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WEEK 10 – SOCIAL PROCESS/LEARNING THEORIES OF CRIME

Introduction

Sutherland’s development of differential association theory Aker’s work of

differential reinforcement other social learning theories

Evolution of control theories of crime, emphasising on social bond and Hirschi’s control

theories

Most assumes criminal behavior is learned behavior

o Others believe offending is the result of natural tendencies controlled by social

processes

Social process theories assume the individuals learn why and how to commit crimes

through a process of socialization

Learned from significant others (ie. family, friends, coworkers)

Examine how individuals interact with other individuals/groups and how the learning

that takes place in these interactions leads to a propensity towards criminal activity

Learning theories – explain how and why we learn from significant others to engage in

criminal rather than conventional behavior

Control theories – emphasize personal or socialization factors that prevent individuals

from engaging in selfish, antisocial behavior

Learning Theories

How individuals learn criminal behavior from people they typically associate with

Assume tabula rasa (blank slate)

o People have no tendency towards or away from committing crime

Criminal behavior learned through cultural norms

Influence of peers and significant others on an individual’s behavior

3 theories: differential association, differential identification, differential reinforcement

Differential Association Theory

Introduced in late 1930s by Edwin Sutherland

Explained how criminal values could be culturally transmitted to individuals from

significant others

Theoretical model with 9 principles

o Most interesting - #1 Criminal behavior is learned

Completely opposite of Lombroso’s theory

Criminal behaviour is result of normal social processes

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o Most important - #6 A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of

definitions favorable to violate of law over definitions unfavorable to violation of

law

The essence of differential association

If there is more pro-crime values than anti-crime, individual will engage in

such criminal activity

DA came out in the same time period as Sheldon’s body type, IQ testing

o Common assumption that there was essentially something wrong with

individuals who commit crime

Crime is learned the same way as learning everyday behaviours

o Learn the techniques from associates, and motivations

DA can be seen as a highly positive, deterministic theory except that instead of

biological or psychological traits creating crime, it is social interaction and learning

o Absence of free will and rational thinking

Used classical conditioning as a basis for DA

o Learn through associations between stimuli and responses

Drawbacks to Sutherland’s DA theory:

o Believed there was a ratio of favorable and unfavorable violations of law but it is

impossible to measure such ratio

o Claim that criminals learn before committing crime but not necessarily true

because criminal association can cause crime and committing crimes causes

more criminal associations

o Inability to confirm blank slate theory because if everyone started as a blank

slate, who committed crime in the first place

o Difficult to measure by social scientists

Despite criticisms, much research supports Sutherland’s theory

Glaser’s Concept of Differential Identification

Similar to DA but with the influence of movies and television and other reference groups

outside of one’s significant others

Allow for learning to take place not only though people close to us but also through

other reference groups

o Ex) television, movie stars, sport stars, etc

Individual must identify with the person and character but need not have a relationship

with the group and the group could be imaginary

Theory virtually ignored but can now be seen as an add-on to Sutherland’s DA theory

Differential Reinforcement Theory

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C.R. Jeffrey in 1965

Critiqued and re-evaluated Sutherland’s DA

o Claimed was incomplete without some attention to an updated social

psychology of learning

In some ways, no different than rational choice theory as both focus on reinforcement

and punishment that occurs after an individual offends

Except that RC assumes human are born with capacity for rational decision making while

DR assumes blank slate and people must be socialized and taught to behave

Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner

Concerned with how behavior is influenced by reinforcements and punishments

o Positive reinforcement – behavior is strengthened/encouraged through rewards

o Negative reinforcement – behavior is strengthened due to avoidance of

punishment

o Positive punishment – behavior is weakened though adverse stimuli

o Negative punishment – behavior is weakened though lack of rewards

These principles are apparent in humans at a young age

Humans learn attitudes and behavior though a mix of reinforcements and punishments

o Rehab programs with opportunities of rewards and threats of punishment most

effective on a 4:1 scale (4 rewards, 1 punishment)

Whether deviant or conforming behavior occurs and continues depends on the past and

present rewards or punishment for the behavior and the alternative behavior

Bandura’s Model of Modeling/Imitation

Demonstrated that a large amount of learning takes place without any form of

conditioning

Claimed individuals can learn even without rewards and punishments or exposed to

associations between stimuli and responses

Humans are biologically hard-wired to observe and learn the behavior of others,

especially elders, to see what behavior is essential for survival and success

Experimented with children and Bo-Bo dolls

Everyday phenomenon demonstrated by his findings: fashion trends

Criticism:

o Appears tautological, variables and measures used to test its validity are true by

definition

o If individuals who report that they associate with those who offend, are

rewarded for offending, believe offending is good, more likely to offend

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o Same criticisms as Sutherland’s theory of chronological ordering

DA takes place after rather than before crime

DR has the most empirical validity of any contemporary model of criminal offending

o Most valid theories of human behavior in regards to crime

Neutralization Theory

Associated with Gresham Sykes and David Matza’s techniques of neutralization and

Matza’s drift theory

Thought social learning influences delinquent behavior but also most criminals hold

conventional beliefs and values

While remaining partially committed to conventional social order, youth can drift into

criminal activity

Neutralization theory – people justify and rationalize behavior through neutralizing it or

making It appear not so serious

Techniques of Neutralization:

o Denial of responsibility – influenced by outside forces, not accountable for their

actions

o Denial of injury – no one was actually hurt

o Denial of victim – see the victim as the wrong-doer and themselves as avengers

o Condemnation of the condemners – claim condemner are hypocrites

o Appeal to higher loyalties – overlook norms in favor of the rules of a belief

Endless number of excuses people make for wrong behavior

Studies that have attempted to empirically test neutralization theory at inconsistent

o Two criticisms:

Techniques are difficult to measure

Criminals may not use techniques prior to offense but after it

Summary of Learning Theories

Emphasize social process of how and why individuals learn criminal behavior

Socialization process with significant others

Empirical research has shown that leaning theories are key to understanding criminal

behavior

Control Theories

Assume all people would naturally commit crimes if it wasn’t for restraints on their

innate selfish tendencies

Assume all humans exhibit antisocial tendencies

Concerned with why individuals don’t commit crime

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At the same time selfish and aggressive behaviors decline, self-consciousness and social

emotions is formed

Without appropriate socialization, people act on their “pre-programmed” tendency

towards crime

Early Control Theories of Human Behavior

Thomas Hobbs

o All individuals are inherently disposed to take advantage of others to improve

their own personal well-being

o Constant fear created by selfishness results in humans rationally coming

together to create binding contracts that keep individuals from violating others’

rights

o Punishment is necessary to maintain an established social contract among

people

Durkheim’s Idea of Awakened Reflection and Collective Conscience

o Suggested humans have no internal mechanism to let them know when they are

fulfilled

o Automatic spontaneity – know to stop when full and start again when less than

full

o Awakened reflection – no internal, regulatory mechanism because there is more

supply than demand greed

o Collective conscience – extent of similarities people share, early idea of social

bonding

Establishes rules that control individuals from following their natural

tendencies towards selfish behavior

Conforming individuals against a common enemy

Freud’s Concept of Id, Superego, and Ego

o Id – individuals are born with a tendency towards inherent drives and selfishness

Born with equal amounts of Id drives and motivations towards

greed/selfishness

o Superego – subconscious domain of the psyche that contains our conscience

Formed through interactions between a young child and significant

others

o Ego – the only conscious domain of the psyche that mediates the battles

between the Id and superego

Represents our personality

Early Control Theories of Crime

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Throughout 1950s and 1960s, research was dominated by the learning theories

Reiss’s Control Theory

o Albert Reiss in 1951

o Claimed delinquency was a consequence of weak ego or superego controls

o No explicit motivation for delinquent activity

o Believed family was the primary source where deviant predispositions were

discouraged

o Individuals must be closely monitored for delinquent behavior and subsequently

disciplined when they break the rules

o Personal factors such as impulse restrains and delay gratification also important

Toby’s Concept of “Stake in Conformity”

o Jackson Toby in 1957

o Individuals were more inclined to act on their natural inclinations when the

controls on them were weak

o Stake in conformity – the extent to individuals have investments in the

conventional society

How much are you going to risk violating the law

o Most influential factors in individual’s decisions to offend

People with nothing to lose more likely to offend

o Emphasis on peer influences in both motivating and inhibiting antisocial behavior

depending on whether most peers have high or low stakes

Nye’s Control Theory (p. 456 Figure 7.3)

o F. Ivan Nye in 1958

o Strong emphasis on family

o No significant positive force that caused delinquency because antisocial

tendencies are universal and found in everyone

o 3 primary components of control:

Internal control – formed through social interaction, development on

conscience

Direct control – range of constraints on individual propensities to commit

acts

Indirect control – when individuals are strongly attached to their early

caregivers, if needs not met, inappropriate behavior can result

o Predicted U-shaped curve, as too much or no controls predict most chronic

delinquency

o Healthy balance of freedom and parental control was the best strategy

Reckless’s Containment Theory (p.458 Figure 7.4)

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o Walter Reckless

o Emphasizes both inner and outer containment (internal and external controls)

o Identified factors that push or pull individuals towards antisocial behavior

o Can be pushed into delinquency by social environment (ie. lack of education,

jobs) or individual factors (ie. brain disorder, risk-taking personalities)

o Can be pulled into it by hanging out with delinquent peers, television violence,

etc

o Push and pulls can force individuals into criminal activity unless sufficiently

contained/controlled

o Internal containment – person’s sense of self, internalize societal norms

o External containment – social organizations (ie. schools, churches, institutions)

o Visual image of containment theory as circles within circles

Outer (circle 1) – the social realm of pressures and pulls

Circle 2 – external containment

Circle 3 – internal containment

Innermost (4) – person’s individual level pushes to commit crime

o External factors may be more important than internal ones

o Weaker support for theory among minorities and females

o Does not go far enough towards specifying factors that are important in

predicting criminality regarding specific groups of individuals

Modern Social Control Theories

Build on earlier versions of social control by adding a level of depth and sophistication

Matza’s Drift Theory (p. 460 Figure 7.5)

o David Matza in 1964

o Individuals offend at certain times in their life when social controls are weakened

o Criticized earlier theories and their tendency to predict too much crime

Chicago school – incorrectly predict all individuals in bad neighbourhood

commit crime

Strain theory – poor people commit crime

o Soft determinism – grey area between free will and determinism

Claimed there is some degree of determinism in human behavior and a

significant amount of free will

o Social controls are week during teenage years

Parents stop having a constant supervisory role

Teenagers don’t have to many responsibilities

o Majority of individuals are free to do whatever they want

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o During times when people have few ties and obligations, they will drift in and

out of delinquency

o Drifting is not the same as a commitment to a life of crime

o Individuals do not reject conventional normative structure

o Subterranean values – socialized to use as a means of circumventing

conventional values

Allows neutralization and rationalization of criminal activity

o Criticism: does not explain the most chronic offenders

o Highly consistent with several ideas presented by control theories

Selfish tendencies are universal

Inhibited by socialization and societal controls

Appear at times when control are weakest

Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory

o Travis Hirschi in 1969

o Most influential social control theory

o Takes an assumption from Durkheim that we are all animals and thus naturally

capable of committing criminal acts

o However, we can be adequately socialized to become tightly bonded to

conventional entities

o The stronger the social bond, the less prone to engaging in crime

o Made up of 4 elements:

Attachment

Most important factor

Affectionate bonds between an individual and their significant

others

Without healthy attachments, probability of acting

inappropriately increases

Commitment

Investment a person has in conventional society

One’s “stake in conformity”

If they have much to lose, less likely to commit crime

Very hard to instill commitment within conventional society for

offenders

Involvement

Time spent on conventional activities

More time spent in constructive activities will reduce time

devoted to illegal behaviors

Moral belief

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Moral beliefs concerning laws and rules of society

Individuals who feel course of action is against moral belief is less

likely to follow it

o Criticism:

Components of social bond may predict criminality only if they are

defined in a certain way

Effect of attachment on crime depends on to whom one is attached

Better explain why individuals start offending rather than why they

continue or escalate

Integrated Social Control Theories

Tittle’s Control-Balance Theory

o Charles Tittle in 1995

o Proposes that the amount of control to which one is subjected and the amount

of control one can exercise determine the probability of deviance occurring

o The balance can even predict the type of behavior likely to be committed

Less likely to offend when person has balance of controlling and being

controlled

o More control (control deficit) – commit predatory or defiant acts

o Excessive control (control surplus) – commit acts of exploitation or decadence

o Initial empirical studies reported mixed results with both surpluses and deficits

predicting same types of deviance

Hagan’s Power-Control Theory

o John Hagan and colleagues

o Focus on the level of control, patriarchal attitudes, parental positions in

workforce and household structure

o Balanced households less likely to experience gender differences in the criminal

offending of children

Assumes households where mother and father have similar levels of

power at work, mothers less likely to exert control on their daughters

Dissimilar levels of power – more likely to suppress criminal activity in

daughter, encourage assertiveness and risky activity among males

o Empirical tests provide moderate support but recent studies specified the

validity of the theory in different contexts

Mothers had more influence in reducing delinquency in males than

fathers

Perceived threats of embarrassment and formal sanctions varied

between more patriarchal and lass patriarchal attitudes on crime

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A General Theory of Crime: Low Self-Control

1990, Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson, general theory of crime

Assumes individuals are born predisposed towards selfishness, self-centered activities

and that only effective child-rearing and socialization can create social control

Without adequate socialization, individuals follow natural tendencies to become selfish

Assumes self control must be established by age 10 or individuals will forever exhibit

low self-control

Emphasis on individual’s ability to control him/herself

o Degree of control over own decisions and control themselves

Implicate a series of personality traits and behavior

o Ex) risk-taking, impulsiveness, self-centeredness, short-term orientation, quick

temper

Psychological Aspects of Low Self-Control

o Significantly lower levels of anticipated shame but higher levels of perceived

pleasure

o Individuals who lack self-control will be oriented towards gaining pleasure and

taking advantage of resources and towards avoiding negative emotional feels

that are primarily induced through socialization

Physiological Aspects of Low Self-Control

o Chronic offenders show greater arousal towards danger and risk taking than the

possibility of punishment

o Individuals are encouraged to commit risky behavior due to physiological

mechanisms that rewards their risk-taking activities by releasing “pleasure”

chemicals

o Physiological and psychological explain why certain individuals favour risky

behavior

o Offenders perceive a significantly lower level of internal sanctions

Psychological and physiological aspects of low self-control may help explain gender

differences

o Females more likely to experience internal emotional sanctions

Summary of Control Theories

Oldest and most respected explanations of criminal activity

Fundamental assumption that humans have an inborn, selfish disposition that must be

controlled through socialization

Policy Implications

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A number drawn from learning models

Supply many opportunities for positive reinforcements, rewards for good behavior

o More effective than punishments, especially for criminal offenders

Rehabilitation programs that teach “think before you act”

Group counseling and peer-therapy not an effective strategy

The need for more parental supervision to health develop self-control and create strong

bonds to conventional society

Early parenting and building attachments or ties to pro-social aspects of individual’s

environment

Increase ties between early caregiver/parents and children

o More control over individual behavior

Social programs that teach parents how to best nurture, monitor and discipline young

children

Conclusion

Emphasis on social processes as the primary reason why individuals commit crime

Learning theories – people are taught to commit crime

Control theories – people offend naturally and rather must be taught to not offend

A lot of programs can be enforced

Readings: Examining the Role of Differential Association and Techniques of Neutralization in

Explaining Corporate Crime

Nicole Leeper Piquero, Stephen. G. Tibbetts, Michael B. Blankenship

Introduction

Several theories have been applied for white collar and corporate crimes including

deterrence, rational choice, self-control, organizational strain

DA theory and neutralization rarely applied to white collar crime

DA explains white collar crime as a result of learned definitions and experiences

Attempt to assess the role of definitions, drives, motives and neutralizations in

explaining a particular type of corporate crime, dangerous pharmaceutical drug

distribution

Theoretical Framework

Originally white collar crime was explained as criminal behavior as the result of poverty

or social class status

Argued that criminal behavior is learned though differential associations

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o Involving mechanical techniques, and intellectual techniques (motive, drives)

Crime results when the weight of definitions favorable to law violation exceed the

weight of unfavorable definitions

Importance of DA by suggesting frequency, duration, priority and intensity of

associations vary

o Associations exposed first, more frequently for a longer time with greater

intensity will leave a greater impact

Family and friends most influential group

Influences upon an individual’s decision making process can and will vary across

different social settings

Corporate culture becomes an intimate personal group that influences an individual’s

decision-making process

Two additional neutralization techniques on top of Matza and Sykes’:

o Defense of necessity – if any act is perceived as necessary, then one need not

feel guilty about its commission even if it is considered morally wrong

o Metaphor of ledger – balancing good and bad acts, if an individual has

accumulated a surplus of good acts then a bad act can be mitigated because of

the surplus of goods

White collar criminals are believed to have no committed themselves to a criminal way

of life, instead they maintain a crime-free self image

Current Research

Builds upon previous work on learning theories and white collar crime in 3 ways:

o Utilizing a vignette research design, circumvent issues raised by temporal

ordering concerns

o Investigate techniques of neutralization used by white collar criminals for a

particular type of corporate crime

o Present an empirical assessment of differential association and types of

neutralization to account for a type of corporate crime at the individual level

Purpose of paper is to explore how differential association and techniques of

neutralization relate to intentions to engage in a type of corporate crime, the

distribution of pharmaceutical drug known to be harmful to consumers

Test 4 hypotheses:

o Assess how respondents’ associations with others related to their own decision

making process

o Assess how respondents employ a variety of techniques of neutralization in their

decision-making process

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o Examine whether these effects hold after controlling for several other variables

including deterrence considerations

o Examine whether age moderates how techniques of neutralization related to

offending decisions

Method

Data collected from 133 students enrolled in an MBA program at one university

Complete a questionnaire that presented a scenario regarding the promotion and sales

of a hypothetical drug that was banned

Respondents asked to report their decision on the avenue that should be taken, as well

as to estimate their perceptions of others regarding their decision

Asked a variety of questions that dealt with their attitudes towards various aspects of

such a situation

Asked to provide demographic information about themselves

Dependent Variable

Solutions/Intentions to Commit Corporate Crime

o Self-reported level of the extent to which they would further or inhibit the

distribution of the drug which is known to harm persons

o Measure coded on a scale ranging from 1 to 6

1. Recall drug immediately and destroy all existing inventories

2. Stop production but allow inventories to be sold

3. Stop all advertising and promotion but continue distribution to physicians

who want it

4. Continue efforts to effectively market until its sale is actually banned

5. Continue efforts to effectively market while taking legal, political and

other actions to prevent banning

6. Continue efforts to market in other countries after banned in the USA

o The mean score was 2.57

Independent Variables

Favorable definitions

o Asked a series of questions regarding the extent to which some of those closest

to them would support the decision they made

o Ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree)

o All 4 DA measures were predicted to be correlated with intentions to commit

corporate crime

Techniques of Neutralization

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o Operationalized techniques around the same general concepts by Matza and

Sykes

o Ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) with 3 as midpoint

o Higher scores on all 5 items indicated stronger levels of neutralization and

consistent with theoretical framework

o Dispositions expected to interact with age as older respondents were predicted

to use more neutralization decision to commit corporate crime

Government Exaggerates Dangers to Consumers

o Denial of injury was operationalized by asking respondents to give the response

that best expressed their belief for the following statement: “The government

exaggerates the danger to consumers from most products”

o Also relates to denial of responsibilities

o Assume companies that produce such items should not be held responsible if

injuries do happen to occur from usage

Regulations Impede

o Respondents asked to give the response that best expressed their belief for the

following statement: “Government regulations impede business”

o Allow individuals to apply blame of the act onto strict regulations placed on

businesses by government

Profit Most Important

o Respondents asked to give the response that best expressed their belief for the

following statement: “Profit is emphasized above everything else at my place of

work” in order to serve as a proxy for the technique of appeal to higher loyalty

o Allows individual to alleviate feelings associated with the act by placing the

blame onto the goals of the company

Caveat Emptor Motto

o Asked to give their response that best expressed their belief for the following

statement: “Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) is the motto of my employer”

o Shifts blame onto the victim by allowing respondent to claim that the victim

should have known better

Anything to Make a Profit

o Asked to give their response that best expressed their belief for the following

statement: “Where I work, it is alright to do anything to make a profit unless it is

against the law”

o Deny responsibility by placing it onto the organization he/she works for

o Dodges blame by allowing the company to responsible

Control Variables

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7 variables were measured to control for respondent’s demographic characteristics

o Age – ranged from 22-55, mean 30.43

Positively relates to intention to commit crimes

o Gender – 33% females, 67% males

Females less likely to commit corporate crimes

o Race – 24% non-White, 76% White

No predictions available

o Enrolled program – 21% in executive program

Executive MBA participants predicted to have higher intentions to

commit corporate crime

o Religion – 14% no religious affiliation

Predicted to have lower intentions to commit crime

o Protestant – 38% non-Protestant affiliation

Protestants predicted to have lower scores on intention

o Political orientation – coded as 1 (very liberal) to 5 (very conservative), mean

3.28

Predicted more conservative have higher scores on intention

Respondents asked to give the response that best expressed their belief for the

following statement: “My employer worries about penalties that government regulators

might impose because of violations”

o Ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)

o Predicted high levels of worry had lower scores on intention

Estimated a series of multivariate equations in which the effects of other variables are

controlled

Expected co-worker would have the biggest influence on intentions to offend due to

proximity and importance in everyday operations

Significant inverse effects between closest friend and business professor agree have on

intentions to commit crime

2nd multivariate question

o 2 of the 5 neutralization measures found to have positive effects on intentions to

commit

Perceptions that government exaggerates dangers to consumers

Belief that profit is most important

Possible interaction between age and techniques or neutralization

o Respondents age 35+ more influenced by techniques of neutralization than

younger respondents

o Younger respondents – government exaggerates dangers to consumers

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o Older respondents – government exaggerates dangers to consumers, profit most

important and belief that anything is justified to make a profit

Conclusion

Findings support the application of differential association and techniques or

neutralization theoretical frameworks in understanding decisions to commit corporate

crime

Older respondents more likely to employ techniques

Results suggest that an employee’s corporate climate, attitudes of their closest

coworkers and the perceived attitudes of the board of directors had a positive and

significant influence on what they would do when they have to decide to engage in acts

that were unethical

Respondents will go against friends and family if they think it is a right decision

Findings also support the use of techniques of neutralization in that several measures

had a significant effect on decision s to commit a crime

Sykes and Matza’s original framework can be applied to other forms of criminality

Support studies of other empirical research

o Hollinger – older individuals more likely to use neutralization techniques

Individuals did not appear to be deterred by legal sanctions

o Does not support deterrence models of compliance and reiterates the need for

more informal measures to curb crime

Attitudes from the board of directors are typically endemic throughout the company

More research is to be done in developing more effective ways of instilling and

maintaining ethical values and responsibilities

Differential association and techniques of naturalization are related to corporate

illegalities