Hirschi Social Control Theory Essay

I agree with Hirchi’s Theory to a certain extent only. This is because I believe it is not applicable to all people and to all situations. Yes, it may be true that when a person, as early as his childhood, conforms to fit into groups and find his place, he will probably be a person who is responsible and law-abiding. While we still have our own self-interests and individuality, we all want to feel we belong and mould our beliefs and involvements to form attachments. Also, as stated by Hirchi’s Theory, conformity is formed by four variables which we develop through our interactions with family and school, the four being: attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. For me, attachment and conformity to different social groups in the society does not guarantee a person for him to be less ready in committing a crime. Yes, a human being’s personality is partly formed by the environment where he is in—may be the attachment and conformity with his environment helps in molding a righteous and morally-upright personality. But in humanism, a human being has the absolute control to his life. He has free will and it is up to him how he will react to the stimuli created by his environment. In addition, psychologically, the formation of personality is still debatable whether it is nature or nurture. Nature says that a human being’s personality is genetic and on the other hand, nurture says that personality is molded by his environment. I think that some criminals can still be counseled psychologically targeting areas where in he has not yet matured and where he is still fixated—some of these may be the lack of attachment to social groups.