Social Learning Theory PDF

Social Learning Theory Chapter 5 DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CRIMINOLOGY  Differential Association Theory  Edwin H. Sutherland (1883–1950)  Professor of Sociology, Indiana University  Required all students to minor in criminal justice...

Social Learning Theory Chapter 5 DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CRIMINOLOGY  Differential Association Theory  Edwin H. Sutherland (1883–1950)  Professor of Sociology, Indiana University  Required all students to minor in criminal justice  Founder, Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology (1935)  Eminent criminologist – most influential of 20th century  Heavily influenced by Chicago School tradition  Area’s social organization (macro‐level) impacts individuals’ associations, interactions, & behavior (micro‐level)  Delinquent values are learned & passed across generations LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO  Differential Association Theory  Sutherland (1947)  Principles of Criminology, 4th ed.  9 Principles or Statements  1. Criminal behavior is learned  2. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others, through a process of communication  3. Principal part of learning criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO  Differential Association Theory  Sutherland (1947)  Principles of Criminology, 4th ed.  9 Principles or Statements (cont.)  4. When criminal behavior is learned, learning includes:  (a) Crime commission techniques (e.g., simple to complex) &  (b) Motives, drives, rationalizations, & attitudes  5. Motives/ drives learned from definitions of legal codes as “favorable” or “unfavorable”  6. Person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to law violation LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO  Differential Association Theory  Sutherland (1947)  Principles of Criminology, 4th ed.  9 Principles or Statements (cont.)  Differential association  (1) Criminal behavior is learned (2) through interactions (3) within intimate personal groups.  Including (4a) crime commission techniques & (4b) motives, drives, rationalizations, & attitudes, learned from (5) favorable or unfavorable definitions of legal codes.  Crime may occur when there is (6) an excess of definitions favorable to law violation LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO  Differential Association Theory  Sutherland (1947)  Principles of Criminology, 4th ed.  9 Principles or Statements (cont.)  7. Differential association may vary in…  Frequency (i.e., how often), duration (i.e., amount of time), priority (i.e., early vs. later), & intensity (i.e., stranger vs. friend)  …also known as “modalities of association”  8. Learning criminal behavior involves the same mechanisms & process as any other learning – “all behavior is learned”  9. Criminal behavior is ‘expression of general needs/ values’, but it is not explained by those ‘needs & values’  Because noncriminal behavior is an expression of the same needs & values LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO