direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable. 6. A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to the violation of laws. 7. Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. 8. The process of leaning criminal behavior by association with criminal and anticriminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning. 9. While criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those general needs and values, since non criminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.By using the theory of Differential Association it suggests that any behavior, being violent or nonviolent, is learned based on the interactions we have with people and the values that come from those interactions. The values that one picks up from those interactions can support or oppose criminal behavior. In his finds Sutherland also noted that persons with an excess of criminal definitions will be more open to new criminal defintions and that individual will be less receptive to anitcriminal defitintions. Once those definitions are learned criminal behavior may be learned from just about anyone. Another common conception of today's society, which is also a twist to social learning is that we are what we watch. This means we tend to mimic what we see and hear on the television and radio. In 1954 the first congressional hearings took place on the effects of television violence. Although at this time television was fairly new, its strong marketing power was clearly evident. The television was telling people what to eat, what to buy, and how to act. "In the 1956 study, one dozen four-year olds watched a "Woody Woodpecker" cartoon that was full of violent images. Twelve other preschoolers watched "Little Red Hen," a peacef...
