Psychological Explanations - Differential Association

Question 1

Who was differential association proposed by

Answer 1

Proposed by Sutherland suggesting that offending behaviour could be explained entirely through social learning

Question 2

How many key principles are there

Answer 2

9

Question 3

1

Answer 3

Criminal behaviour is learnt

Question 4

2

Answer 4

It is learnt through association wirh others

Question 5

3

Answer 5

The association is with intimate personal groups

Question 6

4

Answer 6

What is learnt is techniques and attitudes

Question 7

5

Answer 7

The learning is directional - could be for or against crime

Question 8

6

Answer 8

If favourable attitudes outweighs unfavourable attitudes, that person will become an offender

Question 9

7

Answer 9

The learning experiences in vary in frequency and intensity for each individual

Question 10

8

Answer 10

Criminal behaviour is learnt though the same process as any other behaviour

Question 11

9

Answer 11

General need isn’t a sufficient explanation for crime

Question 12

4 evaluation points of differential association

Answer 12

Strength - changed people’s views ant origins of criminal behaviour
Strength - research support
Weakness - methodological issues
Weakness - absense of biological factors

Question 13

Elaboration of strength - changed people’s views about origins of criminal behaviour

Answer 13

• shift from blaming individual factors to social factors
• suggesting crime doesn’t have to be explained in terms of personality
• important real world implications because learning environments can be changed

Question 14

Elaboration of strength - research support w

Answer 14

• research support from Osborne and west
• found that fathers with a criminal conviction, 40% of their sons have committed a crime by the age of 18
• suggesting criminality appears to run in families suggesting they are a result of social learning

Question 15

Elaboration wseakness - methodological issues

Answer 15

• based largely on correlational analysis and therefore not possible to determine cause and effect
• offenders could seek our to other offenders and this would explain why offenders are likely ti have peers who are offenders

Question 16

Elaboration weakness - absence of biological factors

Answer 16

• diagnosis stres model may offer a better account by combining social factors with vulnerability factors
• predisposing factors may be innate genetic ones or early experiences such as maltreatment
• social approach on its own may be insufficient