Edwin Sutherland: Differential Association and White-Collar Crime

Edwin Sutherland and the Theory of Differential Association

Sutherland was the creator of the concept of differential association and white-collar crime. Based on his research, criminal behavior is learned, thereby denying all sorts of biological or hereditary causes of deviation in its origin. He opposed positivism and racist tides that suggested race or intelligence resided in the lower capacity of criminal individuals.

The Origin and Process of Differential Association

Differential association is the origin and consequence of learning materialized through contacts with individuals who make up the most frequent groups with certain values and rules.

Nine Propositions of Sutherland's Theory

Sutherland summarized his theory into nine key propositions:

1. Criminal behavior is learned.
2. Criminal behavior is learned through interaction with other people. This requires a commitment to active learning.
3. The decisive moment in this process occurs within intimate personal groups.
4. Learning criminal behavior includes two essential aspects: the techniques for committing crimes and the rationalization of the criminal behavior.
5. Motives are learned through definitions that favor the commission of crimes.
6. An individual becomes an offender when definitions favorable to law-breaking overcome unfavorable ones.
7. Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity.
8. The learning process involves all the mechanisms inherent in any other learning process.
9. Criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, but it is not explained by those needs and values.

Understanding White-Collar Crime

According to Sutherland, theories considering poverty and marginalization as the sole explanatory factors of crime are inadequate and invalid. Many cases cannot be explained by poverty, such as the differences in crime between men and women or crimes committed by immigrants.

Furthermore, statistics often fail to account for high social status offenders who are more likely to evade the law. Those in high positions also commit violations but do not receive the same treatment as those committed by the poor.

Defining the White-Collar Offender

White-collar crime is defined as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation." This category excludes those who commit crimes outside of their professional occupations or those in the lower classes.

Why White-Collar Criminals Evade Justice

Sutherland explains the lack of enforcement regarding white-collar crime through the following causes:

• The businessman has a high status, meaning neither judges nor society generally consider them a criminal. In fact, there is often no desire to condemn them.
• Violations committed by businessmen and professionals usually do not affect specific individuals but rather diffuse interests.
• Many companies have a very high influence on elections and the appointments of lawmakers, judges, and politicians.

Sutherland explains this through the theory of association as he would with any other crime. In these cases, the individual is in contact with people who define these practices favorably.