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Social factors contributing to criminal behavior
Criminal behaviors in society
Social theories of criminal behavior
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Criminals have been linked to many theories. Some are absurd, to others being logical. As a nation, we only make 5% of the world’s population. Yet, we hold 25% of the world 's population of prisoners. Many can be missing a superego from the psychodynamic psychology. Others just grew up with criminals like differential association. To many not seeing themselves at fault, but try to make the act they did less severe than it actually was, like in neutralization theory. Psychodynamic psychology was created by Sigmund Freud. Most serial killers are missing one of the factors in psychodynamic psychology. The factors are id which is always seeking pleasure, not pain. We’re born with id, while an ego helps us cope with reality. Ego is learned in …show more content…
This theory is that criminal behavior is learned during social interactions. For example, who you associate with. If you hang out with people that do crimes or delinquent behavior, you’ll eventually start doing them. I had some friends that I used to hang out with like that every weekend. They liked to throw rocks at cars, I eventually gave in one night, and did it as well. Later that night, after I dropped them off I got pulled over because the car I drove fit the description. The police found rocks, I didn’t know they were still in there, they were in the back seat where my friends sat. I got arrested, and taken to juvenile hall. The reason I even did this because, I saw how easy they got away with it. The stories they shared with me, telling me how they did it and how they never got caught. That is why I find this theory relatable. I associated with them, I started to notice how easy it was to do the things they do. I thought I could’ve gotten away with it. I shouldn’t have done those things, but I didn’t use my superego that night. I honestly ignored it, even though my head kept telling me, “you 're going to get caught!” Differential association can make you a criminal if you are around the activity you 'll eventually think how easy it is to do it. This one incident, that is costing me thousands changed my ways. Consequently, it cost me my dream to play college football. Yet this theory can make law abiding …show more content…
No one was hurt, it was just some windows.” Gresham Sykes and David Matza creators of the neutralization theory noticed that when criminals are arrested they’re quickly to blame others. Neutralization theory is when people break the law, and instead of taking responsibility they’ll point to others instead of themselves. I, myself did that after the rock throwing incident. I blamed my friends, then I kept thinking that since nobody was hurt it wasn’t a big deal. I was just trying to see the situation wasn’t as bad as it really was. The people that cannot take responsibility for their own actions are just immature. It took me a while to realize this, but it was my fault to tag along. I simply could’ve gone home that night. Except, I chose to tag along to not look like I was scared to do it. I figured since my friends do this all the time I can too. For example, when someone goes ten miles over the speed limit and gets pulled over. They will tell the officer that everyone else was speeding so why were they the only ones getting pulled over. That 's when the fingers are pointed to others, instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. The types of techniques of neutralization I used was a denial of injury. I figured since nobody was hurt, that it wasn’t a big deal. I would later come to sense that windows, especially in cars are expensive. Another technique I used was, Appeal to higher loyalties. I believed I should’ve been
Differential association theory was founded by Edwin H. Sutherland (Lilly, 2012, p. 43). This theory states that “any person will inevitably come into contact with definitions favorable to violation of the law and with definitions unfavorable to violation of the law” (Lilly, 2012, p. 44). Whichever definition is more prominent in a person’s mind, will lead to their decision of “whether the person embraces crime as an acceptable way of life” (Lilly, 2012, p. 44). Sutherland composed nine propositions that explained the theory. He explained that “crime is learned through the process of differential association” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). The nine propositions explained that “criminal behavior is learned” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). He explained that by communicating with others, especially those that are close to them they are more likely to pick up behaviors from those people. Differential association theory also explains that learning criminal behaviors “involves all the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). While learning a criminal behavior one not only learns “the techniques of committing the crime” but also the “specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes” involved with crime (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). This is theory is shown throughout the book when the young Mr. Moore was influenced by the life of crime that was present in his
There are many views on crime and deviance and many theories to why they occur.
First and foremost, the theory states that criminal behavior is learned, meaning that the behaviors of an individual are influenced and shaped by those they associate with (Clinard & Meier, 2015). The primary reference point here is the nuclear family. Parents teach their children how to walk and talk, who grow up with siblings or in some cases, elderly relatives. With good reason, it is widely held that these interactions create the foundation of the individual’s conception of societal norms and values. That being said, if the individual is capable of assessing proper behavior in society, they are also capable of learning what is considered
There are many different views on the origins of criminal behaviors within societies. One possible reason for why people commit crimes could be because they learned it from others. Edwin Sutherland works to explain this tactic through his theory of differential association. His theory states that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others in intimate, personal groups. The learning of criminal behavior depends on the strength of the relationship with those who commit deviant actions. This learning also depends on their definitions of legal codes. For example, some people in society rationalize traffic speeding if it is only a couple miles over the speed limit while others are strongly against speeding at any degree. When a person’s
Differential association theory best explains the burglary deviance. There are many principles associated with this type of learning theory. Edwin Sutherland’s theory discusses how crime is a learned behavior where one’s family, peers, and environment are of great influence. Differential association theory seeks to prove that criminal behavior is learned and this paper will evaluate the connection between the two.
Social learning theory was first developed by Robert L. Burgess and Ronald L Akers in 1966 (Social Learning theory, 2016). In 1973, Akers wrote a book entitled Deviant Behaviour: A Social Learning Approach, which discussed Aker’s conception of the social learning theory. He developed social learning theory by extending Sutherland’s theory of differential association (Cochran & Sellers, 2017). Social learning theory is based on the principles of Pavlov’s operant and classical conditioning. Akers believes that crime is like any other social behavior because it is learned through social interaction (Social Learning theory, 2016). Social learning theory states that the probability of an individual committing a crime or engaging in criminal behaviour is increased when they differentially associate with others who commit criminal behavior (Cochran & Sellers, 2017). Social learning theory is classified as a general theory of crime, and has been used to explain many types of criminal behaviour (Social Learning theory, 2016). Furthermore, social learning theory is one of the most tested contemporary theories of crime. There are four fundamental components of social learning theory; differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement and imitation (Social Learning theory,
Secondly, differential association varies based on the intensity, duration, frequency, priority, and timing of one’s process of learning. Through this notion, the individual’s self is disregarded and more emphasis is placed on the extrinsic factors. Furthermore, “it is an individual’s experiences and the ways in which the individual defines those experiences which constitute to the learning of criminality”. (Gongenvare & Dotter, 2007,
...ifferent crime patterns and thought processes of criminals. The reasons can only come from these theories and will help the justice systems become more prepared to react towards different crimes. However, with adding some enhancements, projects and experiments these two theories have the potential to change the criminology realm forever.
Social learning theory argues that individual behavior is shaped through the process of reinforcement and punishment. It argues crime is largely detrmined during childhood as a result to incompetent parenting, and tends to persist thereafter.. Differential reinforcement is defined as the balance of anticipated or actual rewards and punishments that follow or are consequences of behaviors. Social learning theory focuses on four principles: Differential association, differential reinforcement, imitation and definitions. The debt of differential association theory can be seen in these for principal said to affect the individual's probability of committing law violations.
In addition to Freud’s stages of development his best-known concepts are those of the id, ego, and superego (Crain, p. 268). The id personality called ‘the unconscious” is the personality that focuses on maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain through reflexes and drives such as hunger or bladder tensions (Crain, pp. 268-269). The id concept is impulsive, chaotic and unrealistic.
There are a variety of variables that will affect the way a person views crime. The most common factors are race and ethnicity, religion, social class, education, and ethics. These variables are the most common way to differentiate the belief structures our society possess . Our belief systems are not innate, they are set in place; it is a learned ideal. In essence, a person’s perception of crime is based on their upbringing and background.
In order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the criminal behavior theories, the word theory needs to be defined. “A theory is an explanation. It tells why or how things are related to each other. A theory of crime explains why or how a certain thing or certain things are related to criminal behavior.” (Bohn and Vogel)
ociological theories of criminal behavior focus their attention on environmental factors that play a role in shaping criminal behavior. Unlike the psychological and biological perspectives, these theories mainly focus on the macro level, and their explanation of crime is group orientated rather than individualized based. However, there are micro-level sociological theories, such as rational choice theory, that attempt to suggest the motivation for the individual who chose to engage in criminal behavior. The contemporary sociological theories that will be examined in this post will include the social conflict theory, social disorganization theory, and rational choice theory.
“What is deviant to sum isn’t deviant to others”. For example a girl has a piercing on her tongue and got in school suspension for violating the schools dress code policy. Crime is a violation of the social norms that have been written into law. Every society has its own written laws, so the behaviors that are considered criminal depend on a society’s legal standards. The basic principles of differential theory are that criminal behavior is learned, learning is a byproduct of interaction, learning occurs within intimate groups, criminal techniques are learned, perceptions of legal code influences motives and drives, differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority and intensity, the process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal with anti-criminal and criminal
Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, particularly those that affect behavior in a certain context. It is a field of work with myriad branches such as neuropsychology, clinical psychology, educational and developmental psychology, health psychology, criminal psychology and many more. The study of psychology as a whole is a grand object of intrigue that I am not entirely familiar with, but very aware of. I have seen many educational psychologists help students in my past. Criminal psychology in particular is the study of the will, thoughts, intents, and reactions of criminals and whoever partakes in criminal activity. In order to become a criminal psychologist one must first earn a bachelor's degree, a master's