TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE
1. QUESTION ONE
SUTHERLANDS NINE PROPOSITIONS (30 MARKS)
2. QUESTION TWO
SOCIAL DISORGANISATION CHICAGO SCHOOL (30 MARKS)
3. QUESTION THREE
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL (15 MARK)
4. QUESTION 4
According to Kohlberg, serious offenders may have a moral orientation that differs significantly
from that of law-abiding citizens. Discuss the three stages in the development of moral thinking
and decision making (15)
5. QUESTION 5
Explain the following statement. Cohen and Felson argue that certain changes in the modern world
have provided motivated offenders with a far greater number of opportunities to commit crime
(15)
6. QUESTION 5
Discuss Bandura's social learning theory of aggression and its importance to explain criminal
behaviour (15)
7. Question 1
Critically discuss the two variations of the labelling theory (25)
8. Question 2
Evaluate the contribution of Hirschi's theory to criminology (25)
9. Question 3
Discuss how each of the five reactions to anomie is a way of coping with the imbalance between
goals and means (15)
10. Question 4
The decision to offend (rational choice) is based on six propositions. Present a detailed discussion of
the six propositions (15)
11. Question 5
Discuss the importance of criminal family studies to criminology (10)
12. Question 6
Describe the assumptions of the Positivist school (10)
, 13. Question 5
Discuss the importance of criminal family studies to criminology (10)
14. Question 1
Evidence to support the supposition that criminality is inherited in the same way as physical
characteristics has been obtained from three sources. Discuss these three sources in detail (25)
15. Question 6
Indicate how criminal behaviour is explained according to Eysenck's biosocial theory (10)
16. Question 7
Conflict theory
CMY3701 ESSAY EXAM PREPARARIONS
October-November 2015 Exam SECTION A (Answer two questions)
QUESTION 1
,"Acquiring the disposition needed to commit crime is more important than learning the
techniques used in committing crime" Analyse this statement in terms of Sutherland's nine
propositions (30)
Refer: CMY3701 Study Guide, pp. 98-102 Summary:
•According to Sutherland the criminal behaviour was learned through social interactions , In order
to describe this learning process , he developed the concept of differential association . There are 9
propositions which have been set in accordance to the fundamental principles association which
explained the process whereby a person becomes involved in crime E.Joubert (2014:98-102).
Proposition 1 : Criminal behaviour is learnt
The different association argument is that all forms of behaviour , criminal behaviour is
learnt through interaction with other people , this eliminates the roles of heredity , human
nature and innovation as a causation of deviant behaviour , these individuals may derive
from well stable homes, whereby the social norms and values are accepted and also
followed , but the behaviour that is learnt from deviant friends has an overall influence on
the individual (Joubert 2014:98) .
Proposition 2: The criminal behaviour is learned when the individual interact with the significant
others through the process of communication .
Proposition 3: The learning process occurs mainly within intimate personal groups .
In accordance to the proposition two and three its states that the criminal behaviour is
learned through active involvement with the significant others in a process of
communication ,the parents have influence in the process of education whereby the
language, habits and customs are acquired is accepted as a given . When the child becomes
older the behaviour is initially shaped by the parents comes increasingly under the influence
of peers, and that is why the parents are usually concerned about their children’s choice of
friends. According to Sutherland’s theory, the influence of media on the learning process is
regarded as minimal.
Proposition 4: During the process whereby the criminal behaviour is learnt it’s entails the following:
• The learning the techniques which are required to commit a specific crimes (which may be simple
or complex)
• The availability of the necessary motives and the driving force, rationalisation and the attitude.
Proposition 5: The specified direction which is behind the motives and drive is learnt from the
definitions of the legal codes as favourable or unfavourable .The determinants are dominance of
either the criminal or conventional influences in the person’s as whether that particular person will
regard crime as an acceptable way of life . The definition that is favourable or unfavourable for
instance towards breaking the law its makes provision of the key to different associations because
this definition acts as an determinant of an individual’s values or mind set . Even within the parental
home , children are able to learn definitions that favours breaking the law for instance are the
parents continuously or regularly committing traffic violations and also returning from work with
office supplies such as paper and pens or even discussing any possible means of evading tax .
, • The transfer of values, no matter how positive the intention, may lead to the development of a
negative definition.
• An otherwise law-abiding parent who says that it is acceptable to steal to feed your children
probably regards it as an argument that will reinforce a sense of commitment to the family (``I will do
anything for my children, even steal''). On the other hand, a parent who has violated the law and
who has been to prison, for example, may make his or her children aware that theft is wrong. In both
these instances, the child receives conflicting definitions or messages.
Proposition 6- A person becomes involved in delinquency or crime when the preponderance of
definitions is in favour of breaking the law.
• When the influence of definitions favouring crime carries more weight than the influence of
definitions that discourage breaking the law, this preponderance will encourage the learning of
criminal behaviour.
• A school pupil or student who associates regularly with friends who abuse drugs may also be
influenced to learn to smoke dagga or use other drugs.
Proposition 7-Differential association varies in respect of frequency, duration, priority and intensity.
• Its not all the associations that carries the same weight and Sutherland theory provides for
variations in frequency , duration, priority and intensity , frequency may be regarded as how often
the person is exposed to favourable conditions of crime and duration is connected to the time which
is spent in each exposure . Priority specifies the phase in which certain association commences for
instance the definition which is learned or adopted during childhood which has a greater impact
rather than definition which are learnt in a later in life . Intensity projects the extent degree of
identification with certain associations. The more a child identifies with a person, admiring that
Reflects the degree of identification with certain associations. The more a child identifies with a
person that particular person the more the weight will be attached to the definitions which are
provided by the person.
Proposition 8- The process of learning criminal behaviour by means of association with criminal and
anti-criminal patterns involves all the mechanisms that apply in any learning process.
• Cognition, conation and affectation, are the three mechanisms of learning.
• Cognition forms the information control centre where all incoming stimuli are processed.
Cognition stores our thoughts and experiences.
• The function of conation within the learning process is the ``performance guiding factor.'' Conation
establishes the pace at which we perform a learning task and the autonomy we exercise when
learning. Some people will be slow to respond and first think a matter over and consider the options.
Others respond more quickly. Conation also consists of our skills of fluidity, dexterity, mobility and
coordination.
• Affectation runs concurrently with the interaction of cognition and conation in the learning
process. Affectation is made up of feelings, emotional responses and values. 9. Although criminal
behaviour is an expression of general needs and values, the offence is not explained by such needs
and values, because noncriminal behaviour is an expression of the same needs and values.
