Theoretical Analysis
TropJ
differentialassociationonline1.pptxDIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY
Edwin Sutherland
Father of American Criminology
1939
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What is your view of human nature?
1) humans are basically bad by nature (consistent with control theories)
2) humans are basically hardwired to do good (think about altruistic behavior during times of crisis or natural disaster)
3) humans are born blank slates (consistent with differential association)
In other words, a baby is born innocent, an empty vessel waiting to be filled. If that baby is basically filled with good there will be a different result then if basically filled with bad.
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Edwin Sutherland was a very critical sociologist in the development of criminology. He developed differential association theory, the notion of white-collar crime and for several generations, his text was the most widely used criminology text.
If you are a sociology major, you will recognize symbolic interactionism at the root of the theoretical assumptions of this theory.
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Basic assumption: humans are born blank slates, empty vessels
Humans are the product of molding, determinism according to differential association and that molding comes from our primary groups.
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Criminal behavior is a learned behavior.
Criminal behavior is not inherited.
(Clearly, much early criminology was arguing that criminals were a product of nature, so he had to state that it was not inherited.)
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Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others, in a process of communication.
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The principle part of the learning occurs within intimate personal groups (primary groups).
Unlike Robert Merton who lived a long life and continued producing scholarship into this century, Sutherland died in the middle years of the twentieth century.
Ideas are products of their time and you might wonder had he lived longer, what he would have thought about the power of mass media.
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Learning crime includes:
A) techniques of committing the crime
B) the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes.
Regarding the techniques, it does not take much to learn to assault another human. However, to become a successful art thief requires a steep learning curve.
Regarding the motives, we receive all kinds of messages about crime. Maybe a parent states to the child that it is not all right to hit the neighbor, but then hits the spouse. A child can learn a multitude of messages.
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The specific directions of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable.
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A criminal becomes criminal because of an excess of definitions favorable to the violation of law over definitions unfavorable to the violation of law.
The heart of the theory. It is not simply associating with bad companions, it is concerned with contact with criminal definitions balanced against contact with conforming definitions.
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Differential associations may vary:
Frequency—how often
Duration—lasting how long; long, lasting relationships more important than short-term relationships
Priority—when in life they first encounter it
Intensity—the importance and prestige attached (strength of relationship)
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So, for example, family and peers are critically important as various factors are present for these associations in life.
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The process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other type of learning.
(One reason that this theory has been critiqued is for not being a good theory of learning).
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Although criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those general needs and values, because noncriminal behavior is an expression of those same needs and values
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Differential association has been variously modified and presented over the years.
(One example wass Daniel Glazer who felt that Sutherland presented too “mechanistic” or passive an image of criminals, ignoring the choice-making abilities of humans. So, he presented differential identification, and included mass media as a teacher when he argued, that “…a person pursues criminal behavior to the extent that he identifies with real or imaginary persons from whose perspective his criminal behavior seems acceptable.”
If you are interested in further pursuing this theory, Akers and Burgess have modified this theory by integrating the theory with behaviorism.
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Do you think Sutherland was basically right?
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