Following your previous suggestion, I have searched some theories to explain youth delinquency and the absence of parental supervision after school hours and found Hirschi’s social control theory. Yet, how to link youth’s behavior to social control is a huge challenge for me (I do believe in “the person in environment” theory). Grateful if you help me with it!

Not at all.

I see. Thx!

Hirschi’s social control theory assumes that individuals develop bonds to society through participation in conventional activities. When an individual’s bond to society is weak or broken deviant behavior may occur. According to Hirschi, a person may be simply too busy doing conventional things to find time to engage in deviant behavior. When a child does not have supervision after school and does not participate in activities there is a greater risk for deviance. For example, Fredricks and Eccles (2005) found a decrease in risky behaviors in adolescents who participated in extracurricular activities. The authors ascribe this decrease to the idea that time spent participating in these activities leaves less time to engage in problematic behavior.