This program is brought to you by Emory University. >> Hello, my name is Robert Agnew. I'm a Professor of sociology at Emory University, I just completed a term as President of the American Society of Criminology. My research focuses on the causes of juvenile delinquency, including violence. And I'm here to talk about sociological theories of violence. Sociological theories focus on these features of the social environment that lead to violent behavior. There are a good many sociological theories or explanations of violence, but I'm going to focus on the three leading sociological theories of violence. Strain theory, social learning theory, and control theory. And I'm going to begin with strain theory. Why do individuals engage in violence according to strain theory? Well, in a nutshell, they experience certain strains or stressors, they become upset, and they may cope through violence. For example, a juvenile may be bullied by peers at school. This juvenile becomes quite upset, angry, fearful, et cetera. And this juvenile may decide to cope with that bullying through violence. The juvenile, for example, may assault the peers who bully her in an effort to end their bullying, or the juvenile may assault the peers perhaps to seek revenge for their bullying behavior. Strain theories of violence try and do two things. First, they describe those major strains or stressors that contribute to violence. And these strains tend to be high in magnitude that are serious rather than minor. They tend to be seen as unjust. And strain theorists have found that a number of strains increase the likelihood of violence. Child abuse and neglect, school failure, negative relations with teachers, economic problems of various sorts, like chronic unemployment. Criminal victimization, peer abuse, verbal and physical abuse including bullying, discrimination and so on. And second, strain theorists ask why is it that some individuals are more likely than any others to respond to strains with violence. One of the things we know is that most people, when they experience strains, do not respond in a violent manner. Rather they cope in a legal manner, they negotiate, they call the police, they leave the situation and so on. But some people more likely than any others to respond to strains with violence. And several factors increase the likelihood of a violent response. One factor, poor coping skills and resources. Some people, for example, have poor social skills, have poor problem-solving skills, limited financial resources. They're more likely to cope with strains through violence. Another factor, low levels of social support. So some people when they experience problems, don't have anyone they can turn to for support, for emotional support, for advice, for direct assistance with coping. They, too, are more likely to respond to strains with violence. Some people have little to lose through violent coping. They don't have good jobs, for example, that might be jeopardized if they turn to violence. Some people have beliefs that are conducive to violent coping. Some people, for example, believe that if someone treats you in a disrespectful manner, violence is an appropriate response. And finally, some people associate with others who encourage violent coping. So for example, some juvenile have friends who encourage to cope with a range of different problems through violence, and so they too are more likely to respond to strains with violence. So strain theory, that is one major sociological theory or explanation of violence. Again, if we experience certain strains or stressors, that increases the likelihood of violence. Particularly if we possess some of those characteristics that I have mentioned that increase violent coping. Second major sociological theory of violence, is social learning theory. According to social learning theory, some individuals more likely than any others to engage in violence. Because they learn to engage in violence from the others. These others may include family members, parents in some cases. They may include peers or friends. They may include people in the community. May include the media. Media violence, for example. And according to social learning theory, the individuals learn to engage in violence from these others, and three major ways. First, these others may reinforce or reward violent behavior. So one of the things we know is that peers or friends, are especially important when it comes to whether or not individuals engage in violence. And some individuals associate with friends who sometimes reinforce reward violent behavior. For example, the juvenile may have friends who encourage the juvenile to fight on certain occasions. So the juvenile begins a dispute with someone else, and the friends of this juvenile encourage that juvenile to deal with that dispute through fighting, through violence. Second, some individuals associate with the others who teach beliefs favorable to violence. Very few juveniles or individuals unconditionally approve of violence. Very few juveniles, for example, will say that it's okay to hit someone regardless of the reason. But a number of individuals learn that violence is sometimes an acceptable or justifiable response to certain problems. And some juveniles, for example, learn that violence is sometimes an acceptable response to disrespectful treatment by others. These juveniles then are more likely to engage in violence, especially if they're treated in a disrespectful manner. And finally, social learning theory says, we learn to engage in violence from others, when we witness these others engage in violence themselves. And when we're exposed to their violent behavior, we might imitate it. Now we don't imitate all the violence we witness. But, if we witness the others engaged in violence and we like and respect these others, we see that their violence is reinforced then, we're more likely to model or imitate their violent behavior. So, a second major sociological theory of violence. Social learning theory, we learn to engage in violence from the others. We learn to engage in violence through these three mechanisms. And sometimes, these others reinforce our violence, teach us the least favorable [INAUDIBLE] violence, or model violent behavior for us. Third and final, sociological theory of violence is control theory. Control theory somewhat different than strain and social learning theory. Strain and social learning theory ask why the individuals engage in violence. Control theory says, we don't need to ask why individuals engage in violence. Violence is often the easiest, most expedient way to get what we want to satisfy our needs and desires. So if we want something for example, it's much easier to get it by taking it from someone than it is by working for it. Someone says something that upsets us, it's much easier to hit them than it is to turn the other cheek or to cope in a legal manner. So control theory takes violence for granted. And rather than asking why individuals engage in violent behavior, control theory says we need to ask why is it that individuals conform. Why is it that they refrain from violent behavior, given that violent behavior is often the easiest manner to satisfy your needs and desires. Control theorists say that we refrain from violent behavior because of the controls and restraints to which we are subject. Control theorists list four major types of control, four major restraints to violence. The first is direct control. Some individuals refrain from violent behavior because they're in environments where if they engage in violence, they're likely to be sanctioned. Individuals will detect the violent behavior, and sanction them in some manner. Now, direct control may involve formal sanctions. The police detect your violence and they formally sanction you. They arrest you. You're tried in court. Maybe you're sent to prison. But far more common, far more important than formal direct control, is informal direct control. Where your parents, teachers, people in the community detect your violent behavior and they informally sanction you. Your parents ground you. Your teachers detain you after school that sort of thing. Second major type of control, major restraint against violence, is stake in conformity. May, many people refrain from violence because they have a lot to lose if they engage in violence. They have a high stake in conformity. So, for example, they have close ties to conventional others, like parents, teachers and religious figures. If they engage in and violence they may jeopardize those ties, cause their parents to think badly of them and so on. And some of the individuals also have what we call strong investment in conventional institutions. So they invest a lot of time and effort in school. They have good grades, they expect to go to college, they have a good job. They have a good reputation in the community. If they engage in violence, they may jeopardize these investments. They may get kicked out of school. They may not be able to get into a good college. They may lose their job. They may damage their reputation in the community. Third major type of control. Beliefs condemning violence. Some people have been socialized to view violence as bad, wrong, immoral. They've come to internalize or accept this view of violence. And so they're less likely to engage in violence because if they do so, they will feel bad. They will feel guilty. And finally some people are high in what we call self control. They're cautious. They tend to pause before acting and think about the consequences. They're concerned about the long-term consequences of their behavior. They care about others around them. And so these individuals of their type that are provoked or engaged in violence, they're less likely to do so. They pause, they think about the consequences, they care about these consequences. But there are people out there who are low in these types of social control. They're in environments where they're not well supervised by their parents, for example. People in the community mind their own business, ignore a lot of the violence and crime around them, and so there's little chance that they'll be sanctioned for violent behavior. They have a low stake in conformity, they have little to lose if they engage in violence. They don't care about their parents or teachers, they drop out of school. They're unemployed, they weren't properly socialize. So they don't strongly condemn violence. And finally, they're though in self control, they often act without thinking about the consequences of their behavior. And these people who are low in these types of control are free to satisfy their needs and desires. The most expedient manner possible, including violence. So those then are the three major sociological theories of violence. Each points to certain features of social environment that increase the likelihood of violent behavior. Thank you.
