Social Process Theories of Crime

Social Process Theories

• Social process theories view crime as a function of interactions with institutions and societal processes. Criminal behavior is learned through interactions and relationships, not inherent traits.
• Socialization is key: destructive social relationships lead to criminality.
• Improper socialization is crucial.

Social Learning, Control, and Labeling Theories

• Social learning theory: People learn criminal behavior the same way they learn conventional behavior.
• Social control theory: Analyzes the failure of society to control criminal tendencies.
• Social reaction (labeling) theory: Negative labels like "criminal" produce criminal careers. Labels create expectations leading to self-fulfilling prophecy.

Family, School, and Peers

• Troubled families are more crime-prone. Parental efficacy reduces crime. Divorce strains families.
• School failure is linked to delinquency. Dropping out and school violence are problems.
• Delinquent peers influence behavior; they may neutralize the fear of punishment. Popular and loners can have issues.

Beliefs and Crime

• People with strong morals resist crime. Church attendance is related to lower crime rates.

Social Learning Theory Types

• Differential association theory: Criminality is learned by observing and interacting with individuals who engage in criminal behavior. Criminal activities are perceived as more acceptable compared to conventional ones.
• Neutralization theory: Offenders learn techniques to rationalize and neutralize societal values to justify breaking the law.

Social Control Theory

• Control theory states that individuals have the potential to become criminals, but their bonds to conventional society prevent it. Self-concept enhances commitment to conventional behavior.
• Attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief are key components of the social bond. Weakening these bonds leads to antisocial behaviors.

Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory

• Criminality is promoted by negative labels from others.
• Labels like criminal, ex-con, etc. can isolate individuals from society, lock them into an ongoing cycle of crime by creating expectations that the labeled person will act in that specific way, and the labeled person will be observed and suspected.
• Eventually labeled people absorb those labels, which can lead to secondary deviance (more serious crime as a result of being labeled and identified in the system).

Crime Prevention

• Social process theories influence social policy in treatment and community action programs. Some programs aim to teach conventional attitudes and behaviors while others improve the social bond in society.

Social Conflict Theories

• Social conflict theorists view crime as a function of conflict and inequality.
• Laws are created by those in power to protect their own rights and interests. All criminal acts have political undertones. Justice system is biased against the poor intended to protect the wealthy.
• Critical criminologists focus on how capitalist systems create crime through competition and inequality.
• The idea of state (organized) crime reflects criminal actions by state officials violating the trust of citizens.
• Includes state-corporate crime.

Critical Criminology

• Critiques of existing systems
• Critique of structural and instrumental theories
• Basic ideas of critical feminism
• Understanding Left realism
• Peacemaking criminology and restorative justice

Developmental Theory

• This theory looks at criminal behavior as a dynamic process influenced by individual characteristics and social experiences.
• It considers how crime develops and changes.
• Life-course theory focuses on the onset, escalation, persistence, and desistance from crime, as well as the effect of turning points in life.
• Latent trait theory focuses on a stable feature, characteristic, etc. that predisposes individuals to crime.