6.1 Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control

The Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control explains how social bonds shape behavior throughout life. It suggests that strong connections to family, school, work, and relationships can prevent criminal activity and encourage desistance.

This theory highlights how informal control changes as we age. It explores how childhood bonds, adult relationships, and life events like marriage or parenthood can influence criminal trajectories and create turning points for positive change.

Age-Graded Theory of Informal Social Control

Informal control across life stages

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  Chapter 7. Deviance, Crime, and Social Control – Introduction to Sociology – 2nd Canadian Edition View original

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• Informal social control shapes behavior through social bonds, relationships, and influences outside formal institutions
• Strength and nature of these bonds vary across life stages, impacting likelihood of criminal behavior
  • Childhood and adolescence
    • Family bonds (attachment to parents, parental supervision) prevent delinquency
    • School bonds (commitment to education, involvement in activities) reduce criminal risk
  • Early adulthood
    • Employment and job stability act as informal controls, reducing criminal likelihood
    • Marriage and romantic relationships serve as turning points, encouraging crime desistance
  • Middle and late adulthood
    • Continued employment and job satisfaction maintain informal social control
    • Family responsibilities (parenting, caregiving) deter criminal behavior

Age-graded bonds in criminal trajectories

• Age-graded social bonds change in nature and strength across life stages
• Individuals with strong, prosocial bonds at each stage less likely to engage in crime
• Criminal trajectories influenced by development and maintenance of bonds over time
  • Consistently weak social bonds across stages linked to persistent criminal behavior
  • Strong bonds developed in adulthood, despite weak childhood bonds, may lead to delayed crime desistance
  • Strong childhood bonds that weaken in adulthood may result in adult-onset criminal behavior

Turning points for criminal desistance

• Turning points are significant life events or experiences that alter criminal trajectories
• These events strengthen or weaken social bonds, influencing likelihood of crime desistance
• Turning points promoting desistance include:
  1. Marriage and formation of stable romantic relationships
  2. Gaining stable employment or experiencing job satisfaction
  3. Military service or other structured, prosocial activities
  4. Parenthood and development of family responsibilities
• Turning points weakening social bonds (divorce, job loss) may increase risk of continued criminal behavior

Limitations of age-graded theory

• May not adequately address influence of structural factors (poverty, inequality) on criminal behavior
• Places strong emphasis on social bonds, potentially overlooking role of individual agency and decision-making
• May not fully account for diverse experiences and trajectories of individuals from different cultural backgrounds
• Focuses primarily on influence of informal social control, potentially underestimating impact of formal institutions and interventions
• May not sufficiently explain onset and desistance of criminal behavior for all individuals, as some may not follow predicted trajectories based on social bonds