Sutherland's Differential Association Theory

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While no theory explains criminality every time, Sutherland 's research has revolutionized sociological and criminological thinking. Sutherland disagreed with the notion that individuals became criminals due to psychological and economic factors. Instead, he claimed that individuals learned criminal behavior and the rationalizations for it through communication. Sykes and Matza expanded on this in "Techniques of Neutralization". Sutherland and Cressey, and Benson explored how white-collar criminals rationalize their misbehavior and why they often seem unrestrained by the law. Sutherland 's differential association theory provides a consistent and thorough explanation for general and white-collar criminality; numerous theorists have supported …show more content…

W. I. Thomas and George Herbet Mead 's symbolic interactionism played a pivotal role in helping Sutherland develop his theory. They claimed that the "definitions" that humans acquire through socialize shape human behavior (Cartwright, 2015, p. 161). This is one of the key propositions of Sutherland 's theory. Sutherland was also influenced by Thorsten Sellin 's cultural conflict theory (Cartwright, 2015, p. 160). Sellin suggested that different groups have diverging norms and values and conflict may arise when these groups are in contact (p. 159-161). Influenced by Sellin, Sutherland also developed the theory of differential social organization. Sutherland argued that there are divergent groups or cultures that either abide by, oppose to, or sometimes agree with the law (Cartwright, 2011, p.160). Arguably, conflict will arise when these groups come …show more content…

As mentioned, past theories focused mainly on lower-class criminality. Therefore, white-collar crimes were "omit[ted] almost entirely" in these theories and statistics (Sutherland, 1940, p. 9). Previous theories also suggested that people commit crimes because they are in poverty or suffer from psychopathic conditions (Sutherland, 1940, p. 1). However, this is false because it does not explain general criminality, and certainly not white-collar criminality; white-collar criminals do not live in

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