week 10 social process/learning theories of...
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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