Forensic Psychology-Differential Association Theory

Question 1

What is Differential Association?

Answer 1

An explanation for offending which proposes that through interaction with others, individuals learn values, attitudes, techniques and motive from criminal behaviour e.g. family, peers, media

Question 2

Two parts to differential association theory:

Answer 2

1) -Learned attitudes through crime; social transmissions of values, motivations and rationalisation for committing a crime
2) -Learning of specific criminal acts; such learning involves development of both techniques required to commit the crime e.g. delicate touch of a pickpocket

Question 3

Who made this theory?

Answer 3

Sutherland

Question 4

Pro-Criminal attitude = criminality

Answer 4

-Sutherland argues if number of pro-criminal attitudes a person acquires outweighs number of anti-criminal attitudes, then they will go on to offend

Question 5

Positives of Differential Association:

Answer 5

Numeric, Objective, Strong application to preventing crime e.g. by using social worker and allowing children to get help and intervention

Akers et al. surveying 2,500 male and female adolescents in U.S. to investigate drinking and drug behaviour; Akers found most important influence on this form of deviant behaviour was from peers and that differential association, differential reinforcement and imitation combined to account for 68% for variance in marijuana use and 55% of alcohol use

Question 6

Methodological issues:

Answer 6

Data collected is correlational which does not tell us cause and effect

Theory not testable because of difficulty of disentangling learned and inherited influences