Chapter 7 Social Process Theories If the latter is the norm then conventional success may be impossible for that individual to achieve Criminal solutions may become the only feasible alternative this view of crime is refereed to as social process theory the view that criminality is a function of people s interac Social Process Theory tions with various organizations institutions and processes in society the social process approach has several independent branches Social Learning theory the view that people learn to be aggressive by observing others acting aggressively to achieve some goal or being rewarded for violent acts Social Control Theory the view that people s commit crime when the forces bind ing them to society are weakened or broken Social reaction labeling theory the view that people became criminals when they are labeled as such and accept the label as a personal identity Social learning theories assume that people are born good and learn to be bad Social control theory assumes that people are born bad and must be controlled in order to be good Social reaction theory assumes that whether or bad people are shaped directed and influenced by the evaluations of others Social process theories all share one basic concept all people regardless of their race class or gender have the potential to become delinquents or criminals Socialization process of human development and enculturation Socialization is influenced by key social processes and institutions Prominent among these elements are the individual s family peer group school and church Parental efficacy the ability of parents to be supportive of their children and effec tively control them in non coercive ways High self esteem is inversely related to criminal behavior Robert Conger is one of the nation s leading experts on family life Attending religious services does have a significant negative impact on crime Social Process Approach figure 7 2 Social Learning Theory criminal behavior is learned through human interaction Social Control Theory human behavior is controlled through close associations with institutions and individuals Social Reaction Theory labeling theory people given negative labels by author ity figures accept those labels as a personal identity setting up a self fulfilling prophecy pain The most prominent forms of social learning theory differential association theory and neutralization theory Differential association theory the view that people commit crime when their so cial learning leads them to perceive more definitions favoring crime than favoring con ventional behavior Edwin H Sutherland s theory he is often considered the preeminent U S crimi nologists Sutherland first put forth his theory in 1939 in Principles of Criminology Sutherland died in 1950 and longtime associate Donald Cressey continued his work un til his own death in 1987 Sutherland s research on white collar crime professional theft and intelligence led him to dispute the notion that crime was a function of the inherent inadequacy of people in the lower classes He believed crime was a function of a learning process that could affect any individual in any culture The Basic Principles of Differential Association Criminal behavior is learned example reading writing or painting Criminal behavior is learned as a by product of interacting with others Learning criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from perceptions of various aspects of the legal code as favorable or unfavorable The conflict of social attitudes and cultural norms is the basis for the concept of differential association Culture conflict result of exposure to opposing norms attitudes and definitions of right and wrong moral and immoral A person becomes a criminal when he or she perceives more favorable that unfa vorable consequences to violating the law a definition favorable toward criminality oc curs for example when a person hears friends talking about the virtues of getting high on drugs Differential associations may vary in frequency duration priority and intensity The process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning process Although criminal behavior expresses general needs and values it is not excused by those general needs and values because non criminal behavior expresses the same needs and values this principle suggests that the motives for criminal behavior cannot logically be the same as those for conventional behavior Differential association theory holds that people learn criminal attitudes and be havior during their adolescence from close friends or relatives A criminal career devel ops if learned antisocial values and behaviors are not matched or exceeded by the con ventional attitudes and behaviors the individual learns Neutralization theory the view that law violators learn to neutralize conventional values and attitudes enabling them to drift back and forth between criminal and con ventional behavior This theory is identified with the writings of Gresham Sykes and his associate Neutralization theory points out that even the most committed criminals and delin quents are not involved in criminality all the time Drift movement in and out of delinquency shifting between conventional and de David Matza viant values Neutralization techniques methods of rationalizing deviant behavior such as denying responsibility or blaming the victim Neutralization Techniques olating behavior Sykes and Matza suggest that people a distinct set of justifications for their law vi Criminals sometimes voice guilt over their illegal acts Offenders frequently respect and admire honest law abiding persons Criminals define whom the can victimize Criminals are not immune to the demands of conformity Sykes and Matza identified the following techniques of neutralization Denial of responsibility They made me do it I don t have a choice Denial of injury They have insurance They have too much money Denial of the victim He has it coming He has a bad attitude Condemnation of the condemners Everyone steals Why pick on me Appeal to higher loyalties He is a stranger I have to protect my buddies Social Control Theory Social control theorists maintain that all people have the potential to violate the law and that modern society presents many opportunities for illegal activity Self control a strong moral sense
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