description Edwin Sutherland Overview
Edwin H. Sutherland was an American sociologist and criminologist whose work helped establish crime as a subject of systematic social analysis. His differential association theory proposed that criminal behavior is learned through interaction with other people, including the acquisition of motives, techniques, and rationalizations. He also introduced the concept of white-collar crime to describe offenses committed by socially respectable people in the course of their occupations.
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Edwin Sutherland ranks #22 of 245 in the Sociologist ranking, behind Barrington Moore Jr., ahead of R.W. Connell.
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What are the main principles of Sutherland's differential association theory?
Sutherland argued that criminal behavior is learned through interaction with other people, particularly in intimate groups. A person becomes more likely to offend when definitions favorable to breaking the law outweigh definitions unfavorable to it.
Why did Sutherland introduce the term white-collar crime?
He used it to challenge the assumption that crime was mainly a product of poverty or lower social class. His 1949 book White Collar Crime examined offenses committed by respectable, high-status people in the course of their occupations.
Did Sutherland believe people inherit criminal behavior?
No. Differential association treats offending as learned conduct that includes techniques, motives, rationalizations, and attitudes, rather than as an inherited biological condition.
How did Sutherland change the study of criminology?
He brought ordinary street crime and corporate wrongdoing into a common sociological framework. His work pushed criminologists to study social learning, professional misconduct, and the selective enforcement of law.
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