Published on January 2020 | Criminology

Theory of Differential Association

In the broad spectrum of criminological theories on the causes of deviant behavior, sociological theories of criminality involve particular importance. These theories, the causes of such behaviors are only seen in the conditions and social interactions of the individual in their environment. However, with scientific explanations about the causes of criminal behavior, special place has the theory who gives a special importance to the delinquent's interaction with its environment. This is known as theory of various associations or more commonly known as the theory of differential association. The creator of this theory is the famous American sociologist and criminologist Edwin Sutherland, who has left indelible imprints on the relatively short but very important tradition of American criminological theories of criminality. The famous creator's lessons have been taken and modified by many prominent criminologists in their reviews of criminal etiology. As a result this lesson has also been the basis for numerous subsequent empirical research on criminal behavior. In this paper, using the comparative, theoretical, and meta-analysis methods, will be presented the views of some criminology authors and their interpretation of Sutherland's lessons on differential association. Due to this, a brief section of some empirical studies of delinquent behaviors based on E. Sutherland's lessons will be presented, and also the final discussion on these issues will be discussed.