Larry J. Siegel Valerie Bell University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH Chapter Seven Social Process Theories

Institutions of Socialization –Family Relations Parental efficacy –Educational Experience Dropping out Getting Bullied –Peer Relations –Religion and Belief Social Process Theories

Different Social Theories –Social learning theory people learn the techniques and attitudes of crime from close relationships with criminal peers. –Social control theory everyone has the potential to become a criminal, but most people are controlled by their bonds to society. Crime occurs when the forces that bind people to society are weakened or broken. –Social reaction (labeling) theory people become criminals when significant members of society label them as such and they accept those labels as a personal identity. Social Process Theories

Social Learning Theories –Differential Association Theory Criminal behavior is learned Criminal behavior is learned as a by-product of interacting with others Learning behavior occurs within intimate personal groups Learning criminal behavior involves assimilating the techniques of committing crime, including motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. Social Process Theories

Social Learning Theories –Differential Association Theory The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from perceptions of various aspects of the legal code as favorable or unfavorable A person becomes a criminal when he or she perceives more favorable than unfavorable consequences to violating the law Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity Social Process Theories

Social Learning Theories –Differential Association Theory The process of learning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning process Although criminal behavior expresses general needs and values, it is not excused by those general needs and values, because noncriminal behavior expresses the same needs and values Social Process Theories

Social Learning Theories –Neutralization Theory Neutralization techniques –Denial of responsibility –Denial of injury –Denial of the victim –Condemnation of the condemners –Appeal to higher loyalties –Evaluating Learning Theories Social Process Theories

Social Control Theory –Self-Control –Commitment to Conformity –Social Bonds Social Process Theories

Hirschi’s Social Control Theory –Attachment Sensitivity to and interest in others –Commitment Time, energy, and effort spent in conventional activities –Belief Morals, values, belief in the law –Involvement Participation in convention activities Social Process Theories

Hirschi’s Social Control Theory –Testing Social Control Theory: Supportive Research Attachment Belief Commitment Involvement Social Process Theories

Hirschi’s Social Control Theory –Critiquing Social Control Theory The influence of friendship Failure to achieve Deviant involvement Deviant parents and peers Mistaken causal order Social Process Theories

Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory –Key Points Behaviors that are considered criminal are highly subjective Crime is defined by those in power Not only acts are labeled, but also people Both positive and negative labels involve subjective interpretation of behavior Social Process Theories

Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory –Consequences of Labeling Self-labeling Joining deviant cliques Retrospective reading –Primary and Secondary Deviance –Crime and Labeling Social Process Theories

Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory –Differential Enforcement –Research on Social Reaction Theory Targets of labeling Effects of labeling –Is Labeling Theory Valid? Social Process Theories

Social Process Theory and Public Policy –Social Learning Theory Highfields Project in New Jersey Silverlake Program in Los Angeles –Social Control Theory Education Family bonds Social Process Theories