Comparison Of Edwin Sutherland's Differential Association And Social Disorganization

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Edwin Sutherland's Differential Association and Social Disorganization The original idea was to give a name to crimes or conspiracies committed by members of wealthy classes who use their influence in commerce and industry for personal gain without being held responsible to the law. Sutherland observed that often times, such cases were held under civil courts because the subjects were the properties lost and not the act itself. Offended parties were only concerned of their lost properties rather than filing a formal case to penalize the offenders. Hence, during these times, the law was rather passive to such contempt (Siegel, 2009). The centers of jurisdiction were the properties lost and neither the offenders nor the act. Seldom were the offenders convicted for this type of crime compared to convicted offenders of lower class crimes such as violent crimes. Sutherland stated that white collar crimes occurs in the business and industry world (manipulation of stock exchange, bribery of and to public officials to achieve favorable contracts, embezzlement) and in other professions such as abortion as administered by a licensed …show more content…

Learning crimes can be as direct as having mentors and learning through experience. Hence, the mass media can also create a pro crime environment by showing alike situations in programs that are available to children and even older counterparts. Other methods of learning can be made by taking drugs or alcohol so as to facilitate their criminal acts. Cultural differences in legal code can also influence pursuance of a crime. A perception that such act is not punishable by law in other cultures justifies intentions of committing the same on the other side of the globe where it is unacceptable. Likewise, exposure to justification of the criminal behavior such as the belief of "End justifies the means" can also provide impetus for rule breaking (Vito et al.,