Example Of Essay On Parenting And Crime

Like the biological and environmental influences to crime and crime-prevention, the social control and self-control theories present impressive and sound facts on the origins of crimes. In criminology, crime-prevention, and social monitoring processes, factors presented in these theories are great assistance in criminal-hunting and crime-prevention activities of law enforces. But then, these theories yet again fail to explain the positive and decisive force called "Will" of a human being that leads him or her to commit crime.
Regardless of gender, male or female (Özbay & Özcan, 2008) the importance of a social identity had been established in the Social Control Theory by (Simons, et al, 2004). The study leads to a path of values formation that has been the process of a well-established child upbringing that guarantees a person to grow up to be a functioning member of the given society. It described a passive backdrop of good parenting and like-minded peers that a person's decision making process is rendered subject to such external forces. It is a logical and insightful theory. Parents, or anyone would want such a background for themselves, as everyone, by default, would want to be a positive force in one's sphere of influence. But, this does not guarantee a person's lack of criminal tendencies. Nor the other way around, a person growing up in a deviant society, guarantee a criminal life.
Enter self-control theory, a concept revised into by Hirschi (Simons, et al, 2004) from the previous theory, put a greater responsibility to parents during the formative years of a child, with a deadline - up to 10 years old (Simons, et al, 2004). Even for a working adult, self-control is a great challenge that manifests itself an individual's finances, job, and general social-standing. The parent in this theory is tasked the key role of establishing self-control in the behavior of his or her child through the combination and balance of responsiveness and demandingness approach as proposed by Baumrind as dimensions of parenting (Simons, et al, 2004). The lack of one or the other, or both, can have serious consequences to a child’s developmental psyche that could lead to criminal acts in his or her adulthood. Like its predecessor, though, this theory is working on a preventive rather than the motivated aspect of a person's decision making process. It again fails to be put into a backdrop of a person's free will, to possibility to be inspired and ability to change at any given age.
The contention of considering the human will into these theories, presented as a hypothesis into which theories may garner more accuracy has the following merits. Firstly, it places the social-control and self-control theories in a position of influence ascertaining to the human will. Studies can be made on how strong and how weak these influences are in such a relation. Going further, the nature of the human will itself can be evaluated as an independent force proponent in placing outside influences of his or her surroundings into his or her life according to a self-formed set of priorities. Lastly, the human being is studied not as subject, but as proponent of these influences. It accurately considers a person master to his own fate and his reasons ultimate to his causes, not just a being subject or victim to the circumstances of his life.
Parenthood is indeed a major player in determining the path a child will take. This cannot be understated. Many adults right up to their last breath blame their parents still for the kind of life set before them, failing to find alternatives to their life choices. Every individual, however, is left with their free will. This may be scientifically vague, but an ultimate reality to every human being. Each has the capacity to determine their own destiny, and it is a great failure to the study of criminology if this is taken for granted.

References

Özbay, Özcan. (April 2008). A Test of Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume 52 Number 2. Sage Publications. 134-157
Simons, R.L., Simons, L.G., and Wallace, L.E. 2004. Families, Delinquency, and Crime: Linking Society’s Most Basic Institution to Antisocial Behavior. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury. (ISBN 1- 931719-30-6).