criminology general strain
gracecanigbata
CulturalDevianceTheories1.pptxCultural Deviance Theories
Cohen, Miller, Sykes & Matza, Akers
Sykes & Matza’s Techniques of Neutralization
Neutralizing criminal behavior allows them to engage in “subcultural drift”
Denial of Responsibility: “It wasn’t my fault”
Denial of Injury: “They could afford it”
Denial of Victim: “They had it coming”
Condemning the Condemners: “You’ve done worse”
Appeal to Higher Loyalties: “My friend needed me”
Subcultural Tradition
Cohen’s Middle Class Measuring Rod
3 Role Adjustments
College Boy
Rare, make it on own
Corner Boy
Graduate, blue collar
Delinquent Boy
Reject MC values, gang
Miller’s Focal Concern
Lower class focal concerns:
Trouble
Toughness
Autonomy
Smartness
Excitement
Fatalism
Principles of Differential Association (Sutherland)
Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other people in a process of communication
The learning of criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups (not everyone in social environment will exert the same influence)
The learning process includes the techniques of committing the crime, and the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes
The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of legal codes as favorable and unfavorable
A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law. Differential association may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity
The process of learning criminal behavior incorporates all the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning
Although criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those needs and values because noncriminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values
Social Learning Theory
Social Structure
Social Learning
Definitions
Differential Association
Imitation
Differential Reinforcement
Questions
What crimes would SLT be good at explaining? Not good?
Why is crime reinforcing? Why does it continue after people get caught?
