Edwin Sutherland Critique Of Law

High crime rates are an ongoing issue through the United States, however the motivation and the cause of crime has yet to be entirely identified. Ronald Akers would say that criminality is a behavior that is learned based on what an individual sees and observes others doing. When an individual commits a crime, he or she is acting on impulse based on actions that they have seen others engage in. Initially during childhood, individuals learn actions and behavior by watching and listening to others, and out of impulse they mimic the behavior that is observed. Theorist Ronald Akers extended Sutherland’s differential association theory with a modern viewpoint known as the social learning theory. The social learning theory states that

White Collar crime is not a crime unto it self, but instead a criteria that has to be met in order for a crime to be considered as White- Collar Crime; (Blount, 2002) hence the reason why Corporate Crime is also considered as White- Collar Crime. At the same time, White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime can be seen as distinct criminological categories, however, in order to reveal this, this essay will firstly be exploring Sutherland's definition of white collar crime and the perplexity with this definition of white-collar crime. It will then be looking at the modification which had to take place with Sutherland's definition of white-collar crime in order to established a distinction between white-collar and corporate crime.

And on the other hand how “Code of the Streets” shows links to the Differential Association and Social Learning theories of crime. The Differential Association (closely related to Social Disorganization theory), developed by Edwin Sutherland, and Social Learning theory, developed by Ronald Akers, both theories of crime are theories that try to explain, at a micro-level, why individuals rather than groups of individuals commit crime (Feldmeyer, Differential Association and Social Learning, 2015).

From birth, our families, friends, and society influenced our choices. We were told what we could and could not accept. The music we listened to, the food we ate, and the clothes we wore were all influenced by someone in our community or household. These experiences from your childhood tend to determine the choices we will make as adults. We are living in a world that approaches life with a black or white perceptive, meaning decisions in life are either morally right or morally wrong. Differential Association Theory is defined as a criminological theory created by Edwin Sutherland that focuses on criminal behavior being learned through association with others (Walsh, 559). The theory focuses on an individual’s life that could lead them to a life of crime.

He disagreed and argued that respectable people from the upper social classes committed a great deal of harmful criminal acts in the course of their occupations and in the furtherance of their economic and business interests (Quinney, 1964). According to Sutherland (1949), upper-class criminality was ignored by the government and the general public because the perpetrators did not fit the common stereotype of the criminal. A white-collar offender is referred to as a person who commits a financially motivated nonviolent crime through a business and/or governmental job (Braithwaite, 1985). Within criminology, the term white-collar crime was clarified further by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (Quinney, 1964).

Most everyone goes home after a long day of work and watches the news. Think, what is usually reported? The weather, local activities, headline news, or daily criminal activity. Shootings, stabbings, homicides, etc. are all discussed by media anchors these days. This causes most everyone in our society to become familiar with crimes that are considered street crimes. What most people don’t hear about on the news is what is considered white-collar crime, sometimes known as corporate crime. White-collar crime not only is less reported in the media but also receives weaker punishments than street crime. This paper will first discuss the similarities between the two types of crime and then explain why their punishments are strongly

White-collar crime poses a vexing problem for the criminal justice system (CJS). It is an

This paper examines the concepts of criminological theory, the history of criminological theory, differential association theory, and the effectiveness of Boys & Girls Club of America. The basis of criminological theory is to provide an explanation for what causes crime and criminal behavior. The differential association theory was a leading sociological crime theory that was created by Edwin H. Sutherland. This theory argues that delinquent behavior is learned through interactions and communication with other peers. The purpose of this theory was to develop a theory that could be applied universally among all crimes and criminal behaviors, including white collar crime. Differential association argues that delinquent behavior is learned from an excess of definitions favorable to law violation, and vice versa for nondelinquent behaviors. This theory has its fair share of criticisms; the testability has been scrutinized for the inability to operationalize the concepts of differential association. Specific mentoring programs, such as the Boys & Girls Club of America, were created to establish a positive environment for youth for development. The Boys & Girls Club’s mission is to provide developmental guidance to youth to reach their full potential as responsible citizens. Members have expressed that these clubs provide a caring, nurturing environment, an atmosphere to learn positive behaviors, and assistance in developing diverse skills and abilities. This

Most people, when they hear the word “crime,” think about street crime or violent crime such as murder, rape, theft, or drugs. However, there is another type of crime that has cost people their life savings, investors’ billions of dollars, and has had significant impacts of multiple lives; it is called white collar crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines white collar crime as

Certain theories have been discussed in the textbook and other readings for the purpose of explaining the crimes of white-collar. One of the theories under discussion is the strain theory that explains more of the reasons as to why such crimes happen. White collar crime is the violated position of trust done by someone whose main role is formally related to that of another person for personal gain or advantage. General strain theory on white collar crimes is a criminological theory

The causes of white collar crime are covered along with examples of what constitutes white collar crime, like price fixing and money laundering. This lesson focuses on several theoretical perspectives of white collar crimes. The Theory of Differential Association was one of the first theories of criminology. It's well known for focusing on sociology and the influence of others who are involved in crimes.

White R & Haines F, Crime and Criminology: An Introduction, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2000.

     Sutherland argued that the concept of differential association and differential social organization could be applied to the individual level and to the group level respectively. While differential association theory explains why any individual gravitates toward criminal behavior, differential social organization explains why crime rates of different social entities differ from each other's. In his fourth edition of Principles of Criminology he presented his final theory of differential association. His theory has 9 basic postulates:

White Collar Crime by Edwin Sutherland, published in 1949, is a study in the theory of criminal behaviour. Sutherland states that this book is an attempt to reform the theory of criminal behaviour only, not to reform anything else. And although it may include implications for social reforms, this is not the objective of the book. Sutherland define white collar crime as ‘a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation’ (pp. 9). He adds that it excludes many crimes of the upper class, such as murder, intoxication, and adultery, because these are not usually part of their occupational procedures. He goes on to describe white collar crime as being similar to juvenile delinquency in the sense of the stigma generated from each crime. In both of these crimes the procedures of criminal law are altered so as not to attach stigma to the offenders. Finally, Sutherland writes that crimes are committed across all social classes, not just people in lower classes or living in poverty, contrary to popular belief at the time of publication.

Key components of differential association theory could be described in nine important propositions: 1) criminal behavior is learned, 2) criminal behavior is learned through interaction, 3) the major part of learning criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal groups, 4) criminals learn the definitions favorable to crime from these others and the techniques of committing crime, 5) the classification of law as unfavorable or favorable will determine the particular direction of the motives and drives, 6) a person becomes delinquent because an excess of definitions favorable to the law violation rather than definitions unfavorable to the violation of the law, 7) differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity, 8), all of the mechanisms that would be involved with any other type of learning are available in the process of learning criminal behavior by criminal and anti-criminal patterns, and 9) criminal behavior is not explained by general