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CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR THROUGH

SOC 352
December 21, 2019

[email protected]
Colorado State University
 The best explanation for criminal behavior is through the theory of learning –

through socialization a person’s behavior is influenced. Individuals learn rules, morals,

and values within their community. This community can take place in a setting of family,

friends, school, work and other organizations. The learning theory is defined to “assume

that criminal behavior of individuals is due to a process of learning from others the

motivations and techniques for engaging in such behavior” (Schram & Tibbetts, 2017, p.

253). While much of our behavior is heavily influenced while we are young, our

tendency to still commit crime while we are older can occur too.

Through socialization, offenders learn to commit criminal acts. I believe this

theory can be applied to any type of crime. For the purpose of this paper, the following

types of crime such as gangs, terrorism, and white-collar crime will be analyzed. While

the crimes committed by gangs and terrorist are socially learned at a young age where

children learn from their older peers. White-collar crime, tends to have a much later

onset committed by well-educated adults. In either socialized setting, the criminal act is

learned and normalized.

There are a few types of learning theory that can occur. These theories are

known as differential association, differential reinforcement theory, and neutralization

theory. Differential reinforcement theory focuses on classical conditioning (stimuli and

response), operant conditioning (action and feedback), and modeling/imitation.

Neutralization theory focuses on individuals thought process to rationalize that their

criminal behavior is not as serious. I will be focusing on differential association theory

that consists of “criminal behavior that emphasizes association with significant others

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(peers, parents, etc.) in learning criminal behavior” (Schram & Tibbetts, 2017, p. 253).

The way an individual learns criminal behavior can occur in different ways.

The development of Edwin Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory took

place in the mid-20th century. During this time, some of the popular theories of what

influenced criminal behavior was that offenders had a lower intellectual quotient, IQ or

their body type played a role. The most popular theory in society, believed that there

was something deeply wrong criminals, and were assumed to be abnormal. Aside from

these theories, Sutherland conjured that any normal individual could, when exposed,

“learn both the motivations and techniques for engaging in illegal behaviors” (Schram &

Tibbetts, 2017, p. 254). He made his theory comparable to learning any normal activity

through the process of socialization with peers. Sutherland wanted to explain how the

values and attitudes are culturally shared to and from each generation.

Sutherland theory was influenced by Shaw and McKay’s concept of Social

Disorganization and Gabriel Tarde’s imitation theory. Social Disorganization is based

on a macro/structural level that suggests some neighborhoods have higher crime rates

than others. These neighborhoods as those that primarily exists in areas that are in

transition from residential to industrial. A higher occurrence of social problems, i.e.

poverty and high cultural mix.

Another theory that Sutherland based his Differential Association Theory on is

Gabriel Tarde’s intimation Theory. Intimation theory, it just how it sounds, explains that

people imitate one another through proportion as they are in close contact, superior is

imitated by the inferior and two mutually exclusive approaches come together.

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 Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory embodies nine elements. The

elements are as follows: 1) Criminal behavior is learned, 2) Criminal behavior is learned

in interaction with other persons in a process of communication, 3) The principle part of

the learning criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups, 4) When criminal

behavior is learned, the learning includes (a) techniques of committing the crime, which

are sometimes very complicated, sometimes very simple; and (b) the specific direction

of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes vary, 5) the specific direction of

motives and drive is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or

unfavorable, 6) A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions

favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of the law, 7)

Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity, 8) 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, and 9)

Criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by

those general needs and values.

With these elements, Sutherland, emphasizes that individuals don’t decide

whether to commit or not commit a criminal act.

Differential Association Theory does the best job at explaining criminal behavior

because individuals learn the behavior to commit deviant acts via communication at any

age, and doesn’t discriminate about how much or little education one has. This theory

can also be applied to any type of crime, however, the following types of crimes of

associated with gangs, terrorism, and white-collar crime will be explored in depth.

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 The crimes associated with gangs and terrorism are often committed from

offenders who are young and less educated. These individuals typically don’t know any

better, grow up at a social disadvantage and believe this is how things are.

Many offenses can be committed while being associated with a gang. Depending

upon the type if gang, their nature varies upon their social structure and neighbor. None

the less, each carry out criminal acts. In an application that can be downloaded, called

“JR: murals”, there is a project called “Tehachapi” that allows users to meet 48 former

and currently incarcerated men by listening to their story. Many of these men, explain

that, they learned their deviant behaviors because that is how they grew up and didn’t

know any better. One of the in the project, Raul. R states, “I grew up in a rough area

and I was influenced by everything that was going on as a kid… it conditioned my

thoughts… helped mold me into thinking that everything that was going on around me

was okay to do.” Raul R. ended up in prison, with a sentence of 19 years for an assault

with a firearm, and 25 years plus for gun enhancement. In this situation, Raul R. learned

through socialization of personal groups around him that he has developed a strong

sense of this type of behavior during early childhood.

In street crime, specifically gang membership, youth learn the motivations and

values of criminal behavior from older youth. In the article, “Self-Control, Differential

Association, and Gang membership: A Theoretical and Empirical Extension of the

Literature”, examines relative independent influences of self-control and differential

association measures on gang membership through a cross-sectional context. The

study gathered information from two hundred jail inmates in a large California city. The

following information was to find out gang involvement effects are not only attributed by

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self-control but that through differential association measures that gang membership

can result from close cooperative behavior. It found that gang members don’t promote

friendships outside of the gang and that with socialization “encourage gang members,

(perhaps) to secure protection from rival gangs” (Kissner, J., & Pyrooz, D. (2009).

Evaluating this, this shows that gang members at a young age are socialized to learn

that this how things are, and to value the companionship they receive from being apart

of the group.

To deter gang membership the Risk Factor Prevention Pradigm (RFPP), is

program for implementing a crime prevention and early intervention of crime. One of it’s

partnerships Livingston Beach Gang Reduction, Intervention, and Prevention Project

are designed to provide youth who are already involved in criminal or gang activity

resources for a safe environment, education and skills. The program is intended to

“promote community awareness and education via anti-gang messages” (Goddard, T.,

& Goddard, T. (2014). Individuals who seek to explore this opportunity, will socialized

and conditioned to relearn that their criminal behavior wasn’t normal.

In the crime of terrorism, youth also learn the rules, morals and values through

socialization. Terrorism is defined as a crime with inevitably political, violent or threatens

violence, designed to have psychological consequences, conducted by an organization

with an identifiable chain of command and perpetrated by a subnational group.

An example of the crime of terrorism focuses on an influential terrorist group. In

the article, “Hezbollah as Group Phenomenon: Differential Association Theory”

articulates that deviant behavior is learned through a group setting. This study examines

Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist group that was founded in 1982. This group has

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built its success in recruiting their members through communication. It is explained that

“without the essential communication between current members and the potential new

recruits, there would be no effective strategy for group learning. In that manner of

communication, the criminal patterns and behaviors of the group are learned and

understood” (Armstrong, T., & Matusitz, J., 2013). Through analysis, it has shown that

Hezbollah leaders have conducted practices among its members and new recruits to

conjure a share consciousness that reinforced an idea of a common enemy. Children

are taught to carry out their customs as their father give their lives. The grow up thinking

that this a very normal way of life. Sutherland’s differential association theory, applies

to the crime of terrorism.

Lastly, white-collar crime that is defined as a crime committed by those who meet

a criterion of being an upper-class offender who commits a crime that is work related.

Work-related violations by blue collared workers are not included.

Lastly, White-Collar crime, in an article “Examining the Role of Differential

Association and Techniques of Neutralization in Explaining Corporate Crime” based a

study on testing both differential association and neutralization. This study evaluated the

decisions MBA students made to commit a corporate crime. The crime was to see if

MBA students would commit to further produce and market a hypothetical

pharmaceutical drug that was about to be recalled by the Food and Drug Administration.

The decision for many of the students to continue to market and produce the drug are

related by their close friends and business professors. It founded that the decisions of

the students who had committed the crime showed “workers, learn the drive,

motivations, and rationales to commit white-collar crime,” when favorable outcome

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weights the punishment (Piquero, N., Tibbetts, S., & Blankenship, M. (2005). This ties into

Sutherland’s elements of differential association theory that criminal behavior is learned,

learning technique and the motives and drives are learned.

In conclusion, criminal behavior is best explained through the theory of

differential association. Within these personal groups it doesn’t matter the age, social

class or education level one learns criminal behavior. Individuals can learn the rules,

morals and values through the process of socialization (communication, duration and

frequency) to commit any type of crime.

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Reference

Armstrong, T., & Matusitz, J. (2013). Hezbollah as a Group Phenomenon: Differential

Association Theory. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23(4), 475–

484. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2013.772425

Goddard, T., & Goddard, T. (2014). The Indeterminacy of the Risk Factor Prevention

Paradigm: A Case Study of Community Partnerships Implementing Youth and Gang

Violence Prevention Policy. Youth Justice, 14(1), 3–21.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1473225413520275

Kissner, J., & Pyrooz, D. (2009). Self-control, differential association, and gang

membership: A theoretical and empirical extension of the literature. Journal of Criminal

Justice, 37(5), 478–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2009.07.008

Moon, B., Hwang, H., & Mccluskey, J. (2011). Causes of School Bullying: Empirical Test

of a General Theory of Crime, Differential Association Theory, and General Strain

Theory. Crime & Delinquency, 57(6), 849–877.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128708315740

Piquero, N., Tibbetts, S., & Blankenship, M. (2005). examining the role of differential

association and techniques of neutralization in explaining corporate crime. Deviant

Behavior, 26(2), 159–188. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620590881930

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Schram, P. J., & Tibbetts, S. G. (2017). Introduction to Criminology: Why Do They Do

It? Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

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