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Edwin Sutherland: A General Sociological Theory Of Criminal Behavior

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Edwin Sutherland Aaron Walker Georgia Gwinnett College Sutherland considered differential association to be a general sociological theory of criminal behavior. Sutherland became suspicious of theories that related poverty to crime, believing that police statistics were biased when they showed that most crimes occurred in poor and lower-class neighborhoods in the city. After 20 years of grueling research, Sutherland finally completed a book reporting his findings. The finalized version of White Collar Crime appeared in 1949; a restored edition was not published until 1983. Sutherland came to believe that numerous factors like race, age, and gender cannot in themselves explain criminal behavior. He came to theorize that crime is caused by the different interactions and patterns of learning that occur in groups that happen to be composed primarily of males, minority group members, or the youth. The principles claimed that behavior is learned through a process of communication in intimate personal groups. These groups teach "definitions" (including skills, motivations, attitudes, and rationalizations) either favorable or unfavorable to the violation of the law. Criminal behavior results when one is exposed to an excess of definitions favorable to the …show more content…

He uncovered 980 violations of these laws among the 70 businesses that he studied; ninety percent of the corporations were habitual offenders, with four or more violations. Sutherland relied on differential association theory to explain these crimes, arguing that young executives learn definitions favorable to the violation of the law through the routines of business practice. He considered white-collar crime a greater threat to society than street crime because the former promotes cynicism and distrust of basic social

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