Studied by 20 people
Social Learning Theories
Suggest criminality is a learned behaviour; first proposed by Sutherland
Sutherland
An American sociologist who was ahead of his time and developed differential association theory and offered 9 propositions why individuals engaged in criminal behaviour:
Crime is Learned
Small Intimate Groups
Technique
Negative Societal Attitude
Frequency, Duration, Priority, Intensity
Any Other Behaviour
Same Goals as You
Differential Association Theory
About understanding/recognition to work with criminals (NOT empathy) and developed by Sutherland.
how an individual becomes an individual NOT why it happens
purely behaviourist view
Daniel Glaser
American sociologist who modified differential association theory to account for environmental factors and personal attributes.
“A person pursues criminal behaviour to the extent that he identifies himself with persons from whose perspective his criminal behaviour seems acceptable”
How an individual identifies with others and surroundings
Ronald L. Akers
American criminologist who developed social learning theory to explain criminality. Was inspired by differential association theory and behavourial learning theories'
4 concepts could be used to explain criminality (Criminal Acts and Deviant Behaviours)
differential association
differential reinforcement
imitation
definitions (favourable to deviance/adherance to law)
Differential Association (Aker’s Concept)
Family and peers identified as the 2 primary association groups for most individuals with sub-association groups being composed of neighbors, teachers, church members, and other groups within the community
Other forms of secondary association (music, TV, movies, etc.) can also impact an individual’s behaviour
Differential Reinforcement
Inspired by Skinner. Certain behaviours will increase/decrease in frequency or disappear completely based on positive and negative reinforcement associated with behaviour
Positive Reinforcement
The process of encouraging or establishing a pattern of behaviour by offering reward when the behaviour is exhibited
Negative Reinforcement
When a stimulus is removed to encourage a certain type of behaviour
Positive Punishment
A type of operant conditioning. Decreases the behaviour by introducing a negative stimulus
ex: arrest, parental notification, loss of driver’s license
Negative Punishment
A type of operant conditioning. Decreases the behaviour by removing a desirable thing
ex: changing majors, negative peer reaction, poor class attendance, failure to study
Definitions (social learning)
As defined by Akers and Sellers. Evaluative and moral attitudes that define the commission of an act as right/wrong, good/bad, desirable/undesirable, justified/unjustified
General Definitions
Guide an individual’s decision making based on moral beliefs, religion, values instilled in that individual by society
Specific Definitions
Held by the individual about specific acts
ex: lying, petty theft may be acceptable to individual but assault and murder (crimes against other people) are wrong
Imitation
Refers to the modeling of behaviour after observing it in others; includes assessing circumstances surrounding the behaviour and observed consequence of said behaviour
Critiques of Learning Theories
Testability
Concepts are too vague to accurately measure
Failure to Explain Motive
Suggests all behaviours (good/bad) are learned
Failure to Explain Serious Crime Against People
Like rape, assault, murder
Social Control Theories
Suggest crime must be learned; focuses on learning to conform to the rules of society
People are hedonistic
Suggest formal & informal social controls are required to prevent criminal and deviant behaviour
Hedonism
People seek pleasure and assess situations based on how they might benefit us
Reckless
An American born sociologist who developed containment theory. Suggested that psychological factors (internal containments) and social factors (external containments) worked together to ensure individuals conformed to social norms
Push-pull forces caused deviant behaviour
Containment Theory
Why individuals do not commit criminal and deviant acts based on external social factors and internal psychological factors.
People do not commit crimes even when the environment induces others to commit crime
Internal Pushes
Related to an individual’s level of rebellion, aggression, hostility, living conditions, or boredom
External Pulls
Delinquent peers or delinquent groups
Hirschi
an American born sociologist who developed social bond theory - one of the most tested theories in criminology.
Proposed an explanation to criminal and deviant behaviour through 4 concepts:
attachment
commitment
involvement
belief
Social Bond Theory
Human beings are born hedonistic; inherently self-interested. Seeks to explain why some people refrain from crime rather than do crime
People don’t do crime because they are bonded to society
Consequences
Poor people were blamed for crimes
People believed being bored equals crime
Attachment
One’s bond to those close to them
Commitment
Concept that relates to strong bonds in the community, which could be broken or damaged if an individual misbehaved
Involvement
Suggests that the more an individual is working towards building strong relationships in community, the less time they will have to do deviant acts
Beliefs
The link between an individual’s attitude and her behaviour
Tittle
American born criminologist who developed control balance theory.
suggests individuals with balanced control ratios are less likely to commit deviance than individuals who have control surplus or control deficit
Control Balance Theory acts as a predictor of who is at risk of being a deviance
Motivation is pre-dispositional and situational
Control Surplus
An individual who has excess control over others
Will commit acts related to decadence, plunder, and exploitation
Control Deficit
A lack of control placed on a person by others
Will commit acts related to predation, submission, and deviance
Constraint
Factors that negate the motivation to commit a certain deviant act
Hirschi & Gottfredson
Developed the general theory of crime.
Proposed an explanation not just for criminal behaviour but for reckless behaviour, deviance, and sinful behaviour
Importance of parenting in crime reduction
Child’s level of self-control is established by age 8
Critiques of Social Control Theories
Too simplistic
Fails to account for environmental factors and social factors
Labeling Theory
Focuses on how individuals, society, and government reacts to individuals who were breaking the law to further their views about a just society and how these individuals reacted to the labels placed on them by the government
Dramatization of Evil
Good juveniles doing bad things for entertainment or excitement
Lemert
American born sociologist who developed the concept of labeling theory (societal reaction theory)
after committing criminal/deviant acts, individuals are labeled based on the offense
If individual can reject/rationalize/justify the label, it will have little impact on them
Primary Deviance
Individuals after committing criminal or deviant acts are labeled based on the offense
Secondary Deviance
A crime or deviance that has been committed because an individual was labeled based on the primary deviance
Where the label cannot be rationalized
ex: a youth is labelled a drug dealer, thus opportunities are restricted to them and they must do other crimes
Becker
American-born sociologist who expanded on the concepts of labeling theory. Similar to Beccaria (deterrence theory)
Society creates crime
“Social groups create deviance by making rules that create deviance; by applying these rules to people and labeling them outsiders, deviant behaviour is behaviour that people label”
Introduced the concept of master status
Master Status
The labeling process; it is human nature to categorize people; the primary label for an individual and how most of in society will view that individual
ex: you are primarily labeled a student at the University of Alberta, though you may also be a sibling, a daughter, an employee, etc.
Goffman
A Canadian sociologist who supported the idea that “those who are labeled as deviant by society are more likely to become a deviant”
human beings identified with personal identity and social identity
social identity is more appropriate than social status
those who are deemed criminal/deviant will be more comfortable finding support in a social setting with similar persons
identified 2 types of stigmatized individuals…
Discredited
Discreditable
3 Sources of stigma…
Character Traits
Group Identity
Physical
Critiques of Labeling Theory
Which came first: the act leading to the label or the label? If labeling causes crime, the label comes first
Acceptance/rejection of the label can undo years of learning appropriate behaviour
Proposition of labeling is not supported
Braithwaite
English born criminologist who developed reintegrative shaming theory
acknowledged the negative/stigmatizing labels used to identify individuals - had an impact on individual’s actions
Reintegration - without it, those released from prison will reoffend
Supported by recidivism data
Reintegrative Shaming Theory
An offender released back into society should be reintegrated
includes formal acknowledgement from the society that the offender is forgiven for his actions
Recidivism Data
Suggests that between 50% and 70% of those released from prison reoffend (recidivate) within 3 years
Critiques of Reintegrative Shaming Theory
Empirical testing of the theory is limited
studies that have tested this theory have mixed results about its effectiveness to reduce future criminal offending
discounts underlying assumptions about human nature that are vital to consider when developing policies to reduce crime
Social Development Life Course Theories
To fully understand an individual’s behaviour, longitudinal data are required as social development (like cognitive development) is a continuing process
at certain points in an individual’s life, certain behaviours appear appropriate or even warranted - those attitudes can change overtime because of continuing social development
Focus on an individual’s life, his social relations, and interactions with others over the course of life
Glueck
Two criminologists who conducted a study with 500 delinquent boys and 500 non-delinquent boys
Found that there were several factors that influenced continued criminal behaviour
Many had aged out of committing crime
Continued crime kids had unloving parents, discipline issues, etc.
Indicated support for criminological theories related to self control and a lesser extent biological and psychological theories of crime and deviance
Sampson & Laub
American criminologists who collaborated on a social development theory: age-graded theory
Age-Graded Theory
Passage of time is related to a decrease in criminality
individuals who have delinquent peers, discipline issues, etc. are more prone to delinquency
each individual is on a pathway into the future
Desistance is key
Desistance
Plausible turning points that could lead to a reduction in crime - more positive turning points = more likely the individual will be bonded to society (less likely to return to crime)
Thornberry
American criminologist who developed an integrated interactional theory
“Human behaviour occurs in social interaction and can be explained by models focusing on interactive processes”
Integrated theory
A theory designed with components of existing theories to explain why certain individuals commit crime
Combines concepts of attachment/commitment/and belief from Hirschi’s social bond theory & delinquency variables from Aker’s social learning theory (differential association and reinforcement)
AKA attachment leads to reduction of delinquency
Critiques of Social Development Life Course Theories
Fails to identify why some individuals with strong bonds to society still commit crime
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