Chapter Seven

1
Chapter Seven

• Social Process Theories

2
Social Process Theory

• Based on the process of socialization
• The interactions people have with various
  organizations, institutions, and processes of
  society
• Criminality is a function of the above
• All people, regardless of their race, class, or
  gender, have the potential to become delinquents
  or criminals

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Critical Elements of Socialization

• Family relations
• Divorce
• Family Deviance
• Parental efficacy
• Child Abuse and Crime
• Educational Experience
• Peer Relations
• Institutional Involvement and Belief
• Religion

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Effects of Socialization on Crime

• A positive self image, learning moral values,
  support of parents, peers, teachers, and
  neighbors can help to combat inducements to crime
• Living in deteriorated areas
• The more social problems encountered during the
  socialization process, the greater the likelihood
  that youths will encounter difficulties as they
  mature

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Types of Social Process Theories

• Social learning theory
• Social control theory
• Social reaction (labeling) theory

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Social Learning Theories

• Belief that crime is a product of learning the
  norms, values, and behaviors associated with
  criminal activity
• Can involve learning the techniques of crime
• Prominent social learning theories
• Differential association theory
• Differential reinforcement theory
• Neutralization theory

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Differential Association Theory

• Criminal behavior is learned
• Learning is a by-product of interaction
• Learning occurs within intimate groups
• Criminal techniques are learned
• Perceptions of legal code influence motives and
  drives
• 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 involved
  in any other learning process
• Criminal behavior is an expression of general
  needs and values but it is not excused by those
  general needs and values because noncriminal
  behavior is also an expression of those same
  needs and values

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Criticisms of Differential Association Theory

• Fails to account for the origin of criminal
  definitions
• Assumes criminal and delinquent acts are rational
  and systematic
• Tautological (circular in reasoning)

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Differential Reinforcement Theory

• The same process is involved in learning both
  deviant and conventional behavior
• A number of learning processes shape behavior
• Direct conditioning (differential reinforcement)
• Negative reinforcement
• People begin to evaluate their own behavior
  through their interactions with significant
  others and groups in their lives
• Once people are accustomed to crime, their
  behavior can be reinforced by being exposed to
  deviant behavior models

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Neutralization Theory

• The process of becoming a criminal is a learning
  experience in which potential delinquents and
  criminals master techniques that enable them to
  neutralize conventional values and drift
• Explains why many delinquents do not become adult
  criminals
• Explains why youthful law violators can
  participate in conventional behavior

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Basics of Neutralization Theory

• Criminals sometimes voice guilt over their
  illegal acts
• Offenders frequently respect and admire honest,
  law-abiding people
• Criminals draw a line between those whom they can
  victimize and those whom they cannot
• Criminals are not immune to the demands of
  conformity

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Techniques of Neutralization

• Denial of responsibility
• Denial of injury
• Denial of the victim
• Condemnation of the condemners
• Appeal to higher loyalties

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Are Learning Theories Valid?

• They make a significant contribution to our
  understanding of the onset of criminal behavior
• But still they are subject to criticism
• Fails to account for the origin of criminal
  definitions
• Fail to explain random acts of violence
• There is little evidence that exists to
  substantiate that people learn techniques that
  enable them to become criminals before the
  actually commit crimes

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Social Control Theory

• All people have the potential to violate the law
• Society presents many opportunities for illegal
  activity
• Truly is looking at why people obey the rules and
  do not commit crime
• Positives
• Explains the onset of crime
• Can apply to both the middle and lower classes
• Has been empirically tested

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Why Do Some People Obey the Rules?

• Self-control
• A strong moral sense that renders someone
  incapable of hurting others and violating social
  norms
• Commitment to conformity
• Develops with a strong commitment to conventional
  institutions, individuals, and processes

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Self Concept and Crime

• A strong self-image insulates a youth from the
  pressures and pulls of criminogenic influences in
  the environment
• Maladaptive social relations produce weak
  self-concept and poor self-esteem
• These individuals are more at risk to crime

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Hirschis Social Bond Theory

• Links the onset of criminality to the weakening
  of the ties that bind people to society
• Assumes that everyone is potentially a law
  violator
• They are kept under control because they fear
  illegal behavior will damage their relationships
• Without social bonds people are more likely to
  commit crime
• The social bond has four main elements
• Attachment
• Commitment
• Involvement
• Belief

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Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory

• Explains how criminal careers form based on
  destructive social interactions and encounters
• Interaction and interpretation are key
• Behaviors that are considered criminal are highly
  subjective
• Crime is defined by those in power
• Not only are acts labeled, so too are people
• Both positive and negative labels involve
  subjective interpretation of behavior
• Explains societys role in creating deviance
• Explains why some juvenile offenders do not
  become adult criminals

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The Labeling Process

• Initial Criminal Act
• Detection by the Criminal Justice System
• Decision to Label
• Creation of a New Identity
• Acceptance of Labels
• Deviance Amplification

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Consequences of Labeling

• Labels produce a stigma
• Labeled individuals may join deviant cliques
• After someone is labeled, people begin to
  reconstruct the culprits identity so the act and
  the label become understandable
• Dramatization of evil

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Primary vs. Secondary Deviance

• Primary deviance is a norm violation or crime
  with little or no long-term influence on the
  violator
• Secondary deviance is a norm violation or crime
  that comes to the attention of significant others
  or social control agents, who apply a negative
  label with long-term consequences for the
  violators self-identity and social interactions

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Contributions of Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory

• Identifies the role played by social control
  agents in crime causation
• Recognizes that criminality is not a disease or
  pathological behavior
• Distinguishes between criminal acts (primary
  deviance) and criminal careers (secondary
  deviance)
• Contributes to understanding crime because of its
  focus on interaction as well as the situation
  surrounding the crime

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Social Process Theories and Public Policy

• Have had a major influence on policy-making since
  the 1950s
• Promote conventional lines of behavior
• Focus on the family and schools to strengthen
  bonds
• Reconfigure an offenders self-image
• Diversion and restitution programs