The absence of social integration with conventional groups should be influential in psychotic behavior (unless that specific behavior is organically determined and totally uncontrollable); without integration into nonbusiness groups, entrepreneurs, who are highly motivated to turn a profit, should be free to engage in price fixing; and strong social integration with any group should inspire some to excess zeal in fulfilling what they perceive as group expectations (over conformity), which may result in various forms of deviance. Since Hirschi's version, the best-known expression of the social control argument, does not convey this breadth, it must be regarded as shortsighted. Even the proliferation of separate theories of social integration for various deviant and conforming acts illustrates the inefficiency of theory building in the social sciences and dramatically underscores the importance of constructing theories with breadth.
Because of imprecision and shallowness, it is difficult to say exactly what kinds of deviance labeling theory presumably explains, particularly since it only attempts to account for those forms of deviance that are "secondary" in nature. It might apply to any form of deviance that can be publicly recognized through the imposition of a label by duly authorized officials. This would include any behavior officially prohibited in the criminal law of a given society (labeled by criminal justice agents), any "abnormal" behavior regarded as evidence of mental illness (labeled by medical personnel), and any form of institutional misbehavior (labeled by school officials, church authorities, and so on). It may also apply to any form of social misbehavior that can be magnified in a public "event" or "episode" to which a social audience can respond by collectively stigmatizing an individual. Presumably, it cannot explain private or secret acts undetected by authorities or unknown to the public, such as disloyalty to a friend or lack of sensitivity to a spouse or child, nor can it explain the many forms of primary deviance that escape stigma or even repetitious deviance that continues without the individual having been labeled deviant by a hostile audience (like habitual shoplifting). As it bears on secondary deviance, the labeling theory seems to have fairly broad coverage, but because it is extremely narrow otherwise, even if it were completely accurate in its account of secondary deviance, it would be inadequate as a general theory.
It is clear, however, that the desire to offend is, for some individuals, so strong that social controls pale; some deviance is committed because the groups to which offenders are bonded actually exercise social control to encourage deviance; and some unbonded individuals nevertheless conform, perhaps out of habit, lack of alternatives, or internalized moral commitments. Most people agree that deviance is to some extent dependent upon opportunities and skills, as well as other factors. For instance, individual variation in accuracy of perceptions about how particular behaviors would be viewed by conventional others, or about the deviant orientations of groups to which one might be bonded, could affect delinquency. Moreover, although this theory implies equal ability to explain all forms of crime/deviance (though it specifically addresses only "delinquency"), it is quite likely that the constraints of social bonds are differentially effective for various kinds of crime/deviance and are probably more effective at preventing acts strongly disapproved by general opinion than acts that are only slightly disapproved. However, none of these components are encompassed within social control theory, and it neglects to account for variations in social bonds themselves.
Therefore, as sensible as the main proposition appears, social control theory fulfills few of the criteria for adequacy as a general theory. Like the others, it is more incomplete than incorrect, excluding more than it includes, and only imprecisely accommodating the interactions of its main variables with other conditions. If one interprets Marxian conflict theory in terms of the deprivation and exploitation presumably inherent in capitalism (but also possible in a wide variety of social contexts and economic systems), rather than in terms of capitalism per se, it explains all forms of exploitation and insensitive or de-moralized acts by one person against another, what Travis Hirschi (1990) refers to as acts of force or fraud pursued for self-interest, acts of protest or retaliation by workers against exploiters or symbols of oppression, as well as acts reflecting adaptive techniques for economic survival (such as prostitution). Even with a direct focus on exploitation/deprivation rather than capitalism, the theory still does not explain individualized acts of deviance...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now