Attachment
Definition
Emotional sensitivity to the opinion of significant others, particularly parents, teachers, and peers. An attached individual cares about what these others think and avoids acts that would damage those relationships.
- Field
- Criminology, social bond theory
- Core meaning
- Emotional sensitivity to significant others' opinions
- Key figures
- Parents, teachers, peers
- Theoretical role
- One of the social bond elements restraining deviance
Common questions
How does attachment differ from the other elements of social bond theory?+
Attachment is the emotional or relational element, concerned with caring what significant others think. Commitment concerns investment in conventional goals, involvement concerns time spent in conventional activity, and belief concerns acceptance of shared moral rules, so the four operate through different mechanisms even though they reinforce each other.
Why does weak attachment increase the likelihood of delinquent behaviour in this theory?+
An individual with weak attachment has less to lose socially or emotionally by acting against a relationship's expectations, so the informal cost of disapproving from parents, teachers, or peers no longer functions as an effective restraint on behaviour.
Related terms
- Analogous Behaviours
- Non-criminal acts that, according to the general theory, stem from the same low self-control as crime: reckless driving, smoking, alcohol misuse, employment...
- Commitment
- Investment in conventional lines of activity such as education, career, and reputation. A person with high commitment has much to lose from...
- General Theory of Crime
- The theory proposed by Gottfredson and Hirschi in 1990 holding that low self-control is the single variable explaining the universal age-crime curve....
- Low Self-Control
- A stable personality trait characterised by impulsivity, insensitivity, risk-seeking, short-sightedness, and preference for non-verbal over cognitive tasks. Gottfredson and Hirschi argue it...
- Social Bond
- The set of ties that connect an individual to conventional society. In Hirschi's model, the bond has four elements: attachment, commitment, involvement,...