Differential association

• what is the differential association theory?

  • explanation of defending behaviour in terms of learning theory
  • how interactions with others lead to formation of attitudes about crime (favourable/unfavourable) and how to commit them
• state the main principles of Sutherland's theory

  • people vary in frequency as to how much they associate with people who have more/less favourable attitudes towards crime
  • these attitudes influence their own attitudes and behaviour
  • Sutherland believed it was possible to mathematically predict whether or not someone would turn to crime using formula (linking frequency/duration/intensity of social contacts)
• what is learned in the DAT?

  • child learns attitudes towards crime (undesirable/desirable)
  • child will learn which crimes are acceptable/desirable (ie worth doing) within their neighbourhood (eg- not violent but burglary)
  • learns about specific methods to committing crimes
• what three aspects of DAT are focused on?

  • what is learned
  • who it's learned from
  • how it's learned
• who is crime learned from in the DAT?

  • intimate personal groups (eg like family)
  • wider neighbourhood- degree to which neighbourhood supports criminal behaviour (differential social organisation)is what determines the difference in crime rates from one area to another
  • individuals or social groups may not be criminals but may still hold deviant attitudes
• how is crime learned according to the DAT?

  • frequency, length and personal meaning of associations determine degree of influence
  • social groups also establish norms by which we define behaviour
  • mode of learning likely to be direct and indirect operant conditioning
  • eg- child may be directly reinforced for deviant behaviours through praise, or be punished for such behaviours
  • role models model behaviour
  • if models are successful provides indirect (vicarious reinforcement)
• state three of the nine key principles of Sutherland for DAT

  1. criminal behaviour is learned rather than inherited
  2. learning is directional- either for or against crime
  3. learned through associations with others
• evaluation of DAT?

  • 😊more info about the origins of criminal behaviour- shift from blaming individual factors to social ones, learning enviros changed.
  • 😊evidence- Osbourne and west- 40% of sons with criminal fathers commit crime, 17% with non criminal fathers- attitudes are result of social learning but could also be genetic
  • ☹absence of bio factors- diathesis stress= more accurate account/evidence- conc rate of delinquency between twins
  • ☹methodology- hard to investigate and distinguish between learned/innate influences, and what ratio of bad to good attitudes determine criminality?