CRIME & SOCIAL PROCESSES

2.1 Introduction

Social processes theory shows criminality as a function of people’s interaction with

various organizations, Institutions, and process in society; people in all work of life
have the potential to become criminals if they maintain destructive social
relationships.

Social process theory has three main branches:

1. Social learning theory emphasizes people to learn how to commit crime.

2. Social control theory analysis the failure of society to control criminal tendency.

3. Labeling theory maintains the negative labels produced by criminal careers

Social process theories have greatly influenced social policies and have controlled
both treatment orientations and community action policies.
2.2 Crime & Social processes

Social process theories argue that criminal behavior in individuals develops as a

function of psychological encounters, interactions, and individual socialization. All
these encounters are related to the various institutions that include; the family,
school, the general community, and societal processes. Socialization is the process
by which an individual’s code of conduct is shaped to conform or encounter the
cultural standards put in place. The agents of socialization involved in this process
include; family, school, media, peers, and authorities like employers. When the
socialization process is positive, the individual becomes law-abiding.

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY:-

The social learning theory is one of the type of social process theory. It shows that
people learn to be vigorous by perceiving other acting aggressively to achieve
some goal or being rewarded for violent Acts.

There are two types of social learning theory:-

Differential association social learning theory:- In criminology, Differential

association theory is developed by Edwin Sutherland.

People learn to commit from exposure to antisocial definition.

# Explain the presence of crime in all elements of social structure.

# Explain why some people in high crime area refrain from criminality

# can apply to adults and juveniles.

Principles of Differential Association

1. Criminal behavior is learned as a by-product of interacting with others.

2. Learning criminal behavior occurs within intimate personal group.

3. Learning criminal behavior involves assimilating the techniques of committing

crime.
4. The specific direction of motives is learned from perception of various aspects
of legal court as favorable or not.

5. A person becomes a criminal when he/she perceives more favorable than the
unfavorable consequences to violating the law

6. It may vary in duration frequency intensity and priority.

7. The process of learning criminal behavior involves all of the mechanisms

involved in any learning process.

Drawbacks of Differential association

1. Fails to account for the origin of criminal clarity.

2. Presume criminal and Lawbreaking Acts are rational and systematic

3. Circular in reasoning

Neutralization Theory:-

It shows that law violators learn to neutralize conventional values and attitudes
enabling them to push back and forth between criminal and conventional behavior.
It explains why many lawbreaking doesn’t become adult criminals it also explains
why youthful law offender can participate in ordinary behavior.

Basics of neutralization theory

1. Criminals sometimes voice their regret over their illegal acts.

2. Offenders frequently respect and admire honest law-abiding persons.

3. Criminals define whom they can victimize.

SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY:-

This shows that people commit crime when the process binding them to society are
weakened or broken. It explains onset of crime; can apply to both lower and
middle classes has been empirically tested. What forces some people to obey rules

1. self-control

2. Commitment conformity

Self-control

A strong moral sense that renders someone incapable of hurting others and
violating social norms

Commitment of conformity

Develops with a strong commitment to conventional institutions, individual and

processes.

Contemporary social control theory

Joins the onset of criminality to the incapacitate of the ties that bind people to
society. There are 4 main elements of the social bond according to contemporary
social control theory

1. Attachment

2. Commitment

3. Involvement

4. Belief
SOCIAL REACTION (LABELING) THEORY:-

The social labeling theory is one of the types of social process theory.

Social labeling shows that people become criminals when labeled as such and
when they accepted the labels as a personal identity. It explains societies’ or
surroundings’ role in creating aberrant. It’s also explains why; some juvenile
offenders/criminals do not become adult.

Main elements of social labeling theory

1. Behaviors that are considered criminal are highly subjective

2. Crime is defined by those in power.

3. Not only are Acts labeled, so too are people

4. Both positive and negative labels involve subjective interpretation of behavior.

Contributions of social reaction theory

1. Identifies the role played by social control agents in crime causation.

2. Recognizes the criminality is not a disease or pathological behavior

3. Distinguishes between criminal acts and criminal careers.

4. Contributes to understanding crime because of its focus on interaction as well as

the situation surrounding the crime.

2.3 Conclusion

Social process theory lies on its three pillars social learning, social control & social
labeling. Social process theory promotes conventional line of behavior.

It focuses on the families and school of strength and bone. It reshapes an offenders
or criminals self image or self attitude. It helps to redirect the criminal or offender;
or helps to recover self image or self attitude of offender in the view of society.