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This paper will provide an explanation into how differential association theory explains burglary. Burglary, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I), considers a property crime a Type 1 Index Crime because of its potentially violent nature. The F.B.I. breaks burglary down into three sub classifications. This paper discusses the elements of the crime of burglary and what constitutes a structure or dwelling. It will discuss a brief history of the deviance, trends and rates, and how it correlates to the specific theory that this paper will also discuss. 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. Under common law some many years ago, burglary was the breaking and entering of a dwelling during the night for the purposes of committing a felony or a larceny (Bernasco and Luykx 2003). Under common law, there were a couple reasons for this specific definition of burglary. First, as Bernasco put it, breaking is the act of creating an opening by disabling any part of the dwelling meant to serve as a prevention tool against intrusion. Secondly, nighttime was an important element of burglary by common law standards; law-makers viewed people as unable to protect themselves during the middle of the night. Under common law, it was not enough to merely enter a dwelling, the act of breaking had to exist; if the entry occurs through an unlocked door, then burgl... ... middle of paper ... ...ance of a child engaging in a neutral activity as it discourages and prevents that child from coming into contact with a person who acts in a criminal nature. There are many research findings that support differential association theory. Pratt and his associates discovered that the association between crime and differential association theory are fairly strong (Siegel 239). Works Cited Wim Bernasco and Floor Luykx, “Effects of Attractiveness, Opportunity, and Accessibility to Burglars on Residential Burglary Rates of Urban Neighborhoods,” Criminology, Vol. 41, No. 3, 2003, p. 981-1002. Lawrence Friedman, “Crime and Punishment in American History,” BasicBooks, 1993, p. 109-111. Print. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/property-crime/burglarymain Larry J. Siegel, “Criminology,” Cengage Learning, 2012, p.236-40.
Differential Association Theory The film “Blow” covers many different topics of differential association theories. The attitudes, the values, and the motives for criminal behavior as learned behavior. The film Blow, goes into the start of a young kid name George Jung, his parents want him to have values and live a wonderful life for himself. George is raised with father owning his own business, a stay home mother.
“Animal Kingdom” is a movie about the criminal story of a 17 years old boy call Josh. His mother was died due to heroin overdose, he had no choice but to live with his grandma and the three uncles. The story is about how Josh was influenced by this crime family and to step in an uncontrollable situation. In the movie “Animal Kingdom”, the main character Josh has committed in crime, for example he stole a car, provided false declaration, and shoot dead. The differential association theory and self-control theory will be used to explain Josh criminal behaviors. The differential association theory suggested that criminal behaviors is a process of learning through interaction and communication with others (Sutherland, 1947). The self-control theory
It is widely believed, and reported that crime is higher in communities with higher populations of minority residents. While the authors of Criminological Thought (1990), overviewed what they considered the foundational theorists and contributors to the field of criminology, not all of those examined within the text emphasized the same things. It is the writers position that three of those contributors examined within the book, the respective theories of Earl Richard Quinney, Edwin Sutherland, and Robert Ezra Park, specifically Park’s Social Disorganization Theory, Quinney’s Conflict Theory, and Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory are often utilized to describe the plight of instability in urban communities and crime. This paper
Crime causation is looking at why people commit crimes. There are many theories that have been developed to explain this. The theories can be grouped into eight general categories of which one is the Classical theory (Schmallegar, 2011, p. 79). A subset of this theory, rational choice theory, will be specifically looked at to explain the crime of burglary. Just as no one causation theory explains all crimes committed, the rational choice theory itself does not completely explain why all burglars commit their crimes. Therefore, the pros and cons of the rational choice theory will be discussed in relation to the crime topic of burglary.
In the past, according to the online Wikipedia encyclopedia, the common law definition of burglary, was breaking and entering of the dwelling of another at night with an intent to commit a felony therein. In the present, according to criminal.findlaw.com, the modern common law definition of burglary, is typically defined as the unlawful entry into almost any structure (not just a home or business) with the intent to commit any crime inside (not just theft/larceny). No physical breaking and entering is required; the offender may simply trespass through an open door. The Criminal law hand book written by Paul Bergman and Sara Berman states that the law has changed because burglary laws were more rigid, and they required the government to prove that a defendant at night forced open a door, a window, or some other part of a building to gain entry before it was called burglary. Unlike the present, going into a building any time of the day without consent through an open window or an unlocked door constitutes a break and entry for purposes of almost all burglary statutes. Even a partial entry can constitute a burglary.
Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory can help us address these issues (the theory was meant to explicate how criminals came to
Situational crime prevention in some crimes is more successful than that of developmental. Situational Crime prevention takes an approach that the victim is responsible for implementing measures to protect themselves whilst developmental needs programs to be undergone by the offender. The two prevention strategies will be discussed in relation to burglary.
Wilson, James and Herrnstein, Richard. "Crime & Human Nature: The Definitive Study of the Causes of Crime" New York: Free Press, 1998.
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)
From 1991-2000, statistically there was a dramatic decline in crime nationally. The statistics studied were of all categories of crimes considered serious, including: homicides which decreased by 39%; rape which decreased by 41%; robbery which decreased by 44%; aggravated assault which decreased by 24%; burglary which decreased by 41%; auto theft which decreased by 37%; and larceny which decreased by 23%. The statistics show a range of decline of 23-44%! (United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation 1990, 2000. Uniform Crime Report. Washington, D.C.) The evidence indicates that the benefit of declining crime rates are concentrated on specific groups with...
An integrated theory is a combination of 2 or 3 theories that offers many explanations on why crime is occurring, compared to a traditional criminal theory that just focus on one type of aspect (Lilly et al.2010). The purpose of integrated theories is to help explain many aspects into what causes criminal behavior and why one becomes delinquent. From this an argument arises can integrated theories be used to explain all criminal behavior. Integrated theories are successful in explaining certain aspects of crime on what causes one to become deviant; however one theory alone cannot explain why an individual engages in crime. This paper will examine three integrated theories and look in-depth how these theories can explain different aspects on why criminal behavior occurs and the weakness of each theory. The three integrated theories that will be discussed in this paper are Cloward and Ohlin Differential Opportunity theory, Robert Agnew General Strain theory, and lastly Travis Hirschi’s Social Bond theory.
Burglary is typically recognized, from a legal perspective, as the unauthorized entry into any type of structure. A common misconception is that the crime of burglary is specific to breaking into a home or business; however, this is not the case. Moreover, for a burglary to occur there is no need for a physical breaking and entering, in fact, a burglary can be committed by an individual simply trespassing and walking into a structure through an open door. “Most states and the Model Penal Code use the same basic definition of burglary and incorporate the same three basic elements of which include the unauthorized breaking and entry into a building or occupied structure with the intent to commit a crime inside” (Reuters, 2013).
...tt Decker showed in their book that there are many aspects of criminals to consider. “Burglars on the Job” is the definitive book about how burglars work. It provides many profound insights for those interested in the mentality of criminals as well as anyone who wants to protect their home. Although primarily an academic study, "Burglars" is a fascinating piece of criminology from which we can all learn something. After recently reading this book, I find myself pondering various aspects of deviance when I am traveling through different neighborhoods than my own. I compare my previous thoughts and misconceptions to the knowledge I learned through the reading and realize that there are so many more factors to crime than I had previously believed. This was an eye opening experience that will surely lead me to further investigate the inner workings of social deviants.
Sociologist Edwin Sutherland first advanced the idea that an individual undergoes the same basic socialization process in learning conforming and deviant acts (Schaefer 2015). Through cultural transmission, criminal or deviant behavior is learned by interacting with others. This learned behavior also includes motives and rationale for explaining the deviant acts. Sutherland used the term differential association to describe the process through which an individual develops an attitude of favorability to deviant acts that leads to violations of rules, through interactions with social groups. These acts can also include noncriminal deviant acts, such as
The U.S. Department of Labor (2011) reported the national average of unemployment for 2008 was 5.8 percent. The rate dramatically increased in 2009 with an average of 9.3 percent and 9.6 percent for 2010. While unemployment rates have increased, the FBI’s preliminary reports for 2010 show that law enforcement agencies across the U.S. have reported a decrease of 6.2 percent in the number of violent crimes for the first 6 months of 2010 when compared to figures reported for the same time in 2009. The violent crime category includes rape, murder, robbery, and aggravated result. The number of property crimes also decreased 2.8 percent when compared to the same time last year. Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. Arson decreased 14.6 percent when compared to the same time periods of 2009 (FBI, 2011).