ABSTRACT
This chapter is the theoretical heart of Causes of Delinquency. It is often reprinted and most textbooks in the field summarize the elements of the bond to society that it describes. Because the theory focuses on the strength of the bond of the individual to society, as perceived and reported by the individual, it has proved especially compatible with survey research and the self-report method of measuring delinquency. Hirschi points out that this was no accident, that his training in survey research and the survey data available to him undoubtedly influenced the manner in which the theory was developed. Whatever its sources, this feature of the theory helps account for the “perhaps unrivaled frequency” with which it has been the subject of formal tests (Kempf 1993: 143).—JHL/TH
