Criminology Social Process Theories - 652 Words

Criminology: Social Process Theories One of the most significant news stories that have occurred recently is the David Petraeus affair. The scandal broke all over the major news networks as well as social media and has been at the forefront of the nightly news programs for the last several days. In order to understand the issue, though, one has to look at it from a criminology standpoint. There are concerns that Petraeus may have done something criminal in his actions because of the classified nature of so much of the information he had available to him. There are three different theories that can be considered here under the guise of social process. These are differential association theory, differential reinforcement theory, and neutralization theory. Differential association theory was developed by Edwin Sutherland and states that people learn what they can and cannot do (or should and should not do) regarding criminal behavior by looking at the techniques, values, and attitudes of others (Burgess Akers, 1966). The way they see others do things becomes their motivation for what they do. Was this the issue with Petraeus? There are some who would likely think so because they argue that much of politics and power are corrupt. Therefore, criminality would come naturally to these people. Of course, that is not the opinion of everyone regarding men who have power or those who are in government or other high-ranking positions. The differential association theory isShow MoreRelatedDiscuss the Nature, Scope and Objectives of the Study of Criminology.1359 Words   |  6 PagesDiscuss the nature, scope and objectives of the study of Criminology. Crime has always accompanied mankind. The oldest order available to us today, like provided in the cave paintings in France and the old books as the Bible show that this was not a stranger to us hundreds or even thousands of years ago. We can even with these materials to draw a conclusion that the development of civilization has contributed to its creation. The formation of increasingly larger clusters of human foster the developmentRead MoreFuture of Criminology1590 Words   |  7 PagesThe future of Criminology etc. Criminology is, as John Lea (1998) points out, not so much a discipline as a field, its distinctiveness is not its knowledge base but the form of its focus: theories of crime, criminal law and the relation between the two - in this it is a sub-category of the sociology of deviance. It can, and never should be, conceived of as a separate discipline, its categories and processes are social constructs, they have no separate ontological reality. 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