Chapter 3

Criminal
Etiology
 Sociological Explanations of
Criminality
Sociologists emphasize that human beings live
in social groups, and that those groups and the
social structure they create influence behavior.
Most sociological theories or crime causation
assume that a criminal’s behavior is determined
by his or her social environment, which includes
families, friends, neighborhoods, and so on.
Theories in relation to Sociological
Explanation of Criminality
A) Social Learning Theory
B) Social Control Theory
C) Conflict Theory
D) Social Reaction Theory
E) Social Structure Theories
 A. Social Learning Theory
1. Differential Association Theory
2. Differential Reinforcement Theory
3. Neutralization Theory
 1. Differential Association Theory
Developed by Edwin Sutherland, it assumes that
persons who become criminal do so because of
contacts with criminal patterns and isolation from
noncriminal patterns.
Principles of Differential Association:
●
Criminal behavior is learned.
●
Learning is a by-product of interaction.
●
Learning occurs within intimate groups.
●
Criminal techniques are learned.
●
Perceptions of legal code influence motives and
drives.
2. Differential Reinforcement Theory
Proposed by Ronald Akers in collaboration with
Robert Burgess, it is a version of the social
learning view that employs both differential
association concepts along with elements of
psychological learning theory.
 3. Neutralization Theory
This theory is identified with the writings of David
Matza and Gresham Sykes. They viewed the process
of becoming a criminal as a learning experience in
which potential delinquents and criminals master
techniques that enable them to counterbalance or
neutralize conventional values and drift back and forth
between illegitimate and conventional behavior.
 Theoritical model based on Sykes
and Matza’s observation
●
Criminals sometimes voice a sense of guilt over their
illegal acts.
●
Offenders frequently respect and admire honest, law-
abiding persons.
●
Criminals draw a line between those whom they can
victimize and those whom they cannot.
●
Criminals are not immune to the demands of conformity.
 Techniques of Neutralization
●
Denial of Responsibility
●
Denial of Injury
●
Denial of Victim
 B. Social Control Theory
Another approach is made by the social bond or
social control theory. Instead of looking for factors
that make people become criminal, these theories
try to explain why people do not become
criminals.
Four main characteristics identified
by Travis Hirschi
●
Attachment to others.
●
Belief in moral validity of rules.
●
Commitment to achievement.
●
Involvement in conventional activities.
 C. Conflict Theory
Conflict theory assumes that society is based primarily
on conflict between competing interest groups – for
instance, the rich against the poor, management
against labor, men against women, adults against
children. In many cases, competing interest groups are
not equal in power and resources. Consequently, one
group is dominant and the other is subordinate.
 ●
Radical/Marxist Theory
Although Karl Marx wrote very little about crime and criminal
justice, radical theories of crime causation are generally
based on Marx’s ideas. Among the first criminologists to
employ Marxist theory to explain crime and justice were
Richard Quinney, William Chambliss and Anthony Platt.
Radical criminologists argue that capitalism is an economic
system that requires people to compete against each other
in the individualistic pursuit of material wealth.
 D. Social Reaction Theory
The focus of social reaction theory is the
criminalization process – the way people and
actions are defined as criminal. The distinguishing
feature of all “criminals” is that they have been the
object of a negative social reaction.
 ●
Labeling Theory
This theory states that the reaction of other people and the
immediate effects of these reactions create deviance. Once
it became known that a person has engaged in a delinquent
behavior, said person is segregated from society, and a label
such as “Thief”, “Drug addict”, and “Criminal” is attached to
the person. Labeling serves as a process of segregation that
creates “outsiders” or outcasts from society, who begin to
associate with others who also have been cast out.
 Social Structure Theories
Many criminologists view the disadvantaged economic
class position as a primary cause of crime. This view is
referred to as a social structure theories. These theories
suggest that social and economic forces operating in
deteriorated lower-class areas push many of their residents
into criminal behavior patterns. They consider the existence
of unsupervised teenage gangs, high crime rates, and
social disorder in slum areas as major social problems.
 Branches within Social Structure
perspective

1.Social Disorganization Theory

2.Strain Theory
3.Cultural Deviance Theory
 1. Social Disorganization Theory
Social Disorganization Theory is based on the work of Henry Mckay
and Clifford Shaw of the Chicago School. It links crime rates to
neighborhood ecological characteristics. A disorganized area is one in
which institutions of social control, such as the family, commercial
establishments and schools, have broken down and can no longer
carry out their expected functions. Indicators of social disorganization
include high unemployment, school drop out rates, deteriorated
housing, low income levels, and large numbers of single-parent
households. Residents in these areas experience conflict and despair,
and as a result, antisocial behavior flourishes
 2. Strain Theory
This theory holds that crime is a function of the
conflict between the goals people have and the
mean they can use to legally obtain them.
Although social and economic goals are common
to people in all economic strata, strain theorists
argue that the ability to obtain these goals is
class-dependent.
Modified version of Anomie
Robert Merton