SOCI 304 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Differential Association, Donald Cressey, Middle Ages
20 Feb 2017
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The theories within this classification scheme argue that people learn criminal behavior. Learning to be a criminal just as they learn any other behavior. Micro level (most common: individual level, attempts to explain how individuals learn to engage in criminal behavior. Meso level: attempts to explain connections between micro and macro levels, such as a community or an organization. Macro level (most common: group level, attempts to explain why certain groups have higher rates of certain types of crimes. A theory of differential association (edwin h. sutherland & donald cressey) Prior to the theory of differential association, crime was explained in terms of class, broken homes, race, location, age, and pathology. Sutherland and cressey attempted to explain why the above factors were related to crime. The theory of differential association argues that criminal behavior is learned by interacting with other individuals.
