Comparison Of Sutherland And Cressey's Theory

In Sutherland and Cressey’s (1947) theory suggests that criminal behavior is learned behavior that occurs through intimate communications, as well as Learning criminal behavior involves learning the techniques, motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes.. Therefore, a child’s displays of violent or aggressive behavior might be due to the observation of parents that use acts of violence and aggression in order to solve everyday obstacles. Regular observations of adults demonstrating acts of violence and illegal behavior could potentially result in an individual becoming involved in delinquent behavior, because their understanding of the legal code as rules are structured around finding criminal and deviant behavior to be normative and
The duration and frequency of one’s exposure to criminal behavior or non-criminal behavior plays an important role in determining how involved one will become with such behaviors. “Priority” refers to the idea that lawful behavior developed during childhood may persist throughout life, and delinquent behavior developed in early childhood may also persist throughout life (Sutherland & Cressey, 1960, pg. 138). The concept of “Intensity” has more to due with emotional reactions and responses to criminal and non- criminal involvement. The process of acquiring crime specific skills and knowledge occurs through one’s association and interaction with individuals who have experience in committing particular types of crimes, ultimately facilitating the learning of new techniques of committing crime, as well as increasing potential criminal
“One day my stepmother told William to take me to the railroad yard to break into boxcars” (Shaw, 1930, pg. 52-53). Stanley develops a relationship with his step brother who is a few years older then him and together they begin to partake in robberies and as a result they were rewarded for their criminal behavior. Stanley is taken under the guidance of his stepbrother and subsequently he is being taught first hand how to commit robberies and how to effectively make money through illegal methods. The positive reinforcement that Stanley received from his stepmother and stepbrother for partaking in criminal behavior, from an early age influenced his understanding of criminal and deviant behavior, by normalizing crime and portraying it to be favorable. As a child Stanley became exposed to a crime based environment in which he was continuously exposed to and encouraged to engage in deviant behavior, ultimately normalizing in his mind future criminal based