Psychological Explanations: Differential Association Theory

Question 1

Which psychologist looked at differential association theory for offending?

Answer 1

Sunderland

Question 2

What 2 things may be learned in association to offending?

Answer 2

Attitudes and techniques

Question 3

Which approaches might D.A.T link to?

Answer 3

Behaviourism and Social Learning Theory

Question 4

What type of crime did Sutherland relate his theory to?

Answer 4

White collar crime

Question 5

Sutherland argues people will commit more crime when?

Answer 5

More pro-crime attitudes than anti-crime attitudes.

Question 6

Did Sunderland believe criminal behaviour was learned or innate?

Answer 6

Learned rather than inherited, through associations with intimate personal groups.

Question 7

How did Sunderland believe criminality developed?

Answer 7

Through a process of socialisation.

Question 8

Where does the word differential associations come from?

Answer 8

Everyones associations with people are different and so different attitudes with be learned for each individual.

Question 9

What do the attitudes/techniques have to be for people to continue committing crime?

Answer 9

Reinforced

Question 10

How does differential association link to behaviourism?

Answer 10

Learn through classical and operant conditioning.
If committing crime gets you a reward/praise may increase likelihood.
Can also work via negative reinforcement - berated for not committing crime.

Question 11

How does social learning theory link to differential association theory?

Answer 11

Learning through observation (pro-crime or anti attitudes) and imitation.
Seeing models rewarded or punished.
May retain criminal techniques for later.

Question 12

In Farrington et al (2006) what was the procedure/sample?

Answer 12

The Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, longitudinal survey of the development of offending and antisocial behaviour in 411 males. The study began when the children were aged 8 in 1961 and all living in a deprived, inner-city area of South London.

Question 13

In Farrington et al (2006) what was the findings?

Answer 13

41% were convicted of at least one offence between age 10 and age 50. The average conviction career lasted from age 19 to 28 and included five convictions. The most important childhood risk factors’ at age 8-10 for later offending were measures of family criminality, daring or risk-taking, low school attainment, poverty and poor parenting.

Question 14

What did Alarid et al (2000) do?

Answer 14

tested over 1100 newly convicted criminals finding that differential association theory served as a good general theory of crime and that it could explain offending behaviour, particularly in men.

Question 15

What are some of the practical applications to differential association?

Answer 15

Not putting first time offenders in the same prison as experienced criminals, changing opinions on crime in particular social groups etc.

Question 16

Why might Sunderlands theory have advantages over Lombrosos theory?

Answer 16

There are many practical applications such as not putting first time offenders in the same prison as experienced criminals, changing opinions on crime in particular social groups etc.

Question 17

Why might differential association theory be correlational?

Answer 17

Could also be interpreted as supporting other explanations, such as biological theories. A particular combination of genes, or innate neural abnormality, that predisposes the person to offend may be inherited from family members or that people with a predisposition for offending seek out people with niche criminal values.