Differential association theory Flashcards
Who established it
Sutherland 1939
What principle does it follow
Social learning theory- offending is learned
How does it explain variations of offending between people
Could be due to different associations
What do you need to know to mathematically calculate likelyhood of commiting a crime
Frequency, intensity and duration a person is exposed to deviant and non- deviant norms
What happens when someone is socialised into a group
They become exposed to their values about the law, some are pro crime and some are anti-crime. If pro-crime outweighs anti-crime they will become a criminal
What happens if the benefits in engaging in criminal behaviour outweigh the benefits of not
A person will commit a crime- e.g for respect and approval
What do offenders learn
Techniques to commit crimes and rationalisations (may explain schools of crime)
Farrington procedure
Longitudinal study assessing development of offending and APD in 411 males age 8-50. All living in deprived working class inner city areas of London
Farrington results
41% convicted of one offence
7% were chronic offenders
Key risk factors were family criminality, poor parenting, low school achievement and risk taking
Based on self report
Strengths
Can explain all types of offending e.g Burgalry may be likely for inner city working class comunities.
White collar crimes may be middle class social groups- removes stereotypes around who offends
Limitations
Hard to scientifically measure (pro-crime is hard to mesaure, we do not know when they developed the urge to offend)
Risk of stereotyping people from crime ridden backgrounds. Environmental determinism- ignore role of choice.
