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High crime rates are an ongoing issue through the United States, however the motivation and the cause of crime has yet to be entirely identified. Ronald Akers would say that criminality is a behavior that is learned based on what an individual sees and observes others doing. When an individual commits a crime, he or she is acting on impulse based on actions that they have seen others engage in. Initially during childhood, individuals learn actions and behavior by watching and listening to others, and out of impulse they mimic the behavior that is observed. Theorist Ronald Akers extended Sutherland’s differential association theory with a modern viewpoint known as the social learning theory. The social learning theory states that individuals commit crime through their association with or exposure to others. According to Akers, people learn how to be offenders based on their observations around them and their association with peers. Theorist Akers states that for one, “people can become involved in crime through imitation—that is by modeling criminal conduct. Second, and most significant, Akers contended that definition and imitation are most instrumental in determining initial forays into crime” (Lilly, Cullen, and Ball 2011:57). Although Akers’ theory has been linked to juvenile delinquency in the past, it has also been tested as a possible cause of crime overall. Individuals learn from observation that criminal behavior is justifiable in certain circumstances. In connection with juvenile delinquency and crime, peers and intimate groups have the most effect on individuals when associated with criminal behavior. One is more likely to mimic the behavior of someone who they have close ties with, whether the behavior is justifiable or... ... middle of paper ... ...h. 1979. “Social Learning and Deviant Behavior: A Specific Test of a General Theory.” American Sociological Theory 44(4): 636-655. Button, Deeanna and Roberta Gealth. 2010. “High Risk Behaviors among Victims of Sibling Violence.” Journal of Family Violence 25(2): 131-140. Higgins, George E. Margaret Mahoney, and Melissa L. Ricketts. 2009. “Nonsocial Reinforcement of the Nonmedical Use of Prescription Drugs: A Partial Test of Social Learning and Self-Control Theories.”Journal of Drug Issues 39(4): 949- 963. Lilly, J. Robert, Francis T. Cullen, and Richard A. Ball. 2011. Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Walters, Richard H. 1966. “Implications of Laboratory Studies of Aggression for the Control and Regulation of Violence.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 364: 60-72.
Criminology. The. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. The. Shakur, Sanyika.
Hickey, T. J. (2010). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
There are many different views on the origins of criminal behaviors within societies. One possible reason for why people commit crimes could be because they learned it from others. Edwin Sutherland works to explain this tactic through his theory of differential association. His theory states that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others in intimate, personal groups. The learning of criminal behavior depends on the strength of the relationship with those who commit deviant actions. This learning also depends on their definitions of legal codes. For example, some people in society rationalize traffic speeding if it is only a couple miles over the speed limit while others are strongly against speeding at any degree. When a person’s
According to Differential Association, criminal behavior is learned based on the interactions we have with others and the values that we receive during that interaction.
Schmalleger, Frank. Criminology: A Brief Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Prentice Hall., 2011.
What are theories of crime? Why are they important? In this paper, will discuss two crime theories. Social learning theory and the labeling theory. We will compare both crime theories. It will also explain how these theories are related to specific crimes. The two theories discussed will also explain the policy implications. Finally, we will address what types of programs can be created to mitigate specific crimes related to the causation theories.
Maguire, M., Morgan, R., and Reiner, R. (2012) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. 5th ed. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Siegel, L. J. (2008). Critical criminology: It's a class thing. Criminology: The core (pp. 173-196). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
Winslow, R. W., & Zhang, S. (2008). Contemporary Theories of Crime. Criminology: a global perspective (). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, Application. Akers Ronald L., Sellers Christine S. 2013. Retrieved from http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199844487/guide1/study_guide.pdf
Hickey, T.J. (2010) Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Akers, R. L., & Sellers, C. S. (2009) Criminological theories: Introduction, evaluation, and application (Fifth ed). New York: Oxford University Press.
Williams, F., & McShane, M. (2010). Criminological Theory, (5th Edition). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Williams, F., & McShane, M. (2010). Criminological Theory, 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Criminology is the complex study of why crime happens, when it happens, by whom and who is the victim. Criminology encompasses multiple fields and they all work together to help us understand the world that we live in. Through criminology, we hold out hope that in the end good will prevail. We have come far from the days of Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham, Richard Dugdale, and many others. When looking at the progression of criminology, we can see that without those pioneers in the beginning, we would not be where we are today. Classical, Neoclassical, Biological, and Psychological theories are each very different, but compliment one another as a jigsaw puzzle that in the end is a map for us to follow.