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Defining Differential Association

According to Edwin Sutherland, Differential Association Theory is “the specific causal process in the development of systematic criminal behavior”. (Criminological Theories, Akers, pg.72) To a lay person, I see differential association in the terms of someone being a product of his/her environment. A person who is brought up to be a criminal, becomes a criminal. If you take a person from an upstanding neighborhood, and place said person in an area of unwanted violence and destitution, that person has a great chance of becoming delinquent themselves through their own interactions with other delinquents.

Since Sutherland first announced his Differential Association Theory, studies on his theory have been tested through samples, as well as testing beyond the spectrum of other theories to explain this causation. According to Agnew, research consistently saw that a friends’ delinquency is a strong predictor of the individual’s delinquency, thus supporting the idea of differential association through the cause that the child’s delinquent behavior came from the delinquent friend. (Agnew, 1995) However, there are many explanations for this kind of beh


Through the research articles and the testing that has done, there is sufficient evidence that there is a need for Sutherland’s theory. There is a need for all the theories in the causation of crime because if we can find a cure, we can start solving these crimes. I believe that we have made great efforts and more we test these theories, the closer we are to an answer.

Another sample done through assessing differential association is through sampling those who are already a product of their crime – incarcerated. Most testing that is done to research the theories consistent of differential association as well as social control is through self-report surveys. Self-report surveys are not always reliable and do not tell the whole truth of the situation. Research on adult differential association theory is limited when one searches for studies that includes in the analysis measures of both theoretical perspectives. (Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 37 No.2. May 2000) Two studies using community samples of adults found stronger support for differential association, claiming that one’s definition of crime is altered by the association one has with another delinquent being. (Burton; 1991 Macdonald 1989)

The theory of differential association was intended as a comprehensive explanation of criminal and some noncriminal behavior. Unlike previous theories explaining the criminality of groups, including his own theory of differential social organization, Sutherland sought to explain the criminal behavior of individual people. Such information, Sutherland believed, could then be applied to groups. By doing so, he hoped to be able to explain variations in the crime rates of groups located within the same community, a phenomenon the popular social disorganization theory had been unable to account for.

8) Learning criminal behavior involves all the mechanisms involved in any other learning.

general needs and values, since noncriminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.

The independent variables were questioned on a 6-point Likert scale that ranged from strongly agree (6) to strongly disagree (1). (JRCD Vol. 37 No.2 May 2000) In the 1940s, Edwin Sutherland’s theory of differential association expanded upon the learning perspective. Sutherland’s model for learning in a social environment is still the most recognized within the learning perspective. The idea of culture conflict, which is the struggle between different factions in a society, specifically over who has the power to determine what is deviant, is prevalent in Sutherland’s work. In performing testing of the theory through the different genders, you can also see how the different lifestyles and the way that these adult criminals have adjusted to life through what they have learned.

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Crime Deviance, Whereas Sutherland’s, Edwin Sutherland’s, African American, Differential Association, JRCD Vol, According Agnew, Vowell Criminology, Delinquency Vol, differential association, Theories Akers, control theory, theory differential, social control, differential association theory, association theory, sutherland’s theory, theory differential association, 37 no2 2000, vol 37, 37 no2, no2 2000, criminal behavior, vol 37 no2, criminology 4 nov,

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Approximate Word count = 2164
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)


  

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