It is defined as "a theory of deviance proposed by Edwin Sutherland that holds that violation of rules results from exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts" (p. 208). "Research suggests that this view also applies to such noncriminal deviant acts as smoking, truancy, and early sexual behavior" (p. 194). .
My interpretation of the cultural transmission theory and the differential association theory is that they go hand-in-hand with one another. The cultural transmission theory involves learning through interaction with others and the differential association theory involves exposure to attitudes favorable to criminal acts. The individual has to have interaction with others to be exposed to an attitude. .
The labeling theory is "an approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviant while others engaging in the same behavior are not" (Schaefer, 2003, p. 208). "It is also called the societal-reaction approach, reminding us that it is the response to an act and not behavior itself that determines deviance" (p. 196). "Traditionally, research on deviance has focused on people who violate social norms" (p. 196). The labeling theory's function is society tends "to focus on police, probation officers, psychiatrists, judges, teachers, employers, school officials, and other regulators of social control. These agents play a significant role in creating the deviant identity by designating certain people (and not others) as "deviant"" (p. 196).
My interpretation of the labeling theory is that people with power have the ability to label individuals as deviant or not. I believe that individuals are classified as deviant depending on their social class and race. Two people can do the same crime. One can be white and rich while the other is black and poor. The poor black man would be considered deviant while the white rich man would not.
The function of the conflict theory is "to point out that people with power protect their own interests and define deviance to suit their own needs.
