rol, labeling, differential association, and social learning theories, to increase explanatory power or link levels of explanation (Elliott, Ageton, and Canter 1979; Elliott, Huizinga, and Ageton 1985; Pearson and Weiner 1985; Thornberry 1987). Which leads us to two theorist that have been recognized by many involved in the criminal justice field. One being, Ross L. Matsueda's Theory of Differential Social Control, and the other, Charles R. Tittle's Control Balance Theory.Matsueda takes a different avenue and specifies a theory of delinquency based on unified framework of symbolic interactionist view of the self as a reflection of the appraisals of others. He (1) identifies a broader range of individual-level mechanisms of social control, (2) specifying group and organizational processes for controlling delinquency, (3) conceptualizing classical criminological theories as special cases of a general interactionist framework, and (4) testing the interactionist model empirically against specific hypotheses drawn from competing theories.Ross Matsueda uses symbolic interactionism to show how the social control of delinquency lies in an interactionist conception of the self. He bases his explanation on Mead's (1934) thesis that the self arises in problematic situations when an individual takes the role of significant others and views oneself from the standpoint of those others. On the individual level Mead (1934) views role-taking as the key to social control. Interactants take the role of others, view themselves as objects from the standpoint of others, and thus fit their actions into a social transaction. In essence, reciprocal role-taking between interactants makes joint activity possible (Mead 1934). This implies a process of social cognition arising in problematic situations, which Matsueda uses to build his explanation of self and delinquency. Reflective thought, or self-consciousness, is critical for explaining delinquency, si...
