Learning to Engage in Crime | Instant Homework Solutions
Like Sutherland, Akers argues that we learn to engage in crime through exposure to and the adoption of definitions favorable to crime. Akers’s theory is compatible with Sutherland’s theory. Social learning theory is not competitive with differential association theory. Instead, it is a broader theory that retains all the differential association processes in Sutherland’s theory. Social learning theory retains a strong element of the symbolic interactionism found in the concepts of differential association and definitions from Sutherland’s theory. (You can find more on this topic on A Social Learning Theory of Crime – by Akers). Compare and contrast the two Sutherland vs. Akers theories. After you have done that, explain what the policy implications from Social leaning and Differential association theory are. Finally, you must also talk about the effectiveness of specific programs (i.e., interventions, treatments, etc.) that have been done based on this theory).
