The differential association theory argued that crime was the result of environmental influences on people and not from biological and psychological abnormalities. Sutherland’s general theory was that criminal behaviour is learnt in the social environment. He said that the main difference between law abiding behaviour and criminal behaviour is in what is learnt rather than how it is learnt. (Joubert, Joubert & Ovens, 2012:105). DEFINITION Differential association is a concept that was developed by E. H. Sutherland.
• Social Control theories attribute crime and delinquency to family structures, education, peer groups etc. • Theorists share a conviction that deviant behavior is expected. • “Why people obey rules” main thing trying to be proven • Critical component of all social control theories is their attempt to explain factors keeping people from committing crimes. Social Heritage • Cynicism of the United States because of Watergate • Conservatism enhanced popularity of control theories, theories themselves not inheritantly conservative. Intellectual Heritage • Connection with strain theories.
These concept explain crime at levels of the society, the individual, and the group. An individual’s potential for criminality depends on the competition between associations that treat criminal behavior positively and those who treat it negatively (Vandelay, 2010, p.1) The main points of Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory are the nine propositions which are one that criminal behavior is learned second which is similar to the first proposition is that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other people in an attempt to communicate. The third main point or proposition is that the principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups. The fourth main point is that when criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes; the techniques of committing the crime which are sometimes complicated or very simple and the specific motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. The fifth main point is the specific direction of motives and drive is learned from the definition of the legal codes whether it is favorable or unfavorable.
It maintains that crime is the product of environmental influences on individuals who are otherwise psychologically as well as biologically normal (Joubert, S. J., Joubert, E., Ovens, M. 2009). It concentrates mainly on how people learn to become criminals or how they learn to engage in criminal behaviour and has interest in why they become criminals (Wikipedia, 2013). The theory of differential association is very similar to social learning. Social learning is learning that can be attained through many processes, our attitudes are also shaped by various forms of influence (Baron, R.A., Branscombe, N.R., Byrne, D., 2009). Sutherlands first three principles: 1.
Control theory helps explain “crime, deviance, and especially delinquency” (56) In 1969, Travis Hirschi developed control theory. He theorized that we are born deviant and then learn to conform. Control theory looks at “Why don’t they do it” (55) meaning that why we conform is what should be examined rather than why one is deviant. Control theory suggests that little social control and few social bonds are what cause deviance. Control theory is best used to study delinquency rather than deviance or crime (55).
Edwin H. Sutherland, a criminologist, theorized that criminal behavior is a learning mechanism; he first publicizes his theory called Differential Association, also known as Social Learning theory in 1939. Sutherland believes that criminal behavior is learned by the interaction with other individuals, such as the crowd with which they may associate in, who believes criminal behavior to be acceptable. He also says that whether or not a person will imitate the behavior of another is based on the amount of respect they have for them. He also says that this learning of criminal behavior includes learning how to commit crimes. For example, if that individual whom a person holds high regard for deems criminal behavior as favorable, than that person will imitate the same behavior.
The explanation of crime CMY3701 Semester 1 Assignment 01 4856-109-6 235580 12 March 2013 1. Give a short overview of principles one, two and three of Sutherland’s theory on differential association Edwin H. Sutherland is one of the most prominent criminologists in social theories. He first put his theory of Differential association forth in 1939 when he published a book, Principles of Criminology. The final version was published in 1947. (Reid 2006:170) Differential association (Siegel 2012:236; Reid 2006:170) is based on the idea that criminal behaviour is learned the same way that any other behaviour is learned.
Holmes & Holmes (2009, p290) stated “To appraise a crime without some knowledge of the victim is certainly remiss.” The victim constitutes half of the crime therefore victimology should be heavily looked at in order to connect them to the offender (Douglas, Burgess, Burgess, & Ressler, 1992).Victimology is important to an investigation process in that, it is not just learning about the victim’s personal history and personality, but it also why the victim was chosen (Petherick, 2010). Holmes and Holmes (2009,p 291) created a list of elements which should be important to victim profiling it includes: "Physical traits, marital status, personal lifestyle, occupation, education, personal demographics, medical history, psychosexual history, court history, and last activities." A victim’s lifestyle, preferences, family, relationships, and routines, can give investigators clues about potential suspects who had access to the victim (Brown & Davenport, 2012). Other concepts that should be considered when victim profiling are the method of approach, method of attack and risk assessment (Turvey, 1999). Con, surprise, and blitz are three methods of approach that an offender will use to capture his victim.
The social learning theory states that people learn from one another through observation, imitation and modelling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviourist and cognitive learning theories because it takes into mediating cognitive factors such as attention, memory, and motivation. In crime, the social learning theory plays an important role in explaining offending behaviour. It is explained through the differential association theory developed by Surtherland (1939). The theory claims that learning crime takes place through observing people (like peers, parents and so on), from there if the person if exposed to more pro-criminal attitudes than anti-criminal attitudes then they are more likely to offend.
He believes that the positivist scientific method could be applied to the study of crime so as to find out its causes and prevent it. His particular approach was described as criminal anthropology. He compared the known offenders and a control group of soldiers by the post-mortem measurement and examination. After studying the resulting, Lombroso think that there a correlation between certain physical features, such as an asymmetrical face, large jaws and long arms, and criminality. In his opinion, these physical traits were characteristic of an earlier period of human evolution.