Chapter 8
Social Process Theories:
Learning, Control and Reaction
Criminology 8th edition
Larry J. Siegel
© 2003 Wadsworth Publishing Co.
SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES
Theories which are based on the concept
that an individual’s socialization
determines the likelihood of criminality.
According to social process theories,
all people, regardless of their race, class, or
gender, have the potential to become
delinquent or criminals.
The Influences of Peers,
Cliques and Crowds
• To what extent is our behavior influenced by others?
• Do all people affect our behavior to the same degree?
• Do different kinds of people have different kinds of effects on our behavior?
• How do these questions relate to delinquency and crime control?
Socialization Processes
of Society

Family relations

Education experience

Peer relations

Child abuse; Sexual abuse; Neglect

Interaction with authority figures

Institutions (church attendance and religious beliefs)
QUESTIONS
Does delinquency cause
educational failure?
Or,
Does educational failure
cause delinquency?
SOCIAL PROCESS
THEORIES

Social learning theories: differential
association theory, differential reinforcement
theory, and theory of neutralization.

Social control theories: containment theory
and social bond theory.

Social reaction theory (labeling).
Social Learning Theory:
Differential Association

Sutherland and Cressey.

Criminal behavior and criminal techniques are
learned. Learned behavior is a byproduct of
interacting with others.

Learned behavior begins when a person is in their
adolescence from close friends and relatives.

Criminal behavior occurs when the definitions
toward crime outweigh the definitions against
crime.
Social Learning Theory:
Differential Association
Major Premise:
People learn to commit crime
from exposure to antisocial
definitions.
Differential Reinforcement Theory

Akers

Direct conditioning – Differential Reinforcement

Negative Reinforcement

Applies the concepts of differential association with
psychological learning theory – behavior is influenced
by those groups that control reinforcement and
punishment which defines normative definitions.
Social Learning Theories;
Differential Reinforcement Theory
MAJOR
PREMISE
Criminal behavior
depends on the person’s
experiences with rewards
for conventional behaviors
and deviant ones. Being
rewarded for deviance
leads to crime.
STRENGTHS
Adds learning theory
principles to differential
association. Links
sociological and
psychological
principles.
Neutralization Theory

Matza and Sykes

Criminal behavior is learned.

Stresses that youths’ learning of behavior is
based on rationalizations that enable them to
neutralize values and drift back and forth
between accepted social values and illegal
behavior.
Social Process Theories
Neutralization
MAJOR PREMISE
Youth learn ways of
neutralizing
moral restraints and
periodically
drift in and out of criminal
behavior.
QUESTION
If criminal behavior is learned, how do learning
theorists account for the origin of criminal
definitions?
How do learning theorists explain spontaneous
and wanton acts of violence and damage?
SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY
Control theories maintain
that all people have potential to become criminals
but that bonds to conventional society
prevent them from violating the law.
Social Control Theories

Reckless’ containment theory – a strong selfimage insulates a youth from crimogenic
influences.

Hirshi’s social bond theory – onset of criminality
is linked to the weakening of social ties or
bonds.
Social Control Theories:
Containment Theory
PREMISE
Society produces pushes and
pulls toward crime. In some
people, they are counteracted
by internal and external
containments, such as a good
self-concept and group
cohesiveness.
Elements of the Social Bond
Commitment
Attachment
Criminal
Behavior
Belief
Involvement
Hirschi’s Control Theory
MAJOR PREMISE
A person’s bond to society prevents him or her from
violating social rules. If the bond weakens,
the person is free to commit crime.
STRENGTHS
Explains the onset of crime; can apply to both middleand lower-class crime. Explains its theoretical
constructs adequately so they can be measured.
Has been empirically tested.
Testing Social Control Theory

Hirischi’s research among 4,000 junior and senior high school
students showed that:







Students who had strong attachment to parents were less likely to
commit criminal acts.
Commitment to conventional values was indicative of conventional
behavior.
Youths involved in conventional activities were less likely to engage in
criminal behavior.
Youths involved in unconventional activities were more delinquent
prone.
Youths with weak and distant relationships with others tended toward
delinquent behavior.
Those who shunned unconventional acts were attached to their peers.
Delinquents and nondelinquents shared similar beliefs about society.
Opposing Views
of Social Control Theory

Some contend delinquents may be influenced by close
relationships with deviant peers and family members.

Not all elements of the bond are equal.

Many believe that social control theory cannot explain all modes
of criminality.

Bonds change over time and this is not accounted for.

Some contend that delinquency weakens bonds, not that
weakened bonds lead to delinquency.
SOCIAL REACTION THEORY
or
LABELING THEORY
This theory holds that
criminality is promoted by
becoming negatively labeled
by significant others.
Labeling Theory:
The Basis for Self-Concept
Decision
to Label
Creation
of a New
Identity
Detection
by the
Justice
System
Acceptance
of Labels
Initial
Criminal
Act
Deviance
Amplification
QUESTION
According to the previous diagram,
is labeling a “cause” of crime
or,
the result of crime?
Labeling Theory:
Social Reaction Theory
MAJOR PREMISE
People enter into law-violating careers
when they are labeled for their acts and
organize their personalities around the
labels.
Social Reaction Theory:
Differential Enforcement
This theory holds that the law
is differentially applied –
it favors those in power in a particular society.
Labeling Theory:
Differential Social Control
MAJOR PREMISE
Social rejection leads STRENGTHS
Considers the
to self-fulfilling
role of social
prophecy. Weak
control in the
social controls
label making
encourage
process.
deviance.
Is Labeling Theory Valid?

Contributions of Labeling
Theory:

It identifies the role played
by social control agents in
crime causation.

It recognizes that
criminality is not a disease
of pathological behavior.

It distinguishes between
criminal acts and criminal
careers.

Criticisms:

It is unable to specify the
conditions that must exist
before an act or individual is
labeled deviant.

It fails to explain differences
in crime rates.

It ignores the onset of
deviant behavior.
Social Process Theory
and Social Policy

Learning theories influence development of
facilities to “unlearn” criminality.

Control theories influence programs to increase
bonds to established values, like the Head Start
program.

Labeling theories influence diversion and
restitution programs.