Define the differential association theory. How does the theory relate to corrections, specifically, classification?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Differential association theory, according to Edwin Sutherland, is based on the premise that the excess of definitions favorable to crime over those unfavorable to crime will increase the likelihood for a person to commit criminal activity. Thus, the association that the person has with other criminals will increase his or her likelihood to engage in further criminal behavior. Furthermore, Sutherland asserts that criminal behavior is learnable and learned in interaction with other criminally minded persons. Through this association, the inmates learn not only techniques of certain crimes but also specific rationale, motives, and so forth. This would then mean that inmates who interact with other inmates have an increased likelihood of further engaging in criminal behavior. It is with this in mind that most classification programs will seek to separate low-risk inmates from high-risk inmates as much as is reasonably possible. Indeed, this kind of separation of inmates, as well as overall public safety, is the key reason for using classification systems. Thus, for the most part, it can be said that classification systems in the field of corrections are used for the same basic premises that differential association details. Such methods of eliminating the association of inmates with one another, or at least minimizing that association, are a perfect example of how theory and application meet one another within the real world of corrections. Given that prison has been found to have a criminalization effect in which longer prison terms can lead to higher recidivism, it seems reasonable to presume that the less time an offender spends around criminal associations, the more likely he or she is to successfully reform. It is with that notion in mind that classification again becomes the important and central organizing aspect to the correctional processing of offenders.