Socialization and Crime

Socialization and Crime

Introduction

Criminality is rooted in the degree of socialization of an individual. Social interactions influence behavior of people. People interact with family, peers, colleagues, employees and other members of the society. The level of socialization achieved in these avenues play a crucial role in determining the likelihood of an individual to be criminal. The more socialized a person is, the more chance would there be of him being an honorable member of the society. Many scholars have presented theories on the relationship between socialization and crime. These theories may be classified as social learning, social control, and social interaction theories. Social learning theories are mainly attributed to Sutherland and Aker. Main contributions in social control theories are credited to Reiss, Nye, Reckless, Hirschi, Gottfredson, and Hirschi. Major contributors in social interaction theories are Frank Tannenbaum, Edwin Lemert, and Howard S. Becker.

Discussion

When a child enters this world, he is without any culture. He learns from parents, teachers, and others who transform them to cultural and civilized person. This whole process by which an individual adjusts itself to the norms and values of society is referred to as socialization. During socialization, we learn the language of our culture. We learn the roles we have to play in life. We also learn the norms of our culture. Norms are the appropriate and expected behavior in a given society. In socialization, children and adults learn from one another. Socialization makes an individual learn to adjust to the society and behave in a manner approved by the society. Socialization includes not only the process of developing habits and norms about a particular trait but also involves the transmitters of the attitudes and behaviors of the trait. These are called socialization agents (Parente et.al, 2009).

Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory in criminology is generally traced ...