Sanctions, situations, and agency in control theories of crime

Control theory remains a prominent explanation for crime and delinquency, generating a considerable body of empirical studies and frequent theoretical discussion. Although much of this scholarship lends support to the perspective, important issues have been raised as the perspective is extended, modified, and refined; among these are that the theory places too much emphasis on compulsion and too little on choice in the causation of crime, that it neglects the role of morality in decisions about crime, and that the theory needs to be reconciled with results of research about criminal deterrence. This paper considers each of these issues. A framework is presented to describe essential elements of all control theories and finds no inconsistency between some types of control theory and evidence about situational effects, evidence of moral elements of decision-making, and the lack of severity effects in the deterrence literature for the criminal law.