Crime And Deviance Theory

Improved Essays
In Sociological Explanations of Crime and Deviance, Barry Cartwright (2011) emphasized that the fundamental aspect of Edwin Sutherland’s theory of differential association is that criminal behaviour is learned (p. 156). Criminal behaviour is learned through interaction and communication, but an essential part of the learning is that it occurs in groups (Sutherland & Cressey, 1985, p. 165-166). When learning about crime delinquent individuals adapt to several properties of crime in which the individual has their own interpretation. These properties of crime include the motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. With these new learned ideas, individuals can deduce their own reason as to why they are committing the crime, by seeing the …show more content…
1). Sutherland (1940) applies multiple facets of his differential association theory to white collar criminality, as he notes that just like any other type of crime, “white-collar criminality is learned through indirect or direct association with those who already practice the behaviour (p. 10). This demonstrates Sutherland’s development of thinking from focusing on crime in general, to how it can be applied to white-collar criminality. Michael Benson’s (1985) article on Denying the Guilty Mind: Accounting for Involvement in a White-Collar Crime, draws strong connections between his article and Sykes and Matza’s Techniques of Neutralization. Benson (1985) states that criminals who have been convicted of their crime, begin to rationalize their conduct to themselves before participating in crime (p. 588). Benson’s article shows the growth in between the differential association theory and the techniques of neutralization, since he combines the concept of criminal behaviour being learned, and that criminals form rationalizes of their actions. Throughout Benson’s study it is noted that the criminals that participated in fraud, often try to shift blame, which corresponds directly to the denial of responsibility in the Techniques of Neutralization, and they show prosecutors as having their own agenda, which corresponds to the condemnation of condemners in the Techniques of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Please answer the following questions related to Deviance. The answers should be from one to four sentences depending on the question. To give you more space in the answering, you may attach a word document at the end. 1. Define Deviance.…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social deviance is any transgression of socially established norms. Formal deviance, or crime, is explained as the violation of laws enacted by society. There are many types of crime, such as street crime, White Collar crime, and corporate crime. One example of a crime is murder. James Holmes was found guilty of first-degree murder killing twelve people in the movie theater shooting of July 2012.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Luv: Movie Analysis

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The movie Luv, which was released in 2013, depicts a day in the life of an 11 year old African American boy named Woody. Within this movie, there are multiple key criminological concepts that are touched upon that aid in explaining how this young boy evolved into a life of juvenile delinquency. The first criminological concept to be examined is Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory and his nine propositions which explain in detail how crime is learned. This theory explains that people learn to commit crime as a result of contact with anti-social values, attitudes, and criminal behavior patterns. This proves to be the most prominent concept because it explains how Woody gets involved with delinquency through interactions with his Uncle…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nanking Massacre Theory

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages

    This are the specific motives and direction that people learn from the association with criminals which varies in duration, frequency, intensity and priority. The amount of time and at what point people are exposed to a particular definition are crucial for explaining criminal activities. Differential Association Theory explain more than just crime committed by lower class person and more than just juvenile delinquency, since it is understood to be learned behaviour and applies to corporate, white-collar and organized…

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Crime As A Disease Theory

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When pulling public arrest and homicide records, to look at, a social network of people were linked together because of being arrested for the same/similar crime(s) indicating that they tend to be involved in risky activities, and share social connections with others who do the same. Another part of the theory is that if a child grows up in a home with violence they are more likely to become violent as an adult ("Is It Time"). This relates to nature vs. nurture. It is human nature to act as yourself, but also learn from your mistakes. It is nurture that is what affects our likeliness to be a criminal.…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whilst social learning theories explain the development of either dominant or deviant moral codes, it does little to address the ‘drift’ between behaviours as observed by Matza (1964). As previously mentioned, juvenile delinquents are aware of the moral codes of both their supposed criminal subculture, and of dominant society. Knowledge of what prevails as ‘right’ over is displayed in post-offence emotions of guilt and shame (see Tagney, Stuewig & Hafez 2011; Skyes & Matza 1957 and Ferrer et al. 2010). Remorseful feelings may be used as a mediator of the two conflicting codes, wherein individuals learn to employ various justifications of their behaviours “to protect their self-concept” which allows them to partake in non-consistent criminal behaviour (Taylor 2016 p.…

    • 1695 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This psychological approach continues with the supposition that adapting hereditariliy based inclinations and social marking all have a part to play in clarifying the reasons for criminal conduct; i.e, they are not fundamentally unrelated, yet reciprocal. An alternate supposition is that the division of the world into the criminal and the honest is to a great extent an encouraging hallucination. The sorts of criminal cdonduct dissected is violations against property and persons not the more questionable harmless offences. Consideration concentrates on forceful conduct, the situations that support it and other boosts, for example, the vicinity of a weapon and a potential vulnerable person who is by all accounts unfit, or improbable, to counter.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I decided to write my final journal entry on Chapter fifteen, “ Deviance and Crime.” I am someone who is fascinated in aspects of crime which is why I decided to study criminology at Saint Mary’s University. Throughout this chapter, I’ve learned that deviance involves breaking a norm which is not the same as breaking the law, and that crime involves breaking the law. As I started to read more into this, I started to learn various terms and definitions of things that I did not know before such as , “Social Stigma,” which refers to extreme disapproval of a person or group on socially characteristics grounds that are perceived, and serve to distinguish them from other members of a society ie: someone who has a mental illness, gay or lesbians,…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to the conflict perspective, deviance is a social creation and the power structure in any society defines what to be consider normal and what is not. Deviance is a term used by society to define behaviors that differ from the everyday social norm, this means that majority of people in a society must agree or conform to a certain action or behavior. People may be labeled deviant based on their attitudes or belief system which includes religion, political views and beliefs in the supernatural. Deviant behavior can happen intentionally or unintentionally. Those who are considered deviant because of their condition probably acquired it from birth such as being born un-wealthy, being a person of color in a mainly Caucasian dominated community,…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From a sociological standpoint deviance is defined as a behaviour that is viewed as defying expected social norms and regulations. Deviance is not just in the behaviour, but in the social responses and consequences of society. This issue can be related to Niklas Luhmann’s work with deviance and the risk society in an age of anxiety- “Individuals wherein intersubjective defending against anxiety replaces rational calculation as central to the understanding of fear” (Hollway and Jefferson, 1997). For this survey, I draw on the anxiety and fear people feel in regards to this social issue. In the survey I use the viewpoint from Luhmann’s “deviance from the norm, misfortune and the unanticipated occurrence.…

    • 143 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Social Deviance And Crime

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages

    My group was assigned the broad topic of social deviance and crime. Social deviance is a phenomenon that has existed in all societies where there have been norms. There are two possibilities for how an individual will act in the face of social norms: conform or violate. However, there is often a blend of conformity and deviance in the ways people behave. Furthermore, deviance can be relative to time and place because what is considered deviant in one social context may be non-deviant in another.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When talking about crime or deviance for that matter, birds of a feather flock together holds true. Southerland’s differential association theory and Hirschi’s social bonding theory supports this phrase by explaining the behavior and activities are guided by the groups we are in. People tend to perform in accordance to the norms whether those norms are deviant or not. Society puts us in flocks early on with school classes, youth groups at church and sport teams. Growing up I was put in all of these different flocks.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social control theories mainly focuses on why people do not commit crime- social bond with family and community discourages criminal behavior. Learning theories can be identified as both psychological and sociological theories; criminal behavior can be learned by observation or participation. The differential association theory says that criminal behavior learned through communication within intimate groups; criminal behavior continues because of positive reinforcement. Critical theories combine free will and deterministic theories, that crime is committed because of both personal choice and societal…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Biosocial Theory Of Crime

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the Biosocial and Trait Theories, Laub and Sampson (1991) suggest that crime is looked at not the differences between the individuals but the differences in the social environments in which each person is exposed to. Such as family, school, groups, and the community. Reviewing…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Deviance is recognized as a violation against the cultural or social norms in society. This statement of Becker argues that an act only becomes deviant; depending on how bad the act is and how society reacts towards that act. Becker argues that crime and deviance depends on the society’s reaction against the act. Based on Hilary Allen’s examination of criminal statistics in 1987, the statistics showed a leniency towards female offenders.…

    • 207 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics