Social Process and Control Theories of Crime Required Text Book: 1. Introduction to Criminology: Why Do They Do It? By Pamela J. Schram, Stephen G. Tibbetts. (Only Source). Social process theory has three main branches:
(1) social learning theory stresses that people learn how to commit crimes; (2) social control theory analyzes the failure of society to control criminal tendencies; and (3) labeling theory maintains that negative labels produce criminal careers. The social learning branch of social process theory suggests that people learn criminal behavior much as they learn conventional behavior. Differential association theory, formulated by Sutherland, holds that criminality results from a person’s perceiving an excess of definitions in favor of crime over definitions that uphold conventional values. Akers has reformulated Sutherland’s work using psychological learning theory, and he calls his approach differential reinforcement theory.
