Blackwell Reference Online

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In his 1994 Presidential Address to the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Cullen (1994) argued that social support is an important organizing concept for criminology. Central to his argument about the importance of social support to criminological theory is Cullen's idea that social support is a concept that is actually present in many of today's criminological writings, including strain, labeling, feminist, and the works of the Chicago School. Cullen derives his definition of social support from Lin, who defines it as the perceived or actual instrumental and/or expressive provisions supplied by the community, social networks, and confiding partners. For Cullen, there are a number of important dimensions surrounding this definition of social support. First, as one can see in the definition, two basic types of social support derive from one's relationships: expressive and instrumental. Expressive support is used to refer to the emotional support that one receives from relationships. An example of expressive support is when your spouse helps you release stress by listening to your complaints about work. Instrumental support refers to support from a relationship that leads the individual to achieve a goal. An example of instrumental support would be when parents provide money and a place to live for their children while they attend college. A second dimension to social support ... log in or subscribe to read full text