PE - Differential association theory

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Created by
Hannah Vega

Cards (6)

  • What was Sutherland's differential association theory?
    • Individuals learn criminal behaviour through interaction with others.
    • They learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for criminals behaviours.
    • Criminals behaviour is learned just like all other types of behaviour.
  • What are the learned attitudes towards crime?
    Socialisation into groups / families means that we learn attitudes, morals and norms from the people we are around.
  • What are the learning of specific criminal acts / skills?
    Such learning involves the development of the techniques required to commit the crime, such as the delicate touch of a pickpocket.
  • What is a strength of differential association theory?
    Explanatory power
    • Is able to explain why rates of recidivism are so high. As people who are sent to prison will be surrounded by people who have positive attitudes to crime and will have knowledge of the methods involved in crime. These differential associations will further teach and encourage criminal behaviour, making a person sent to prison highly likely to reoffend.
  • What is a limitation of differential association theory?
    Limited application
    • This theory may explain certain types of crime (burglary or drug dealing) but there are many criminal acts that are individualistic in mature and don't fit the theory. For example, serial killers are not typically raised in the environment among other serial killers, so DA theory is not able to explain this behaviour.
  • What is another limitation of differential association theory?

    Exceptions / applications
    • There are many examples of people raised around criminals (people with favourable DAs for crime) who do not go on to commit a crime. Similarly, there are examples of people raised in with very limited or no exposure to criminals who go on to commit crimes. These examples weaken support for the theory and suggest other factors (biological factors) are also needed for a complete explanation of criminal behaviour.