ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates different examples of the criminal behavior: ordinary human beings can become criminal offenders as a result of social processes through which they learn harmful behaviors and attitudes, and rationalizations that excuse or justify harm to others. It examines several perspectives on social learning, called social process theories, which explain how this comes about: "Social process theories hold that criminality is a function of individual socialization. The chapter considers the two social process theories—"differential association" and "neutralization and drift"—each in different ways addresses the important contribution of social interaction in the process of becoming criminal. It looks at cognitive social learning and at moral-disengagement theory. The chapter also looks at ways that organizations can better communicate with their members to render neutralization less likely, while recognizing that as an ego defense, neutralization may offer the best escape from a life of crime.
