Summary Of General Theory Of Control And Sutherland's Differential Association Theory

After analyzing the pictures of John, there are many aspects of his life that could lead to a delinquent lifestyle. In the first photo individuals who appear to be John’s parents can be seen having an argument. Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime describes the idea that individuals level of self-control comes from the quality of parenting in the early years of a child’s life (Bennell, C., et al, p. 74, 2011). Sutherland described that “an individual’s conduct, including the likelihood of committing crime can be derived or influenced by the norms present in the surrounding groups” (Bennell, C., et al, p. 83, 2011). In this first panel we can see John’s parents fighting, based off of the way he is covering his ears, it can be assumed this is not the first time they have done this in front of him. With the statements made in both Hirschi’s General Theory of Control and Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory, we can determine that this type of dysfunctional environment has influenced John’s

It seems as though John had struggled with his parents fighting and he turns to alcohol and petty thefts. In the fourth panel John is arrested for the first time. John reoffends in the fifth panel, but the degree of the offence has increased from a pickpocketing (theft) to a break and enter. As the panels go on, John turns to drugs and it seems as though a friend is attempting to intervene with the behaviour. John is arrested again in panel ten. Panel Eleven is similar to panel one as John can be seen arguing with someone who appears to be a significant other. This is similar behaviour exhibited by his parents when he was a child. John was conditioned from a young age that those types of behaviours were acceptable and justifies the statements made by Hirschi and Sutherland. In the last three panels John can be seen committing a robbery which leads a court hearing and ultimately a