Sunderland Flashcards
what does the differential association theory suggest?
that criminal behaviour is learned through association with other people usually in the form of close groups
what does this learning include?
the acquisition of attitudes and learning of criminal techniques
what is the first of Sunderlands principle?
criminal behaviour is learnt- you are not born a criminal,you learn the behaviour, the same way you learn anything e.g. through role models ,imitation etc you can pick up criminal behaviour in the same way
what is the second principle?
deviants learn through social interaction- deviants must talk and communicate about crimes in order to learn and know about them , for example in the same way we learn the alphabet.
what is the third principle?
the principle part of learning of criminal behaviour occurs within intimate personal groups- the learning of crime comes less from tv and video games and more from close family and friends that encourage deviance
what is the fourth principle?
when criminal behaviour is learned ,the learning includes the techniques of committing the crime, which are sometimes very complicated , sometimes very simple and the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalization and attitudes- learning behaviour which is unlikely to be forgotten, develop attitudes which rationalize their actions and explains the common excuse that criminal behaviour was deserved.
what is the fifth principle?
the specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable- opinions on the law may determine whether we choose to follow them or not, or whether we think they are necessary or pointless
what is the sixth principle?
a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violations of law over definitions unfavorable to violations of law- the amount of pro-criminal attitudes a person is exposed to determines whether a person will turn to crime
what is the seventh principle?
differential associations (number of contact with criminals over non-criminals) may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity- how often, for how long , how early in life and from whom an individuals exposed to determines the individuals behaviors
what is the eighth principle?
the process of learning criminal behaviour by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning ( behaviorism) - a person does not only immediate and reproduce behaviour but also develops it and makes the behaviour more efficient
what is the ninth principle?
while criminal behaviour is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those general ,since non-criminal behaviour is an expression of the needs and values- not justifiable as theses needs are also needed by the non-criminal
what side of the nature/ nurture debate does this theory support?
nurture
what are the strengths of sunderlands theory?
there is evidence to support the theory e.g. farrington
it seems that juvenile delinquents are more likely to report having friends that engage in anti-social behaviour
works best with vandalism and petty theft rather than serious crime.
what are the weaknesses of sunderlands theory?
only focuses on the importance of socialization in learning crime and the value of the behaviour attached, so doesn’t explain all types of crime and only works best with petty crimes and not serious crime
some of the concepts are too vague , how can we measure the extent to which pro-criminal values must outnumber anti-criminal ones for the victim to become a criminal
fails to take into account of criminals and other dont
lacks validity as we cannot measure these definitions of concepts
