The social process explains how people gain knowledge from their interactions with others. Several theories of crime in criminology are based on the idea of social process. The case is supported by symbolic interactionism, which investigates how people understand and define their social reality in light of their interactions with others. Additionally, it looks at how people give other people meaning (Taylor, Walton & Young, 2013). The life course perspective, also referred to as the life course theory, is a multidisciplinary paradigm utilized in the study of structural contexts, human lives, and social change. The approach integrates both observations and ideas from a wide range of disciplinary fields such as sociology, history, developmental psychology and demography among others. Specifically, the life course theory focusses on the great connection between the lives of individuals and the socioeconomic along with the historical context in which their lives unfold.
The Social Process Theories
According to the social process theories, crime is the function of individual's interactions with various processes in the society, organizations as well as institutions. People of all races, nationality or ethnic groups have the potential to develop criminal behavior if they engage in destructive social relationships. The theory has three major branches that include the social learning, social control, and labeling approaches. The social learning theory stresses that people learn and develop illegal tactics and attitudes from their interactions with criminal peers. The differential association theory of Sutherland claims that individuals acquire criminal behaviors in the same way they learn any other conduct (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin, 2016). Notably, they learn the behavior in a communication process through their interactions with others. The process of learning varies in both frequency and intensity includes the motivations along with the techniques require to commit a crime. Such individuals perceive the criminal act as more beneficial than the unfavorable consequences. Further, the differential reinforcement theory refers crime as a behavior that is learned. It lays emphases on the on the role played by rewards and punishments in the creation and maintenance of criminal acts. Finally, the neutralization theory ascertains that most of the illegal sand delinquents embrace typical values as well as attitudes. However, they master the techniques that enable them to neutralize such values and drift backward and forward between typical and illegitimate behavior.
According to the social control theories, everybody can be motivated to engage in delinquency and other antisocial behaviors, but the societal bonds control them. The containment theory asserts that internal factors such as discontentment or the urge for immediate satisfaction induce people towards crime. Furthermore, external pressures such as hostile living conditions along with external pulls that include companions who are different plays a significant role towards the indulgence of individuals in crimes (Halfpenny, 2014). For instance, a child born and brought up in a family that is economically disadvantaged may have the need to fulfill his needs such as clothing to fit a particular group. Since his family cannot afford such luxuries, he may learn delinquent behaviors that will eventually transform him into a criminal. Nevertheless, an individual with a positive self-image is unlikely to be induced into crime. The social control theory of Hirschi on certain activities and values that can play a significant role in the prevention of offenses. They include involvement in conformist activities along with belief and commitment to traditional values.
The labeling theory that individuals become criminals when some influential society members label them as such, and they assert such labels as their personal identity. The theory emphasizes the role played by societal reactions to illegal activities as the primary cause of imminent criminality. A critical principle in the labeling perspective is the differential application of law to benefit those with social and economic power and penalize the defenseless. The created stigma has detrimental impacts on a person's self-image. Lemert argues that in primary deviance, norms with little impact on an individual are violated and forgotten quickly whereas, in secondary deviance, the act is noted by significant others and agents of social control who relate the negative label (Phillipson, 2014). For instance, a person steals a few coins from the neighbor, and other people realize and call him a thief. The offender is likely to organize his personality along with behavior around the consequences of the deviant behavior.
Life Course Theories
The life course theories present an assimilated approach to illuminate criminality and admit that several factors such as economic, personal or social influence delinquency. Several causal factors over the course of life may appear more or less important at distinct stages in the life course yet they may reinforce, initiate or even reduce the delinquent behavior. The nature of people's social interactions along with the importance of the causal influences on criminality change as they make critical transitions in their lives. The various life course theories of crime include Moffit's delinquency theory, interaction theory, Sampson and Laub's age-graded theory along with Farrington's theory of delinquent development. Moffit claims that two distinct pathways lead to the development of delinquency which includes the adolescent-limited antisocial development and life-course-persistent antisocial development. Though the prevalence of the life-course-persistent antisocial is little, it accounts for a significant percentage of criminality as well as criminal acts. The basis of this antisocial behavior exists in a bad parenting, neuropsychological defects, heritable personalities and lower intellectual capacity (Snyder & Deaux, 2012). For example, a child develops antisocial behavior, but since the parents do not correct it earlier enough, it develops into criminality.
The interactional theory perceives involvement in delinquency as something that unfolds with time and has a beginning, duration, and termination for most offenders. Different influences are important to an individual at different ages. During childhood and early adolescence, the family attachment is the primary determinant of whether the youngsters will embrace the typical values and norms which will shield them from delinquency. However, peers and the youth culture replace the family during mid-adolescence. An individual's family and his place in the normal society shape his personal behavioral choices in adulthood. For instance, a person with lower intellectual level may not perform well in school. As a result, the teachers and his parents may reprimand him for the poor performance. Such a person is more likely to drop out of school and engage in antisocial behaviors to comfort himself from the feeling of failure. Eventually, the person will participate in delinquent acts, and this will be the onset of criminality.
Conclusion
Convincingly, the social process and life course theories focus on the development of delinquency and crime. Several factors such as diverse living conditions may induce people to engage in criminal behaviors for immediate gratification. Besides, lack of parental guidance may lead children to delinquency. In most cases, adolescents indulge in delinquent acts due to the desire for material goods to maintain status with their peers. Close parental supervision, effective childrearing, and consistent discipline reduce the childhood risks and consequent delinquent and antisocial behavior. During adulthood, good jobs coupled with residential relocation can promote resistance from criminal acts.
References
Downes, D., Rock, P., & McLaughlin, E. (2016). Understanding deviance: a guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking. Oxford University Press.
Halfpenny, P. (2014). Positivism and Sociology (RLE Social Theory): Explaining Social Life. Routledge.
Phillipson, M. (2014). Sociological Aspects of Crime and Delinquency (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Snyder, M., & Deaux, K. (2012). Personality and social psychology. In The Oxford handbook of personality and social psychology.
Taylor, I., Walton, P., & Young, J. (2013). The new criminology: For a social theory of deviance. Routledge.
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