27th Annual Student Research Conference
Why do NFL Athletes Commit Crime? Travis Hirschis Social Control Theory and its Effects on NFL Athletes
Matt Miller
Dr. Anton Daughters, Faculty Mentor
NFL Players over the years have consistently found themselves in trouble with the law and even convicted. What makes crime so prevalent in the NFL? Travis Hirschis Social Control Theory demonstrates how social forces can control an individual to not commit a crime through Attachment, Commitment, Involvement, and Belief. 45 NFL players were analyzed by variables such as the players background, criminal history, and social status. These variables were designed to measure the four categories that make up Hirschis theory. These variables were further analyzed through bivariate and multivariate cross tabulations and graphed to indicate possible patterns. The sample was selected by randomly selecting players from lists of convicted players and philanthropy players located on the Internet. Non- convicted players were selected by picking them randomly from rosters of teams included in the NFL within the last ten years (2002-2012). This process was repeated until there were 15 NFL players in each of the three categories of this study (Convicted, Non-Convicted, and Philanthropy).
Keywords: Social Control, Commitment, Involvement, Attachment, Belief, Criminality, NFL , Professional Athletes
Topic(s):Sociology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 15-2
Location: GEO - SUB
Time: 3:30