Travis Warner Hirschi (April 15, 1935 – January 2, 2017) was an American sociologist and an emeritus professor of sociology at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. He helped to develop the modern version of the

social control theory In criminology, social control theory proposes that exploiting the process of socialization and social learning builds self-control and reduces the inclination to indulge in behavior recognized as antisocial. It derived from functionalist theor ...

of crime and later the

self-control theory of crime The self-control theory of crime, often referred to as the general theory of crime, is a criminological theory about the lack of individual self-control as the main factor behind criminal behavior. The self-control theory of crime suggests that in ...

Biography

Hirschi was born in

Rockville, Utah Rockville is a town in Washington County, Utah, United States. It is located along the Virgin River near the mouth of Zion Canyon. The city lies just outside the park boundary for Zion National Park; the park entrance is located approximately 5 ...

. He attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

in the 1950s, where he obtained undergraduate and master's degrees. In 1955, Hirschi married Anna Yergensen. He spent two years as a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

data analyst. He received a Ph.D. in sociology from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in 1968. In his 1969 work ''Causes of Delinquency'', Hirschi posited his version of

. He wrote that social bonds encouraged conforming behavior and prevented most people from committing crimes. In 1977, he and

Michael Hindelang Michael J. Hindelang (born 1945 in Detroit, died March 27, 1982, in Schenectady, New York) was an American criminologist. Early life and education Hindelang was born in Detroit. He received his B.A. in psychology in 1966 and his master's degree ...

published a study which showed that IQ and social class were equally predictive of crime; IQ had been previously discounted as a correlate of criminal behavior. A 1983 paper in the '' American Journal of Sociology'' by Hirschi and

Michael R. Gottfredson Michael Ryan Gottfredson (born January 16, 1951) is the former President of the University of Oregon, serving from August 1, 2012 to August 6, 2014. Biography He has a B.A from the University of California, Davis, a M.A. and a Ph.D. from the Stat ...

showed that younger age was associated with increased criminal activity independent of any other known factor. In 1990, Hirschi and Gottfredson wrote that lack of self-control, which was tied to parenting issues, was the cause of crime. Hirschi held faculty appointments at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Albany, New York, Albany, Rensselaer, New York, Rensselae ...

and the

. He was a fellow and past president of the American Society of Criminology. The organization also honored him with its highest distinction, the Edwin H. Sutherland Award. In 2016 Hirschi won the Stockholm Prize in Criminology. He died in January 2017 at the age of 81.2017 OBITUARIES - TRAVIS W. HIRSCHI
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References

External links

Biography
at

Encyclopedia Britannica Online An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirschi, Travis 1935 births 2017 deaths American criminologists Educators from Utah University of Arizona faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni Winners of the Stockholm Prize in Criminology