In criminology, differential association is a theory developed by Edwin Sutherland — proposing that through interaction with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal behavior. Differential association theory is the most talked-about of the learning theories of deviance. This theory focuses on how individuals learn to become criminals, but it does not concern itself with why they become criminals. Differential association predicts that an individual will choose the criminal path when the balance of definitions for law-breaking exceeds those for law-abiding.
The earlier in life an individual comes under the influence high status people within a group, the more likely the individual is to follow in their footsteps. This does not deny that there may be practical motives for crime. If a person is hungry but has no money, there is a temptation to steal. To some extent, both non-criminal and criminal individuals are motivated by the need for money and social gain.
An important quality of differential association theory is the frequency and intensity of interaction. The amount of time that a person is exposed to a particular definition and at what point the interaction began are both crucial for explaining criminal activity. The process of learning criminal behavior is really not any different from the process involved in learning any other type of behavior.
Sutherland maintains that there is no unique learning process associated with acquiring non-normative ways of behaving. One very unique aspect of this theory is that it works to explain more than just juvenile delinquency and crime committed by lower class individuals. Since crime is understood to be learned behavior, the theory is also applicable to white-collar, corporate, and organized crime.
One critique leveled against differential association stems from the idea that people can be independent, rational actors and individually motivated. By the time she was able to find a new job, the checks had bounced, and she was convicted of fraud under Mississippi law. Strickland pleaded guilty to a felony charge and repaid her debts; in return, she was spared from serving prison time.
Strickland appeared in court in More than ten years later, she is still feeling the sting of her sentencing. Because Mississippi is one of twelve states in the United States that bans convicted felons from voting ProCon To Strickland, who said she had always voted, the news came as a great shock. As of , an estimated 6. While 1 in 40 voting age adults is disenfranchised, when we begin to break it down by racial and ethnic groups the picture becomes much more stark, as 1 in 13 African Americans are disenfranchised.
With two 21st century elections and in which the candidate with the most votes did not win Al Gore in and Hillary Clinton in , one of which led to an official recount Election , there has been increased pressure for states with prohibitive voting measures to examine them. Particularly in the State of Florida, a swing state, in which nearly 1. On January 23, Floridians for a Fair Democracy garnered , signatures to get an amendment on the ballot that would give the ability to vote back to Floridians with felony convictions that have completed their sentences.
Shaw and McKay concluded that socioeconomic status correlated to race and ethnicity resulted in a higher crime rate. The mix of cultures and values created a smaller society with different ideas of deviance, and those values and ideas were transferred from generation to generation.
They found that poverty, ethnic diversity, and family disruption in given localities had a strong positive correlation with social disorganization. They also determined that social disorganization was, in turn, associated with high rates of crime and delinquency—or deviance.
Recent studies Sampson conducted with Lydia Bean revealed similar findings. High rates of poverty and single-parent homes correlated with high rates of juvenile violence. Conflict theory looks to social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance. They see them as evidence of inequality in the system. They also challenge social disorganization theory and control theory and argue that both ignore racial and socioeconomic issues and oversimplify social trends Akers Conflict theorists also look for answers to the correlation of gender and race with wealth and crime.
Conflict theory was greatly influenced by the work of German philosopher, economist, and social scientist Karl Marx. Marx believed that the general population was divided into two groups. He labeled the wealthy, who controlled the means of production and business, the bourgeois. He labeled the workers who depended on the bourgeois for employment and survival the proletariat.
Marx believed that the bourgeois centralized their power and influence through government, laws, and other authority agencies in order to maintain and expand their positions of power in society.
Though Marx spoke little of deviance, his ideas created the foundation for conflict theorists who study the intersection of deviance and crime with wealth and power. In his book The Power Elite , sociologist C. Wright Mills described the existence of what he dubbed the power elite , a small group of wealthy and influential people at the top of society who hold the power and resources. Wealthy executives, politicians, celebrities, and military leaders often have access to national and international power, and in some cases, their decisions affect everyone in society.
Because of this, the rules of society are stacked in favor of a privileged few who manipulate them to stay on top. It is these people who decide what is criminal and what is not, and the effects are often felt most by those who have little power.
While crime is often associated with the underprivileged, crimes committed by the wealthy and powerful remain an under-punished and costly problem within society. In comparison, when former advisor and financier Bernie Madoff was arrested in , the U. This imbalance based on class power is also found within U. Its pricier counterpart, cocaine, was associated with upscale users and was a drug of choice for the wealthy.
The legal implications of being caught by authorities with crack versus cocaine were starkly different. In , federal law mandated that being caught in possession of 50 grams of crack was punishable by a ten-year prison sentence. An equivalent prison sentence for cocaine possession, however, required possession of 5, grams. This inequality in the severity of punishment for crack versus cocaine paralleled the unequal social class of respective users.
A conflict theorist would note that those in society who hold the power are also the ones who make the laws concerning crime.
In doing so, they make laws that will benefit them, while the powerless classes who lack the resources to make such decisions suffer the consequences. The crack-cocaine punishment disparity remained until , when President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which decreased the disparity to 1 to 18 The Sentencing Project Labeling theory, differential association, social disorganization theory, and control theory fall within the realm of symbolic interactionism.
Although all of us violate norms from time to time, few people would consider themselves deviant. Labeling theory examines the ascribing of a deviant behavior to another person by members of society. Thus, what is considered deviant is determined not so much by the behaviors themselves or the people who commit them, but by the reactions of others to these behaviors.
As a result, what is considered deviant changes over time and can vary significantly across cultures. Sociologist Edwin Lemert expanded on the concepts of labeling theory and identified two types of deviance that affect identity formation.
Speeding is a deviant act, but receiving a speeding ticket generally does not make others view you as a bad person, nor does it alter your own self-concept. Individuals who engage in primary deviance still maintain a feeling of belonging in society and are likely to continue to conform to norms in the future.
Sometimes, in more extreme cases, primary deviance can morph into secondary deviance. For example, consider a high school student who often cuts class and gets into fights. Secondary deviance can be so strong that it bestows a master status on an individual. A master status is a label that describes the chief characteristic of an individual.
Some people see themselves primarily as doctors, artists, or grandfathers. Others see themselves as beggars, convicts, or addicts. By the time she was able to find a new job, the checks had bounced, and she was convicted of fraud under Mississippi law.
Strickland pleaded guilty to a felony charge and repaid her debts; in return, she was spared from serving prison time. Strickland appeared in court in More than ten years later, she is still feeling the sting of her sentencing. Because Mississippi is one of twelve states in the United States that bans convicted felons from voting ProCon To Strickland, who said she had always voted, the news came as a great shock. Some 5. These individuals include inmates, parolees, probationers, and even people who have never been jailed, such as Leola Strickland.
Although there are no federally mandated laws on the matter, most states practice at least one form of felony disenfranchisement. Is it fair to prevent citizens from participating in such an important process? Proponents of disfranchisement laws argue that felons have a debt to pay to society. Being stripped of their right to vote is part of the punishment for criminal deeds. Opponents of felony disfranchisement in the United States argue that voting is a basic human right and should be available to all citizens regardless of past deeds.
Many point out that felony disfranchisement has its roots in the s, when it was used primarily to block black citizens from voting. Early Theoretical Critiques. Early Empirical Critiques. Labeling Research. It is a fundamental fact that for an action or behavior to be considered a crime, there must be some law in place. For instance, in the Prohibition era it was illegal to possess, manufacture, or distribute alcohol. The example of Prohibition highlights a key aspect of crime that had largely been neglected by criminologists: the reaction to criminal behavior.
Although consensus criminology was concerned with the etiology of criminality, it did not confront the role of societal reaction on social control in the criminal process.
0コメント