differential association - psychological explanation of offending

who came up with the differential association theory

Sutherland

what is the main idea of differential association

proposes that individuals learn values, attitudes, and techniques from those around them

what are the scientific principles

frequency, intensity and duration

what are anti-crime attitudes

when a person is against crime and don’t commit crimes

what are pro-crime attitudes

when somebody believes they can commit crime and it isn’t morally wrong

what is socialisation

when a person is around other offenders a lot (such as in prison) they can learn techniques from them which they may put into practise

shifted the focus - evaluation

Sutherland moved the emphasis away from early biological explanations of offending such as Atavistic theory, and towards a psychological and environmental explanation

theory cannot be tested - evaluation

Sutherland attempted to provide mathematical frameworks as a way to predict future offending however, these concepts cannot be operationalised

all social classes can be affected by crime - evaluation

Sutherland recognised that some offences are in the working class communities but also in the middle class and more affluent groups in society