Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Lecture Notes
Chapter 10: Social Process and Control Theories of Crime
Learning Objectives
10.2 Distinguish differential association theory from differential reinforcement theory.
10.4 Explain the key tenets of integrated social control theories, with special focus on low self-
control theory, such as what personality traits are involved.
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
i. Socialization is an integral part of human beings.
ii. This chapter deals with the concept of socialization and its role in exhibiting
criminal behavior.
iii. For the purpose of this study, learning and control theories are employed.
II. Learning Theories
i. Learning theories seeks to explain how criminal and noncriminal behavior
is learnt through cultural values people internalize.
ii. A key feature of learning theories is recognizing the influence of peers and
significant others on an individual’s behavior.
A. Differential Association Theory
i. Differential association theory: A theory of criminal behaviour that
emphasizes association with significant others (peers, parents, etc.) in
learning criminal behaviour.
ii. Gabriel Tarde’s imitation theory: It states that people imitate one another.
iii. Three laws of imitation
a. People imitate one another in proportion as they are in close contact.
iv. Elements of Differential Association: Nine specific statements
a. Criminal behavior is learned.
b. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a
process of communication.
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
c. The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within
intimate personal groups.
d. Learning criminal behavior includes: Techniques of committing the
crime and specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and
attitudes.
e. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from
definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable.
v. It is important to understand the cultural context when Sutherland developed
his theory in the early to mid-20th century. At that time, most academics, and
society for that matter, believed that there was something abnormal or
different about criminals.
vi. Crime is learned the same way—through interactions with individuals with
whom we are close—and from them we learn both the techniques and the
motivations.
vii. Differential association theory is just as deterministic as were the earlier
ix. Classical Conditioning
a. Classical Conditioning: A learning model that assumes that
animals, as well as people, learn through associations between
x. Reaction to Differential Association Theory
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
a. Some people assume that Sutherland’s theory is concerned only with
associations between criminals. If this were the only relevant type of
b. Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime and did much of the
seminal work on that topic. So perhaps it is not so surprising that
much of the support for differential association theory is found in the
context of corporate crime.
c. Another interesting criticism that has been leveled at differential
association theory is the argument that if criminal behavior is learned
and people are born with a blank slate (i.e., tabula rasa), then who
first committed crime if no one taught that person the techniques and
motives for it?
d. One of the biggest problems with Sutherland’s formulation of
differential association is that he used primarily one type of learning
xi. Glaser’s Concept of Differential Identification
a. Differential identification: A theory of criminal behavior that
emphasizes various types of social learning, specifically classical
B. Differential Reinforcement Theory
i. Jeffery included the concept: People can be conditioned via rewards or
punishments, into behaving in certain ways.
ii. Differential reinforcement theory: A theory of criminal behavior that
emphasizes various types of social learning, specifically classical
conditioning, operant conditioning, and imitation or modeling.
iii. Operant conditioning: A learning model based on the association between
an action and feedback following the action.
iv. Modeling/imitation: A major factor in differential reinforcement theory that
proposes that much social learning takes place via imitation or modelling of
behavior.
v. Elements of Differential Reinforcement Theory
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
a. Social learning theory: Represent modification of Sutherland’s nine
principles of differential association.
vi. Differential Reinforcement Theory Prepositions
a. Differential reinforcement theory may appear, in many ways, to be
no different than rational choice theory. Both models focus on
punishments and reinforcements that occur after an individual
offends.
b. Differential reinforcement theory is far more deterministic than
vii. Psychological Learning Models: Operant Conditioning
a. Assumption of operant conditioning: It assumes that the animal or
human is a proactive player in seeking out rewards, not just a passive
entity that simply receives stimuli, which is what classical
conditioning assumes.
b. Positive reinforcement: A concept in social learning in which
people are rewarded by receiving something they want.
c. Negative reinforcement: A concept in social learning in which
people are rewarded through removal of something they dislike.
d. Research findings: Humans learn attitudes and behavior best through
viii. Bandura’s Theory of Imitation/Modeling.
a. ‘Monkey see, monkey do’ phenomenon.
b. Simply observing the behavior of others, especially adults, can have
profound learning effects on the behavior of children.
ix. Reactions to Differential Reinforcement Theory:
a. Reed Adams criticized the theory for incorrectly and incompletely
applying the principles of operant conditioning. Further, Adams
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
C. Neutralization Theory
i. Associated with techniques of neutralization and drift theory.
ii. Sykes and Matza claimed that social learning influences delinquent behavior,
but they also claimed that most criminals hold conventional beliefs and
values.
iii. More specifically, Sykes and Matza argued that most criminals are still
partially committed to the dominant social order.
iv. According to Sykes and Matza, youths are not immersed in a subculture
committed to extremes of either complete conformity or complete
nonconformity.
v. People justify and rationalize behavior through “neutralizing”: In other
vi. Techniques of Neutralization
a. These techniques allow people to neutralize their criminal and
delinquent acts by making them look as though they are conforming
to the rules of society.
b. Denial of responsibility: Individuals may claim that due to outside
forces they are not responsible or accountable for their behavior.
c. Denial of injury: Criminals may evaluate their wrongful behavior in
d. Denial of the victim: Criminals may perceive themselves as avengers
and the victim as the wrongdoer.
e. Condemnation of the condemners: Criminals neutralize their
behavior through “a rejection of the rejectors.”
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
g. Two common types of excuses that white-collar criminals use:
Defense of necessity and Metaphor of the ledger.
D. Reaction to Neutralization Theory
i. Researchers have improperly measured the acceptance of neutralization
technique.
ii. Researchers noticed: Temporal ordering problem.
III. Control Theories
i. Control Theories: Assumes that all people would naturally commit crimes if
not for restraints on the selfish tendencies that exist in every individual.
ii. Concerned with explaining why individuals don’t commit crime or deviant
behaviors.
iii. Tremblay and LeMarquand’s reported that antisocial dispositions appear
early in life. For most young children aggressive behaviors peaked at 27
months. These behaviors included hitting, biting, and kicking.
A. Easy Control Theories of Human Behavior
i. Thomas Hobbe’s Social Contract
a. Hobbes claimed that the natural state of humanity was one of
greediness and self-centeredness, which led to a chaotic state of
b. Alleviation of chaos: Hobbes claimed that by creating a society and
forming binding contracts (or laws), this would alleviate the chaos
by deterring individuals from violating others’ rights.
ii. Émile Durkheim’s Idea of Collective Conscience
a. Collective Conscience: Primary element of regulatory force.
b. Humans have no internal mechanism to let them know when they are
fulfilled.
1. Functions of collective conscience: Ability to establish rules
2. Allows people to unite together in opposition against
deviants. This enemy consists of the deviants who have not
internalized the code of the collective conscience.
f. Most control theorists claim that individuals commit crime and
iii. Freud’s Concept of the Id and Superego:
a. Inherent, selfish tendency must be countered by controls produced
from the development of the superego.
b. Superego: Formed through the interactions with the elders.
B. Easy Control Theories of Crime
i. Reiss’s Control Theory
a. Reiss claimed that delinquency was a consequence of weak controls
that resulted in weak ego or superego controls among juvenile
probationers.
b. Reiss assumed that there was no explicit motivation for delinquent
activity.
c. Family: Entity discouraging deviant predispositions.
d. Close supervision and personal factors: Played important role.
ii. Toby’s Concept of Stake in Conformity
a. Individuals were more inclined to act on their natural tendencies
when the controls on them were weak.
b. Stake in conformity: Influential factor.
c. One distinguishing feature of Toby’s theory is his emphasis on peer
iii. Nye’s Control Theory
a. No significant positive force causes delinquency, because such
antisocial tendencies are universal and would be found in virtually
everyone if not for certain controls usually found in the home.
b. Three primary components of control: Internal control, direct
control, and indirect control.
iv. Reckless’s Containment Theory emphasizes on inner and outer containment.
a. Predictive factors that push and pull towards antisocial behavior.
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
C. Modern Social Control Theories of Crime
i. Matza’s Drift Theory
a. Earlier theories have a tendency to predict too much crime.
b. Soft determinism: The gray area between free will and
e. Does not explain most chronic offenders.
f. Consistent with assumptions:
1. Selfish tendencies are universal,
3. The selfish tendencies appear at times when controls are
weakest.
ii. Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory
a. A control theory that assumes that individuals are predisposed to
commit crime and conventional bonds prevent or reduce offending.
b. Stronger the social bonding, individual is less likely of committing a
crime.
c. Bond is made of four constructs: Attachments, commitment,
D. Integrated Social Control Theories
i. Tittle’s Control-Balance Theory:
a. Proposes that following factors determine probability of deviance:
Amount of control one is subjected to and amount of control one can
exercise.
b. Imbalance in these factors, likely to cause deviance.
ii. Hagan’s Power-Control Theory
a. The primary focus of this theory is on the level of patriarchal
IV. A General Theory of Crime: Low Self-Control
Schram, Introduction to Criminology 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
i. Low self-control theory proposes that individuals either develop self-control
by age 10 or do not. Those who do not will manifest criminal or deviant
A. Psychological Aspects
i. Low self-control: Due to emotional disposition.
ii. Low self-control: Low levels of anticipated shame and high levels of
perceived pleasure.
V. Policy Implications
i. Emphasizes positive prosocial role models.
ii. Head Start programs: Attempt to provide youths with more positive or
favorable definitions of conventional behavior.