THE JUSTIFICATION FOR APPLYING TRAVIS HIRSCHI'S SELFCONTROL THEORY IN CRIME PREVENTION
THE JUSTIFICATION FOR APPLYING TRAVIS HIRSCHI'S SELFCONTROL THEORY IN CRIME PREVENTION

Summary/Abstract: Through a comparative analysis of surveys conducted in the area of the city of Banja Luka in two time periods (2012 and 2025), on a sample of three reference groups, we examined the significance of the concept of self-control theory for understanding criminal behavior, and thus the potential justification for applying this theory in crime prevention. According to the perceptions of the surveyed groups, increasing priority is being given to informal control over the formal system of control, thereby indirectly indicating its more significant influence on the development of self-control in early childhood. Since Hirschi's self-control theory itself emphasizes parenting as the exclusive cause of individual differences and the formation of low self-control, it appears that the concept of self-control also possesses its own heuristic value and the possibility of practical application in crime prevention, functioning precisely as an informal mechanism of crime control. By strengthening parenting, as well as other social bonds that shape our individual behavior at an early age, through an improved process of systemic socialization, a preventive effect on the formation of low self-control would be achieved, and the need for intervention by the police and other agents of formal crime control would be reduced.

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