Edwin Sutherland's Theory In Criminal Justice

Edwin Sutherland created the theory deemed “most influential” in the world of criminal justice; it is known as the theory of differential association, he proposed this theory in 1934. It states that the more you are around criminal behavior; the more likely you are to be involved in criminal behavior. In this paper I will discuss Edwin Sutherland and his theory in more detail.

Edwin Sutherland was born August 1883; he was from Gibbon, Nebraska (American Sociological Association). He received a doctorate in Chicago and continued his work over the years.

After receiving his Ph.D. he was professor of sociology, William Jewell College, 1913-19; assistant professor of sociology, University of Illinois, 1919-25; associate professor of sociology, University of Illinois, 1925–26; professor of sociology, University of Minnesota, 1926-29; University of Chicago, 1930-35; head of the Department of Sociology, Indiana University, 1935-49. He was also visiting professor of sociology, University of Kansas, 1918; Northwestern University, 1922; University of Washington, 1942 (American Sociological Association).

He wrote many books and articles that contributed to the world of criminal justice. Some of them were Unemployment and Public Employment Agencies, An Ecological Study of Crime and Delinquency in Bloomington, and White Collar Crime (American Sociological Association). He wanted to make sure that people knew that he did not study criminal behavior to try to control crime but to see how and why it affected those who came into contact with it. Sutherland wanted to try and figure out the explanation for criminal behavior and why so many people were pulled into the life of criminality.

Theory of Differential Association

The Theory of Different...

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... and you see I beat the system so you can to; and that shows them that I can do that too. They basically glamorize the life of criminality.

Policy to implement theory

A policy to implement the theory would be take kids who are at risk and bring them in to a center with other at risk kids and teach them how to handle the stress of their life. It is difficult watching criminal behavior and they may not know that what they are seeing is wrong and they may not know how to handle it. So brining the kids in and letting them discuss what is going on and let them interact together could be helpful. They could also be taught that just because you see criminal behavior and some of your loved ones are criminals does not mean that they have to also be criminals. I think that deference is important and catching a problem before it can start or get worse could be very helpful.