Differential Association Law and Legal Definition
Differential association is a theory that criminal and deviant behavior is determined through close and frequent association with criminal or deviant behavior patterns, norms, and values.
Edwin H. Sutherland, a sociologist and professor is credited with the development of the Differential Association theory in 1939. Sutherland developed Differential Association theory to explain how it was that criminals came to commit acts of deviant behavior. According to him criminal behavior is not to be explained away by deeming the criminal simple. He avers that just as societal norms are learned through social interaction and observance, so too are social deviations.
Legal Definition list
- Different-Department Rule
- Different Cause of Action
- Different Campus [Education]
- Difference in Conditions Coverage
- Difference between first and second degree murder
- Differential Association
- Differential Diagnosis
- Differential Income Factor Method [DIF Method]
- Differentiated Marketing
- Difficult Customers
- Difficult Employees
Related Legal Terms
- Agricultural Association
- American Arbitration Association
- American Association for Justice [AAJ]
- American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS]
- American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education [AACTE]
- American Association of Law Libraries [AALL]
- American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
- American Association of School Administrators [AASA]
- American Bankers Association
- American Bankers Association Number
