CRM/LAW C109 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Social Learning Theory, Differential Association, Burglary
16 Jun 2018
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I. Why do they do it?
A. To relieve strain
B. Forced to do so by conflict between aspirations and expectations
II. Cultural deviance (learning theory)
A. Key figures → Sutherland (wrote first text that was widely used in criminology-
Principles of Criminology), Miller, Akers (modern embodiment of crime and
delinquency)
B. Differential Association
C. Social learning theory
III. E. Sutherland
A. Theory of differential association - explains all crimes, to be used broadly
B. Developed principles:
1. Criminal behavior is learned
a) What do you learn → Both the techniques and the rationalizations
(different values about crimes)
2. One becomes delinquent because of an access of definitions favorable to
violation of the law over definitions unfavorable (people you are around
more frequently, have values consistent with creating crime and
delinquency; i.e. a delinquent peer group)
3. One associates with others due to social structure
C. He invented term ‘white collar criminal’
D. Wants to know why some areas have more crime than others
1. These culture that develop, cultures and subcultures, different culture, of
different background, automatically means that one will become in
violation of law
2. Social structure differences that are the principal causes of different crime
areas
3. Now group can change over time, as kids grow from pre adolescent to
adolescent.
4. As pre adolescent spend more time with their peers, they start to value to
their values and mimic and learn their behavior
IV. Why do they do it
A. There values are different and they must follow their values
B. Principles such as duration, frequency, the amount of time you spent in one
learning environment vs another
C. Issues with social learning theory
1. Given by the model of what they are learning and what they value, it is
undeniable that teens like to mimic other teens, what is it that teens mimic
about one another? (behavior - clothing, media, language)
