LECTURE 2 CCJ3011 Differential Association and Social Learning Theories 182 191 Sutherland s Differential Association Theory DAT The mechanisms of learning are the same for all kinds of behavior WHY do people commit crime The 9 Propositions of DAT 1 Criminal behavior is learned 2 Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others via communication 3 The principle part of learning criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups 4 When criminal behavior is learned learning includes techniques and motives drives rationalizations and attitudes 5 The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of laws as favorable or unfavorable 6 A person becomes delinquent due to an excess of definitions favorable to the violation of the law over definitions unfavorable to violation of the law 7 Differential associations vary in frequency duration priority and intensity 8 The process of learning criminal behavior involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning 9 Criminal behavior is not explained by needs and values The Essential Proposition of DAT Individuals engage in delinquency due to an excess of definitions favorable to the violation of the law over definitions unfavorable to the violation of the law o Definitions are rationalizations and attitudes o These definitions are learned Test of DAT Warr and Stafford 1991 o Tests the primary mechanism by which peers influence delinquency attitude transference attitudes of one individual are adopted or absorbed by another o Effect of friends attitudes on adolescents is small in comparison to that of friends behavior o Find peers behaviors matter more Does not operate through changing attitudes o Imitation and vicarious reinforcement are important Imitating friends delinquent behavior smoking drug sales theft gains loyalty and respect of peers o Most relevant features of social relations frequency duration priority Warr 1993 and intensity o Frequency how often it occurs o Duration amount of time o Priority the age at which associations occur childhood associations are more influential than later ones o Intensity such things as the prestige of the source of a criminal or anti criminal pattern and with emotional reactions related to the associations o Find longer duration to be associated with more delinquency o Priority is weakly associated with delinquency o If persons are exposed first more frequently for a longer time and with greater intensity to law violating than law abiding associations then they are more likely to deviate from the law Burgess and Akers 1996 o Developed a differential association reinforcement theory o Sought to explain the precise learning mechanisms of differential association o Sutherland did not describe how learning occurs o Stimuli provide cues for behavior o Meanings are exchanged through social interactions Akers s Social Learning Theory 1996 1 Differential association Identified four central concepts to learning a Interactional and normative Interactional the direct association and interaction with others who engage in certain kinds of behavior as well as the indirect association and identification with more distant reference groups Normative the different patterns of norms values and attitudes to which an individual is exposed through this association 2 Definitions one s own attitudes or meanings that one attaches to given behavior orientations rationalizations definitions of the situation and other evaluative and moral attitudes that define the commission of an act as right or wrong good or bad desirable or undesirable justified or unjustified a General and specific positive negative and neutralizing i General definition religious moral and other conventional values and norms that are favorable to conforming behavior and unfavorable to committing any deviant or criminal acts ii Specific definition orient the person to particular acts or series of acts one may believe that it is morally wrong to steal and that laws against theft should be obeyed but at the same time they may see little wrong with smoking weed and rationalize that it is all right to violate laws against drug possession 1 The greater the extent to which one holds attitudes that disapprove of certain acts the less one is likely to engage in them 2 Conventional beliefs are NEGATIVE toward criminal behavior Positive definitions beliefs or attitudes that make the behavior morally desirable or wholly permissible Neutralizing attitudes favor the commission of crime by justifying or excusing it I can t help myself I am not at fault I was drunk and didn t know what I was doing excuses justifications for committing deviant acts and victimizing others 3 Differential reinforcement punishments that follow or are consequences of behavior the balance of anticipated actual rewards and a Whether individuals will refrain from or commit a crime at any given time and whether they will continue or desist from doing so in the future depends on the past present and anticipated future rewards and punishments for their actions b The probability that an act will be committed or repeated is increased by rewarding outcomes or reactions to it c Direct painful or unpleasant consequences are attached to a behavior d positive Indirect reward or pleasant consequence is removed negative the engagement in behavior after the observation of similar 4 Imitation behavior in others a Whether or not the behavior modeled by others will be imitated is affected by the characteristics of the models the behavior observed and the observed consequences of the behavior Empirical Validity of Social Learning Theory Greater associations with delinquent peers leads to greater delinquency o Correlated with the onset continuation and desistance of crime Effects hold when testing other theories Meta analysis Pratt et al 2010 o Differential association and definitions have the strongest relationship to delinquency Criticisms of Social Learning Theory Claims to be a general theory of deviance Selections vs influence processes o Support mostly found for predicting drug use abuse and minor forms o Selection tendency for persons to choose interaction with others with behavioral similarities o Influence tendency for persons who interact with one another to have mutual influence on one another s behavior Learning Theories Peer Influences Primary variable differential association o Typically measured as the number of friends who are involved in
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