SOCI4467

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• SOCI4467
• Lecture 4
• 1. Course Administration
• essays?
• midterm
• questions?

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2. Edwin Sutherland - A Theory of Differential
Association (1960) 1. Criminal behaviour
is learned 2. Criminal behaviour is learned
in interaction with other persons in a
process of communication 3. The principal
part of the learning of criminal behaviour
occurs within intimate groups
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4. When criminal behaviour is learned, the
learning includes (a) techniques of committing
the crime, which are sometimes very
complicated, sometimes very simple (b)
the specific direction of motives,
drives, rationalization, and attitudes 5. The
specific direction of motives and drives is
learned from definitions of the legal codes as
favourable or unfavourable
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6. A person becomes delinquent because of an
excess of definitions favourable to violation
of law over definitions unfavourable to
violations of law 7. Differential associations
may vary in frequency, duration, priority
and intensity.
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8. The process of learning criminal behaviour
by association with criminal and anti-criminal
patterns involves all of the mechanisms that
are involved in any other learning 9. While
criminal behaviour is an expression of general
needs and values, it is not explained by those
general needs and values since non-criminal
behaviour is an expression of the same needs
and values
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• 3. Sykes and Matza Techniques of Neutralization
• (1957)
• note the socialization/internationalization,
• definition of the situation orientation here -
  a
• classic sociological approach to the question
  of
• how otherwise normal people come to accept
• doing criminal acts as part of their activity
• note too, then - doesnt this then tell us that
• criminals in fact do know and understand the
• conventional norms?

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• it is our argument that much delinquency is
• based on what is essentially an unrecognized
• extension of defenses to crimes, in the form
• of justifications for deviance that are seen
  as
• valid by the delinquent but not by the legal
• system or society at large
• Cohen one of the most fascinating problems
• about human behaviour is why
  men
• violate the laws they believe in

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• denial of responsibility (mens rea vs. actus
  rea)
• denial of injury (mala in se vs. male prohibita)
• denial of victim (victim precipitation)
• condemnation of the condemners
• appeal to higher loyalties (friendship, family,
• higher principles)

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• but does the neutralization theory apply to,
  say,
• domestic violence? homicide? sexual assault?

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4. Akers A Social Learning Theory of Crime
(1994)
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