Introduction “He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it”, a quote from Lucius Annaeus Seneca that helps describe how society views and “prevents” crime. Criminal theories attempt to construct views on how to prevent and fight crime but often the criminal justice system is working against society. The two theories that are explained within are the social learning theory and rational choice theory. These theories will construct views as to how and why the seven crimes are committed using the concepts within the theories.
Theory One Social learning theory explains that humans are born with a “blank slate” and delinquency and crime is learned. This theory says that criminal behavior is learned by observing other individuals’ …show more content…
There are four contributing factors within social learning theory: (Akers, pg.140)
1) Differential Association
2) Definitions favorable and unfavorable
3) Differential Reinforcement
4) Imitation/modeling
White Collar Crime White collar crime is defined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status within his/her occupation."(Sutherland, 1940) Some examples of white collar crime are computer fraud, bankruptcy fraud, healthcare fraud, telemarketing fraud, credit card fraud and many other types of fraud. The social learning theory explains white collar crime using all four parts of the theory. Differential association explains how the criminal behavior is learned through communication in groups. The motives, rationalizations, and techniques are all learned as well. White collar crime is learned within the workplace from co-workers and even through outside sources. The motives to commit this crime include gaining rewards for the corporation as well as for oneself. Many individuals will do anything to gain rewards, no …show more content…
The main motive of white collar crime is money. The consequences of getting caught are heavily weighed by the offender to get the best benefits out of the crime. White collar crime is heavily based on the offender wanting to receive a certain status. This status may be used to be viewed as a person with money or a person with guts to commit this crime. An example of this is the Ponzi scheme. He had weighed the consequences and decided to further his company even though he was committing all kinds of
Theory One Social learning theory explains that humans are born with a “blank slate” and delinquency and crime is learned. This theory says that criminal behavior is learned by observing other individuals’ …show more content…
There are four contributing factors within social learning theory: (Akers, pg.140)
1) Differential Association
2) Definitions favorable and unfavorable
3) Differential Reinforcement
4) Imitation/modeling
White Collar Crime White collar crime is defined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status within his/her occupation."(Sutherland, 1940) Some examples of white collar crime are computer fraud, bankruptcy fraud, healthcare fraud, telemarketing fraud, credit card fraud and many other types of fraud. The social learning theory explains white collar crime using all four parts of the theory. Differential association explains how the criminal behavior is learned through communication in groups. The motives, rationalizations, and techniques are all learned as well. White collar crime is learned within the workplace from co-workers and even through outside sources. The motives to commit this crime include gaining rewards for the corporation as well as for oneself. Many individuals will do anything to gain rewards, no …show more content…
The main motive of white collar crime is money. The consequences of getting caught are heavily weighed by the offender to get the best benefits out of the crime. White collar crime is heavily based on the offender wanting to receive a certain status. This status may be used to be viewed as a person with money or a person with guts to commit this crime. An example of this is the Ponzi scheme. He had weighed the consequences and decided to further his company even though he was committing all kinds of