Differential Association

A criminological theory that supposes criminal activity is a learned behavior. Edwin Sutherland, a sociologist associated with the Chicago School, developed the theory of differential association. The term first appeared in his 1939 publication Principles of Criminology. Through his work with delinquent subcultures, Sutherland came to believe that criminality was no different from any other behavior. Deviance, he posited, is learned much in the same way that all other behaviors are learned. Differential association claims that the environment and peers help individuals determine if a behavior is acceptable or objectionable, and those individuals learn to act accordingly. Associations and interactions teach people how to behave. This general theory of crime accounts for how someone comes to break the law and explains which laws are broken. Differential association claims that criminality derives from a combination of contact with forces that value criminality and isolation from forces that scorn such behavior. For more information, see Sutherland (1939).