desire for women, but higher desire for men. We conclude by discussing the ways that these results both counter presumptions about testosterone and desire but fit with the existing literature and theory, and highlight the empirical importance of stress and gender norms.

Rural-to-Urban Migration and Juvenile Delinquency in Urban China: a Social Control Perspective

In the past decade, the number of rural-to-urban migrant adolescents in urban China has soared. Official criminal justice statistics point to their higher level of deviance compared to urban adolescents. This study examines whether rural migrant children are more delinquent than their urban peers in the school sample. It provides explanations for the gap by linking Hirschi’s social bond theory with the literature on migration in China. Moreover, it formally tests which elements of social bonds mediate the relationship between migrant status and delinquency. Based on a large-scale survey in Guangzhou involving 470 rural migrants and 838 urban junior high school students, our analysis shows that migrant adolescents engage in slightly more delinquent behavior and have weaker social bonds than local adolescents. Attachment to parents and school, commitment to education, and belief in law fully mediate the positive relationship between migration and delinquency. Such findings indicate that within China’s dual urban–rural structure, rural-to-urban migration can increase these adolescents’ exposure to risk factors that undermine their social bonds to conventional society and thus lead to higher levels of delinquency.

Information security collaboration formation in organisations

The protection of organisational information assets requires the collaboration of all employees; information security collaboration (ISC) aggregates the efforts of employees in order to mitigate the effect of information security breaches and incidents. However, it is acknowledged that ISC formation and its development needs more investigation. This research endeavours to show how ISC forms and develops in the context of an organisation based on social bond factors. The social bond theory and theory of planned behaviour describe the effect of social bond factors on the attitude of employees and finally their behaviour regarding collaboration in the domain of information security. The results of the data analysis reveal that personal norms, involvement, and commitment to their organisation significantly influence the employees’ attitude towards ISC intention. However, contrary to the authors expectation, attachment does not influence the attitude of employees towards ISC. In addition, attitudes towards ISC, perceived behavioural control, and personal norms significantly affect the intention of employees towards ISC. The findings also show that the employees’ intention towards ISC and organisational support positively influence ISC, but that trust does not significantly affect ISC behaviour.

Motivation and opportunity based model to reduce information security insider threats in organisations

Information technology has brought with it many advantages for organisations, but information security is still a major concern for organisations which rely on such technology. Users, whether with intent or through negligence, are a great source of potential of risk to information assets. A lack of awareness, negligence, resistance, disobedience, apathy and mischievousness are root causes of information security incidents in organisations. As such, insider threats have attracted the attention of a number of experts in this domain. Two particularly important considerations when exploring insider threats are motivation and opportunity. Two fundamental theories relating to these phenomena, and on which the research presented in this paper relies, are Social Bond Theory (SBT), which can be used to help undermine motivation to engage in misbehaviour, and Situational Crime Prevention Theory (SCPT), which can be used to reduce opportunities for misbehaviour. The results of our data analysis show that situational prevention factors such as increasing the effort and risk involved in a crime, reducing the rewards and removing excuses can significantly promotes the adoption of negative attitudes towards misbehaviour, though reducing provocations does not have any effect on attitudes. Further, social bond factors such as a commitment to organisational policies and procedures, involvement in information security activities and personal norms also significantly promotes the adoption of negative attitudes towards misbehaviour. However, attachment does not significantly promote an attitude of misbehaviour avoidance on the part of employees. Finally, our findings also show that a negative attitude towards misbehaviour influences the employees’ intentions towards engaging in misbehaviour positively, and this in turn reduces insider threat behaviour. The outputs of this study shed some light on factors which play a role in reducing misbehaviour in the domain of information security for academics and practitioners.

Attachment to Society and Cognitive Deviance: The Case of Turkey

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the relationship between the level of attachment to society and cognitive deviance in modern Turkey. Applying Social Bonding Theory, we argue that stronger attachment to society leads to higher conformity to society’s socially accepted norms and less cognitive deviance. We conceptualize cognitive deviance as nontraditional attitudes toward sexuality and marriage. Using the 2011 World Values Survey, we find that the level of attachment to society reduces cognitive deviance. Moreover, the effect is stronger toward more extreme cognitive deviance, such as tolerance toward homosexuality, than less extreme cognitive deviance, such as tolerance toward divorce and abortion.

The Growth of Chinese Think Tanks and the Question of Crime

This paper reviews several of the key issues that underlie the development and expansion of think tanks in China from both a domestic and international perspective. Substantively, the review focuses on the need to develop criminological think tanks in China due to the well-documented relationship between rapid urbanization, social displacement, and crime. Though work on urbanization, social disorganization, and crime has existed for over half a decade in Western criminology, it suffers from a lack of research outside of the Western and usually more specifically American, cultural context. To advance this call for research, the paper identifies 14 generative research programs in the areas of the Routine Activities Theory, Social Bonds Theory, and Institutional Anomie Theory pursuable by Chinese criminological think tanks. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some potential barriers to the successful production and dissemination of criminological research in China.

The analysis of possible ways of the destruction of Boko Haram radical islamist activities on families in North -Eastern Nigeria

The vicious cycle of Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria since 2009 tend to have created worst ever security situation since independence in 1960. This paper examined psychological effects of Boko Haram activities on families in the North Eastern Nigeria. It argued that the devastating impacts of Boko Haram activities on families in the North East will likely inculcate revulsion among the people and religious organizations. The paper observed that the disillusionment arising from such distaste perhaps will sustain a long period of insecurity even if Boko Haram is defeated in the nearest future. It observed that in spite of efforts made so far by government agencies, government needs to redouble her efforts to reduce hardship arising from the present insecurity in the North East as a measure to tackle psychological impacts of insecurity. The study adopted qualitative descriptive analytical methods and relied on the social bond theory as its theoretical compass. It recommended among others a paradigm shift from the hitherto government poor approaches to solving problems of national importance to a more responsive strategy, sufficient enough to counter or rather address the security crisis in the North Eastern Nigeria.Key words: Psyhological attacks, Boko Haram, devasting impacts, islam, paradigm shift, responsive strategy.

Testosterone reactivity to infant crying and caregiving in women: The role of oral contraceptives and basal cortisol

Several studies have shown that mothers and fathers have significant lower levels of testosterone (T) than non-mothers and non-fathers, and that in men caregiving is related to a decrease in T. To date, only a few studies have examined T in women. We examined T reactivity to a crying infant simulator in 160 women. Use of oral contraceptives (OC), basal cortisol (CORT) levels and childhood experiences of maternal love withdrawal were taken into account. T levels were consistently significantly higher in women not using OC. In women not using OC, high basal CORT was related to higher initial T levels and larger decreases of T during caregiving. No effect of basal CORT was found in women with OC use. Childhood experiences of maternal love withdrawal did not affect T levels. This is the first study to show support for a decrease of T in women while taking care of a crying infant, supporting the Challenge hypothesis and the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds.

Dynamic Associations between Testosterone, Partnering, and Sexuality During the College Transition in Women

Testosterone (T) is implicated in tradeoffs between competition for new partners and nurturance within existing pair bonds. Some evidence suggests women in committed romantic relationships have lower T than singles, similar to findings in men. However, it is unclear whether lower T predicts pair bonding or vice versa, as well as how sexual activity might be implicated in within-person links between T and partnering. We conducted a longitudinal study on T and partnering in women, rooted in the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds. Participants (78 women) provided saliva samples for T and completed questionnaires about relationships and sexuality at up to nine monthly study sessions. T and relationship status were bidirectionally linked: lower T predicted becoming committed, and becoming committed then increased women’s T. Masturbation was associated with higher T across relationship statuses; however, dyadic sexual activity moderated T-partnering links, such that committed women only had lower T than singles when they were dyadically sexually active. Results point to reciprocal, interactive associations between partnering, sexuality, and T and generate testable hypotheses for unexpected associations via the S/P Theory.

Substance use and Sexual Orientation: A Test of Hirschi’s Social Bonds Theory

A substantial amount of research assesses the ability of Hirschi’s social bonds theory to explain numerous deviance oriented outcomes. In addition to amassing support for the theory, studies have also examined social bonds from sex and racial perspectives finding variations in bond strengths. Despite the impressive body of literature, one area that has yet to be explored is how social bonds and their relationships with deviance may vary between sexual orientation groups. Thus, the current study sought to compare the strength of social bonds and assess how social bonds can predict substance use between heterosexuals and non-heterosexuals. Self-reported data collected from 626 college students was examined using linear and logistic regression models. Results revealed that social bonds tend to be stronger and better predictors of substance use for heterosexuals. This study is the first of its kind to explore social bonds as a predictor between sexual orientation groups. Results indicate there is a need to further explore the strength of social bonds as predictors between sexual orientation groups. Heterosexuals and non-heterosexuals have different experiences as a result of their sexual orientation leading to varying relationships between social bonds and deviance.

Making It Count: Breadth and Intensity of Extracurricular Engagement and High School Dropout

Previous research suggests that extracurricular engagement reduces the likelihood of high school dropout, particularly among traditionally at-risk populations such as racial and ethnic minorities and students from low-income families. Using social bond theory, we examine how the breadth and intensity of extracurricular engagement are related to the likelihood of dropout among a nationally representative sample of students over three years of schooling. Using logistic regression models, we use data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 to examine how extracurricular participation relates to the potential of dropping out by accounting for known correlates and potential selection biases. We find a significant positive relationship between engagement in extracurricular activities (both in number and distribution over different types of activities) and a reduced likelihood of dropout. This relationship is particularly strong in the case of athletic involvement among African American students and for students who simultaneously participate in both athletic and academic/fine arts activities. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of current policy trends toward the elimination of extracurricular programming and the assessment of student participation fees.

'All I Want to Say is That They Don't Really Care about Us': Reducing Police Misconduct via Social Control Theory

In response to a nationwide increase in allegations of police misconduct or police brutality, Congress amended grant funding availability in July 2016 for its “Cops on the Beat” program, an extension of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Through these amendments, Congress sought to create a larger community presence and enhance officer conflict resolution, mediation, and problem-solving skills. In this Article, the author argues that Congress did not achieve this result, resulting in greater friction between community and law enforcement interaction and a predicts an increase of future altercations. The author examines the New Orleans consent decree by applying Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory to ascertain the effectiveness of community outreach, residency requirements, and mandatory use of body cameras. In the end, he concludes that the “Cops on the Beat” Program is not viable legislation and offers suggestions based on social-bonding theory in creating legislation mirroring the New Orleans consent decree to reduce incidents of officer misconduct against the community they serve.

The Moderating Effect of Living with a Child Before Incarceration on Postrelease Outcomes Related to a Prison-Based Parent Management Training Program

ABSTRACTWith the rapid growth in incarceration in the United States over the past few decades came dramatic growth in the number of the incarcerated parents with at least one minor child. Parental incarceration places extra stresses and strains on families and children. Almost all of those incarcerated will eventually be released. However, the majority of those released from prison will be rearrested within a year. Finding interventions that can decrease the likelihood of returning to crime and to incarceration are of utmost importance. Using a social bond theory framework, the authors examine the moderating effect of living with a child before incarceration on program outcomes related to a prison-based parent management training program. A significant effect was found. Implications for these findings are discussed for future research and practice.

Religiosity and Therapeutic Alliance Among Youth Who Commit Sexual Crimes

Delinquency research argues that youth religion and spirituality are associated with desistence. The therapeutic alliance has been shown to be partially responsible for the influence of religiosity in therapeutic services. Asceticism within religious doctrine coupled with Social Bonding Theory, suggests perhaps existential and secular bonds may be a desistence mechanism or a mitigating factor against crimes like sexual abuse that violate religious or spiritual norms. Nevertheless, research has yet to integrate these concepts and test them among a sample of youth who commit sexual crimes. The present study proposes three hypotheses that use Ascetical and Social Bonding Theory as guiding theoretical frameworks to test the association between religiosity and criminal profiles and the associations between therapeutic alliance and self-reported religious importance. The cross-sectional study draws from original data collected from 332 incarcerated youth adjudicated for a sexual crime. Using validated and researcher-composed instruments and including relevant covariates, we used spearman’s rho correlations and multiple linear regression to test the relationships between criminal profiles, therapeutic alliance, and religiosity. The results indicated that the reported importance of religion prior to arrest is inversely associated with non-sexual criminality, but is not related to severity of sexual offense. Further, there were significant increases in pre-arrest and post-arrest religious importance. The therapeutic alliance predicted post-arrest religious importance. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed. This study showcases the relationships between religious importance and general delinquent offending and how the therapeutic alliance is associated with religious importance. The findings align with tenants of Social Bonding Theory. These findings have implications for advancing research on religiosity and improving practice approaches for youth with sexual behavior problems.

Social Bonds, Juvenile Delinquency, and Korean Adolescents

Social bonds theory is one of the most influential and tested perspectives for explaining juvenile delinquency, yet tests have often been methodologically limited. Prior research has failed to examine how intra- and interindividual variation in social bonding influences delinquency. In addition, there are few applications of this theory to non-Western contexts. Thus, the current study attempts to test the cross-cultural generalizability of social bonds theory and overcome weaknesses of prior research. We use longitudinal panel analyses and five waves of data from the Korean Youth Panel Survey to examine the influence of nine measures of social bonding on delinquent behavior. By estimating different panel models, we find some support for social bonds as indicators of within- and between-individual variation in delinquency. Specifically, the emphasis on education in Korea and the role of parents in supervising their children play an integral role in reducing the delinquency of Korean youth.

Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory Nearly 45 Years Later: A comparison of a traditional, contemporary and hybrid model

Travis Hirschi (1969) developed social bonding theory. The main premise of his argument was that conformity, not deviance, is what needs explaining. The present study further investigated the following aspects of Hirschi's social bonding theory: attachment to parents, attachment to school, involvement in conventional activities, and belief in the law/legal system. The goal of the present study is to fill a gap in the literature by conducting an analysis that compares Hirschi's traditional measures to contemporary measures using a single independent national sample. The present study built three models: the Traditional Hirschi Model utilizes the measures indicated by Hirschi's 1969 book, Causes of Delinquency; the Contemporary Model utilizes contemporary scales gathered from a literature review; and the Hybrid Model is an amalgamation that combines the strongest components of the two prior models.HIRSCHI'S SOCIAL BONDING THEORYHirschi writes that attachment to conventional parents is a central component of control theory. Indirect parental control is theorized to be the primary mechanism that prevents delinquency. Attachment to school is also central to control theory. He defines attachment to school as how much a student likes school and has positive feelings about his/her teacher. Regarding the involvement bond, Hirschi emphasizes the importance of involvement in school-based activities such as studying. Moreover, Hirschi argues that the youth at highest risk of delinquency are those involved in the activities of working class adults. Hirschi makes the case that the belief bond is a belief in and respect for the rules of society. Thus, a weak or broken belief bond increases a person's likelihood of deviance.RESEARCH USING HIRSCHI'S ORIGINAL MEASURESThis section will review the literature that uses the same or slightly altered measures and questions that Hirschi used. Research on the attachment to parents bond shows that youth with weak bonds with parents have higher rates of delinquency (Hirschi, 1969). Research has confirmed that a strong family attachment is associated with lower levels of delinquency (Kim., Kwak, and Yun, 2010; Krohn, Massey, Skinner, and Lauer, 1983; Ozbay, and Ozcan, 2006), and criminal offences (Chui and Chan 2012; Ozbay, and Ozcan, 2006). Hirschi found that weak attachment to school is associated with a higher risk of deviance. Researchers have also found that there is a negative relationship between school attachment and deviance (Ozbay, and Ozcan, 2006), and violent and property crime (Chui and Chan 2012). Research on the involvement bond found that the more time students spend on homework, the less likely they are to partake in deviant acts (Hirschi 1969). Research also found that if adolescents rushed into adulthood by becoming involved in leisure activities typically favored by working class adults, they were more likely to commit delinquent acts (Hirschi 1969). Research on the belief bond found that the more people believe in society's rules, the less likely they are to partake in deviance (Chapple, McQuillan, and Berdahl 2005; Costello and Vowell, 1999; Herschi 1969; Oxbay and Ozcan 2009; Ozbay, and Ozcan, 2006).RESEARCH THAT USES CONTEMPORARY MEASURES OF HIRSCHIS'S THEORYThis section will review the studies that have stayed true to Hirschi's theory and his conceptualizations, but have measured said concepts using contemporary scales. Contemporary research finds that as family bonds get stronger, the risk of delinquency gets weaker (Chen, Thrane, and Adams, 2012; Hay, Meldrum, and Piquero, 2013; HeavyRunner-Rioux, and Hollist, 2010; Junger and Marshall, 1997; Menard, and Grotpeter, 2011; Orcutt and Schwabe, 2012). Research found that a weak attachment to school is associated with a higher risk of deviance (Haines and Case 2004; Hay et al, 2013; Li, 2004), and crime (Chen, 2009). Research on the involvement bond and extracurricular activities found that partaking in extracurricular activities reduces the chances of partaking in deviant behavior (Booth et al 2008; Huebner and Betts 2002). …