Differential Association Theory is one of the social learning theories that attempt to explain deviance and crime "crime is brought about by a conflict of behaviors that originate from different cultures"[Edw34]; for instance, if a person associates with criminals, it is highly likely that he/she will develop criminal behavior, the crime rate is higher in disorganized urban settlements where crime runs in the family
Edwin Sutherland(1883-1950) was considered one of the most influential criminologist of the twentieth century, he stated Differential Association Theory as a set of nine propositions, which introduced three concepts normative conflict, differential association and differential group organization that explain crime at the levels of the society, the individual and the group[Cre60]. Fundamentally the theory maintains that deviant manners are learnable and be learned through interactions with people with deviant behaviors. Accordingly to Sutherland, these associations help an individual to learn the motives, rationale and techniques for particular crimes among others (Sutherland 1974). There are nine principles that make up the differential association theory. First, Sutherland asserts that deviant behavior is learned, which implies that deviant behavior is not a subject of pathological inheritance [Mar10]. In this regard an individual learns deviant behavior from other people in his/her social circle such as family and peers, and cannot be inherited genetically, for instance most drug cartels are family run (Akasha dynasty).
Second, interaction plays an integral role in the learning of deviant behavior, which takes place through interpersonal communication. Third, the fundamental part of learning deviant behavior takes place in intimate personal groups such as friends and family, and not from impersonal associations such as mass media and movies, for instance bullies in school are more comfortable when they are together.
