Differential association theory
An explanation for offending which proposes that, through interaction with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques and motives for criminal behaviour
Association
number of contacts with criminals over non criminals
2 factors that criminality arises from
- Learning attitudes towards crime
- Learning specific criminal acts
Sutherland
‘the conditions which are said to cause crime should be present when crime is present, and they should be absent when crime is absent’
Sutherland argues a number of pro-criminal…
…attitudes the person comes to acquire outweighs the number of anti-criminal attitudes, they will go on to offend.
Differential association suggests that it should be possible to mathematically predict how likely it is that an individual will commit crime if we have knowledge of the…
- frequency
- Intensity
- Duration
- Priority
Frequency
how often exposed
Duration
length of time exposed
Priority
how important criminal association is
Intensity
real life or on TV
Learning criminal acts
Learning may occur through observational learning and imitation or direct tuition from criminal peers
