Differential Association Theory

Paper Summary:

The theory of differential association by Edwin H. Sutherland states that "criminal behavior is learned behavior and learned via social interaction with others". The paper shows that Sutherland's theory is influenced by three major theories that he used in order to present a better formulation. These three major theories included the ecological cultural transmission theory, symbolic interactions and culture conflict theory. The paper shows that from the culture conflict approach Sutherland uses the different crime rates, while the symbolic interactions approach was used to describe the process through which individuals turned into criminals. The objective in doing so was the explanation of the individual criminal behavior as well as of the criminal behavior of the various societal groups.

From the Paper:

"The main postulates of the theory note that criminal behavior is learned from the interactions individuals have with others and the values they gain during those interactions. The sources of these values are found in families, friends, co-workers, and hence individual may be supportive, or may altogether oppose criminal behavior. Another point noted by Sutherland was that individuals became criminals due to the sixth postulate, according to which individuals become criminals because of excess of definitions favorable to violation of the law, rather than definitions that are unfavorable to violations of the law. The greatest drawback in this postulate is that it emphasizes on the definitions of the associations of the individuals, and not the associates themselves. To support this contradiction, it is noted that once the techniques are learned, the values in support of the criminal behavior need not be from any one of our family, friends or co-workers. (Akers: 1996:229-230)"

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