The Deferential Association Theory of Crime

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According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) the deferential association theory was created by Edwin Sutherland beginning in 1939. Cullen and Agnew (2011) provided some historical perspectives into the history of the creation of the differential association theory of crime. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) Edwin Sutherland developed the basis of his differential association theory from the work of Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization theory. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) Edwin Sutherland developed his theory based on Shaw and McKay’s argument that crime differences in neighborhoods or communities resulted from the exposure to and learning of criminal values, mainly by association with others in the same neighborhood. Sutherland capitalized on these ideas in his theory of differential association which according to Cullen and Agnew (2011) was the first attempt at explaining crime from an individual’s perspective to what societal factors cause this individual to commit crime. In the beginning, according to Cullen and Agnew (2011) Sutherland’s central thesis to the differential association theory explains why any individual gravitates toward criminal behavior, and that criminal behavior is learned through interaction with other people. Furthermore, Cullen and Agnew (2011) stated that that a person becomes delinquent( criminal) because of an "excess" of “definitions” favorable to committing crimes over “definitions” unfavorable to committing crime. Feldmeyer (Lecture, 3/12/2014) stated that “definitions” can be describes as exposure to social message towards behavior that you pick up over time and shape your views on crime such as: motives, rationalizations, beliefs, attitudes, life experiences. Furthermore, according to Feld... ... middle of paper ... ...nce in order to try and explain deviant behavior in society. The similarities between micro-level learning theories and macro-level learning theories are that the criminal behavior is learned through the same processes, and it is a learned behavior taught by other criminals. The main differences between these theories are that macro-level theories focus on the beliefs, norms, and attitudes of the cultures, the sub-groups, and the deviant sub cultures like: lower class, juveniles, street gangs, and African American communities. While the micro level theories focus on the beliefs, norms, and attitudes of the individual people and does not place an emphasis on the group that these individuals may or may not belong to. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) Akers has extended his social learning theory to also include some aspects of macro-level social learning theories.

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