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The Differential Association Theory

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The differential association theory was developed by Edwin Sutherland in order to describe the social aspects of crime and how individuals learn criminal behavior by interaction with those who have criminal attitudes, values, techniques and motives. This social theory can be easily used when trying to describe the cliques and social aspects of high school. For each different social group there is a specific set of social tendencies and attitudes present, whether delinquent or not. Based on social acceptance the individuals involved make different choices or even different crimes based off of what group they are apart of. “The important point in the theory is that all criminal behavior is learned in a process of social interaction” (Cressey 2013), the three main groups that are most associated with differential association theory are the Goths, the Jocks and the Rich Kids/Populars. The Goths are one of the most common examples of social cliques. They are seen in movies, tv and books as being the main group of delinquents that commit crimes. From a theory aspect criminal behavior is learned and when talking about the Goths it is easy to see why. The Goth clique commits crimes such as vandalism, underage smoking, drug/alcohol use and even …show more content…

Differential association theory is a way of predicting crime and how it relates to society. Broken down criminals are not born criminals, they learn to be that way by whom they associate with, whom they interact with and whom they look up to. High school is a vital place for one to find themselves which makes it easy to fall into groups that don’t always make legal decisions in order to fit in anywhere. When faced with an opportunity to fit in, the theory states that one will learn to commit crimes in order to be able to associate with those around

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Between the years of 2010 to 2014 I attended a high school in southern California called Helix Charter High School. Within my school there were many cliques that majority of the students were grouped in. Differential association theory is “based upon the idea that criminals commit crimes based upon their association with other people” and this theory can be found throughout my old high school (Schubert, n.d.). For example, in my high school there were a group of students that were called “potheads” and they all hung out together often. They were not focused in their studies and usually came to class high.

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838 Words | 4 Pages

Differential Association theory is a social-psychology theory that

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Edwin Sutherland proposed the Differential Association theory to explain how these criminal behaviors can be learned and maintained by emphasizing the meanings to the experiences through inmate personal groups. When the individual possesses the knowledge of the criminal behavior, they develop "techniques of committing the crime" and the specific direction of motives. Individuals are seen as delinquents or criminals when they encourage the violation of law over the obeying of law. John Dillinger's childhood gang, the Dirty Dozen, initiated his label as a thief and also asserted his desire to possessed excessive money. In his adulthood, John continues to learn how to perfect his criminal behavior by befriended professional bank robbers, Harry Pierpont, and Homer Van Meter, while he was imprisoned.

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This essay will critically analyse the killing of James Bulger from three different perspectives. It will also explain how a supposed moral society experiences such gruesome killings and worst of all it is carried out by children. Analyses of parental roles in the upbringing of the children will be discussed and what the society can do to prevent further occurrences. James Bulger was born on the 16th of March 1990.He was from Kirkby, England. He was abducted, tortured beyond comprehension and murdered by two-ten-year old boys namely Robert Thompson and Jon Venables.

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In criminology, differential association is a theory developed by Edwin Sutherland proposing that through interaction with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal behavior. The differential association theory is the most talked about of the learning theories of deviance. (DAT). (Sutherland) (Sociological Theories of Crime and Their Explanation on Crime , 2007) Theories of criminality are most commonly derived from human behavior.

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841 Words | 4 Pages

Social process theory has several subdivisions including: social control theory, social learning theory and social reaction (labeling) theory (will only focus on social control theory). Social control theory insinuates every person has the possibility of becoming a criminal, but most people are influenced by their bonds to society. It contends that individuals obey the law and are less likely to commit crime if they have: learned self-control, attachment (to family, friends, peers, education, etc.), commitment (to school, learning, etc.), involvement (in leisure activities, sports, etc.), and belief (those that are positive). According to social control theory, an individual is more likely to be criminal/deviant if they are detached and alienated (from friends, education, family, etc.),

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Sutherland’s theory of Differential Association takes a macro level analysis as to why people commit crimes and brings it to a micro level analysis. He concludes that looking at a multiple factor approach did not explain why crimes are committed. Instead he asks the question what one singular factor touches on these multilevel factors. Sutherland looked for the universal explanation as to why crimes are committed rather than looking at individual reasons. His theory seeks what has always been present in crime and what has not or better yet what mechanism or experiences correlate to the crimes committed.

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We ask a question which came first the peer of the delinquent with selection perspective youth, selects their peers based on their own delinquency or delinquent attitudes. The socialization perspective with peer influence involvement attitudes and what are possible relationships criminal associations criminal definitions which lead to crime. This is a macro level theory on

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Social learning theory and social bonding theory are two theories that may be compared and contrasted because they both overlap and differ. Although these theories have their similarities and differences, one theory may prove to be more convincing in terms of applying the theory to the understanding of crime and delinquency. Social learning theory refers to Akers’ theory of crime and deviance. Akers attempted to specify the mechanism and processes through which criminal learning takes place by explaining crime and deviance; he did this in such a way that the likelihood of conforming or deviant behavior based on the influence of an individual’s history of learning was accounted for. This theory was based off Sutherland’s differential association theory, which had nine propositions outlining the process by which individuals acquire attitudes favorable to criminal or delinquent behavior with the basic idea that people tend to associate with others in which they come into contact.

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Fifth, the specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable. Sixth, a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of the law. Seventh, Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. Eighth, the process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning. Lastly, while criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those needs and values, since non-criminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.

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The Theory of Anomie and the Social Disorganization Theory are reasons as to why race and social class influence criminal activity. The Theory of Anomie suggests that criminal activity results from an offender’s inability to provide their desired needs by socially acceptable or legal means; therefore, the individual turns to socially unacceptable or illegal means to fulfill those desires. The Social Disorganization Theory proposes that poor neighborhoods with weak social institutions have higher rates of

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2283 Words | 10 Pages

For example those who follow the code of the street, that may mean beating someone up to make themselves feel more powerful, but they had to learn that from somewhere as they can not only learn things from their direct experiences but there is also a high chance that they have seen exposed to others that do the same exact thing. Differential association theory which is a strain of social learning theory, explains that criminal behaviour, and the specific techniques that one needs to know to commit crime are learned. This relates to the code of the street because those who abide by it are not only taught the violent or criminal behaviour but are also taught the motivating factors that back up the behaviour. All the residents that follow the street code do because that is what is they are surrounded with and according to the social learning theory, which is explains that crime is learned, they watch how others deal with things and use that as a model. It is a cognitive process in which one’s attitude and their surroundings merge in an ongoing conditioning theory.

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One of the most analyzed theories in criminology today is the social learning theory. The social learning theory derives from the differential association theory by Dr. Edward Sutherland. The social learning theory of criminology says that individuals learn from the community around them. This happens in two ways by differential association and differential reinforcement. Differential association is the theory that individuals learn values and behaviors related with crime.

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587 Words | 3 Pages

Differential Association Theory is a criminology theory that looks at the acts of the criminal as learned behaviors. Edwin H. Sutherland is accredited with the development of the Differential Association theory in 1939. Sutherland, a sociologist, and professor most of his life, developed Differential Association theory to explain how it was that criminals came to commit acts of deviant behavior. Under the differential association theory, there is no biological or genetic basis for criminal behavior. The learning of such behavior took place within a group already knowledgeable about and engaged in criminal behavior.

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The set of the structural-functional theories are among the most widespread perspectives on the juvenile delinquency. The group of the theories regards that the behavior of the underage delinquent is caused by the breakdown of the social process that consequently results in the increase of conformity (Thompson & Bynum, 2016). The group of theories presumably blame institutions that are responsible for the socialization of the young delinquents for the way the socialize the individuals by causing them to conform to the values of the society. One of the central theories of the juvenile delinquency is the anomie theory that is rooted in the early studies by the sociologist Emile Durkheim.

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