All Social Process Theories

Theories that explain offending through the ordinary social processes by which a person learns, is controlled by, or is labeled through their interactions with others, from Sutherland's Differential Association Theory and its restatement as Social Learning Theory through Hirschi's Social Control Theory, Reckless's Containment Theory, Gottfredson and Hirschi's Self-Control Theory, Sykes and Matza's Techniques of Neutralization, and Labeling Theory. Belongs here: any theory whose mechanism is what a person learns from or is bonded to or labeled by others, rather than their position in the social structure or their biology. Does not belong here: theories that locate the cause in economic or neighborhood strain, grouped under Social Structure and Strain Theories, or in biology, grouped under Biological and Positivist Theories.