NCJ Number
109337
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1987) Pages: 409-424
Date Published
1987
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Hirschi's concept of commitment confuses the definition and the explanation of conformity as part of a more general confusion between conformity and legality.
Abstract
The result is tautology -- an explanation that merely restates a definition. Commitment is properly conceived as an antecedent variable that measures the role of social structure in the origin of delinquency. As such, it explains legal actions, but not conforming actions. (Publisher abstract)