Yi Fei Ke
Professor Margaryan
CRJ 102 – 110W
May 17, 2024
The Differential Association Theory was first proposed by Edwin Sutherland in 1939. Sutherland was born in Nebraska on August 13, 1883, and died on October 11, 1950. He is very well known and respected as criminologist, in fact the most important annual award from the American Society of Criminology is given in his name. According to Britannica, “Sutherland received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1913 with a double major in sociology and political economy” (Bernard, 2024). Sutherland was dissatisfied with early 20th century criminological theories leading him to develop a general theory for all types of crime, the Differential Association Theory. The general idea of this theory is that criminals learn motivations, attitudes, values, and techniques for criminal behavior through interacting with others. While Sutherland’s theory is highly praised by many there are also many valid criticisms.
There are nine fundamental principles within the Differential Association Theory. According to “Edwin Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory” by Charlotte Nickerson, the first principle is that criminal behavior is learned and not inherited. The second principle is that criminal behavior is learned through interaction with others in the process of communication. The third principle is that the key part of learning criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups. The fourth principle is that when a criminal behavior is learned, techniques of committing the crime are also learned. The fifth principle is the specific direction of the motives are learned from definitions of legal codes as favorable or unfavorable. The sixth principle is that a person becomes a delinquent due to an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of law. The seventh principle is that differential associations can vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. The eighth principle is that the process of learning criminal behavior involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning. Finally, the ninth principle is that while criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by them since non-criminal behavior is also an expression of the same needs and values. This theory is also supported by the Cambridge Study in delinquency development by Farrington et al., 2006. This study included 411 South London males who have been followed up from age 8 to age 32, and in the beginning they all lived in a working-class inner-city area of South London. The researchers looked at official records of conviction and self-reports up to age 50, by the end of the study 41% of the participants had at least one conviction. This study supported the Differential Association Theory because “The most significant childhood risk factors at age 8–10 for later offending were family criminality, daring or risk-taking, low school attainment, poverty and poor parenting” (Nickerson, 2024). This theory also applies to white-collar crimes, they generally require immense technical acumen which can be generally learned only in close contact with educated people in power.
There are also many criticisms of the Differential Association Theory. One of the criticisms is that the theory fails to explain the origins of crime, since the first criminal must have learned crime from someone else. Another criticism is that ” This theory does not explain why criminality decreases with age. 40% of offenses are committed by under 21 years old individuals. Many young offenders do not carry on offending in their adult life” (Nickerson, 2024). It also does not explain why some people who are exposed to criminality do not become criminals. While the Differential Association Theory is not perfect, it is a great general crime theory that explains why crimes are committed by people from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
References
Bernard, T. J. (2024, April 25). Edwin Sutherland. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edwin-Sutherland
Nickerson, C. (2024, February 13). Edwin Sutherland’s Differential Association theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/differential-association-theory.html
Simpson, S. S. (2009, December 14). White-collar crime. Oxford Bibliographies. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0020.xml#:~:text=Later%2C%20in%20a%20systematic%20study,9).
David, F. P. (1995, September 3). The twelfth Jack Tizard Memorial Lecture. the development of offending and antisocial behaviour from childhood: Key findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7593403/
