Differential association theory

Question 1

strength
Farrington et al.

Answer 1

The Cambridge study in delinquent development- longitudinal survey of the development of offending and antisocial behavior in 411 males. The study began when children were 8 and all living in deprived, inner-city area of South London. 41% of the sampled were convicted of at least one offence between age 10 and age 50. The average conviction career lasted from age 19-24 and included 5 convictions. The most important childhood risk factors were measures of family criminality, daring or risk taking, low school attainment, poverty or poor parenting. 7% were ‘chronic offenders’ as they accounted for about half of all offences in the study.

Question 2

strength desirability

Answer 2

This approach is more desirable because it offers a more realistic solution to the problem of offending instead of eugenics or punishment. There are many practical applications such as not putting first time offenders in the same prison as experienced criminals, changing opinions on crime in particular social groups ect.

Question 3

weakness androcentric

Answer 3

can’t explain why younger males are more likely to offend then older males who, in theory, would have been predisposed to pro-criminal values for longer, or why most crime is committed by males when females are also socialised into crime.

Question 4

weakness lacks scientific credibility

Answer 4

Many of the concepts are not testable because they cannot be operationalised. For example its hard to see how many pro-crime attitudes a person has, or has been exposed to, could be measured. similarly, the theory is built on the assumption that offending behavior will occur when pro-crime values outnumber anti-crime ones. Without being able to measure these, we cannot know at what point the urge to offend is realised and the offending career triggered.