Control Balance Theory (Tittle)

The Control Balance Theory, developed by Charles R. Tittle in the 1990s, is an ambitious attempt to create a general theory of deviance that explains both the likelihood and the type of deviant behavior. Unlike many other control theories that focus only on external social constraints, Tittle’s model emphasizes the dynamic relationship between the control people experience and the control they exercise themselves. This relationship is expressed as a „control ratio.“

Key Points

Theory

Tittle’s central claim is that every individual is both subject to control by others and exercises control over others. He calls the relationship between these two dimensions the control ratio. Importantly, this ratio is not static: it varies across contexts and life stages. Tittle proposes that this ratio can be balanced or imbalanced, and that the *type* of imbalance influences both the likelihood of deviant behavior and its specific form.

He distinguishes three key states:

1. Control Balance: When the control a person exercises roughly matches the control they experience. This balance discourages deviance and fosters conformity.
2. Control Surplus: When individuals exercise more control than they experience. This often leads to autonomous forms of deviance that exploit or manipulate others indirectly, such as corruption, fraud, or white-collar crime.
3. Control Deficit: When individuals experience more control than they can exercise. This fosters repressive forms of deviance characterized by direct confrontations or violence, such as theft, assault, or rebellion.

Tittle argues that people strive to adjust their control ratio in their own favor, seeking autonomy and influence. Imbalances in control create a predisposition toward deviance as a means to redress deficits or enhance surpluses. However, two further conditions are necessary for deviant motivation to become action:

1. The individual must recognize that specific deviant behavior can change their control ratio.
2. The individual must experience negative emotions, especially feelings of humiliation or provocation, which justify deviance in their mind.

Forms of Deviance and Control Ratios

Tittle connects specific forms of deviance to varying levels of control imbalance. The following table summarizes this relationship:

	Control Deficit (Repression)			Control Balance	Control Surplus (Autonomy)
	strong	medium	small		small	medium	strong
Forms of deviance	submission (sexual submission, oppressive compliance)	defiance (disobedience to authorities, strikes)	predation (theft, assault, rape)	none (conformity)	exploitation (bribery, political manipulation)	plunder (corporate environmental crime, price gouging)	decadence (sadistic torture, humiliating others for pleasure)

Through this framework, Tittle provides a nuanced explanation of why different social conditions give rise to different types of crime, moving beyond one-size-fits-all theories.

Integration with Other Theories

Tittle’s Control Balance Theory also deliberately integrates insights from Agnew’s General Strain Theory (on the role of negative emotions) and Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of CrimeActs or omissions that violate criminal laws and are punishable by the state. (on self-control). This makes it one of the more comprehensive models in contemporary criminology.

Critical Appraisal & Relevance

Control Balance Theory is praised for its ambition and integrative scope, offering a flexible framework that can accommodate many forms of deviance. It highlights the importance of context, power, and social hierarchies, and draws attention to both repression and autonomy as sources of crime.

However, the theory’s complexity is also its weakness. Operationalizing the „control ratio“ empirically is challenging, making it difficult to test rigorously. Critics also argue that Tittle’s focus on autonomy as a core motivation overlooks other human needs and drives, such as belonging, survival, or altruism. Despite these criticisms, the theory remains influential in efforts to connect micro-level motivations with macro-level social structures.

Implications for Criminal Policy

According to Tittle, effective crime prevention requires maintaining a healthy balance of social control. Policies should strengthen classic social institutions—family, school, community—to foster self-control and social bonds, much like Hirschi’s Bond Theory suggests. However, Tittle also warns against excessive control, hierarchy, and inequality, which can create control deficits or surpluses that fuel deviance.

This dual emphasis implies that crime prevention cannot target only “at-risk” individuals; it requires reshaping social environments to minimize both forms of imbalance. In practice, this suggests investing in education, supporting families, reducing inequality, and promoting democratic forms of social organization.

Literature

Primary Literature

• Charles Tittle (1995). Control Balance: Toward a General Theory of Deviance. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Secondary Literature

• Braithwaite, John (1997). Charles Tittle’s Control Balance and Criminological Theory. Theoretical Criminology, 1(1), 77-97.
• Wood, Peter B.; Dunaway, R. Gregory (1997/1998). An Application of Control Balance Theory to Incarcerated Sex Offenders. Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium, 4.