IS DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION/SOCIAL LEARNING CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY?

Sutherland's differential association theory has long been criticized as a “cultural deviance” theory, and the critics have continued to apply this same designation to the theory's social‐learning reformulation by Akers. According to this critique, differential association/social learning...

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Published inCriminology (Beverly Hills) Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 229 - 247
Main Author AKERS, RONALD L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.1996
Blackwell
Sage Publications
American Society of Criminology
Subjects
Crime
Criminal sociology. Police. Delinquency. Deviance. Suicide
Criminology
Cultural differentiation
Culture
Deviance
Deviant Behavior
Individuals
Socialization
Sociocultural Factors
Sociological Theory
Sociology
Sociology of law and criminology
Sutherland, Edwin Hardin
Theoretical Problems
Conceptualization
Deviance
Theory
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Summary:Sutherland's differential association theory has long been criticized as a “cultural deviance” theory, and the critics have continued to apply this same designation to the theory's social‐learning reformulation by Akers. According to this critique, differential association/social learning theory rests on the assumption that socialization is completely successful and that cultural variability is unlimited, cannot explain individual differences in deviance within the same group and applies only to group differences, has no way of explaining violation of norms to which the individual subscribes, and proposes culture as the single cause of crime. This article examines the basis and validity of this cultural deviance label. I conclude that the usual attribution of cultural deviance assumptions and explanations to differential association/ social learning theory is based on misinterpretations. Then, I offer a clarification of how cultural elements are incorporated into the theory.
Bibliography:ArticleID:CRIM229
This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meetings of the Southern Sociological Society, Atlanta, April 1995. I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions on the paper.
istex:9896654F2358CB1B31CA74D39FF9DB3418BAFA60
ark:/67375/WNG-CN0MQ974-G
A Social Learning Approach
(3rd ed., 1985) and numerous journal articles and book chapters. He has conducted extensive research in his areas of interest in criminological theory, alcohol and drug behavior, sociology of law, juvenile delinquency, and corrections.
1994
Deviant Behavior
Criminological Theories
Drugs, Alcohol and Society
(1992), and
Ronald L. Akers is Professor of Sociology and Criminology and Director of the Center for Studies in Criminology and Law at the University of Florida. He is past president of the American Society of Criminology and past president of the Southern Sociological Society. He is author of
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ISSN:0011-1384
1745-9125
DOI:10.1111/j.1745-9125.1996.tb01204.x