Continuing education: Toward a life‐course perspective on social learning

• Published date: 01 May 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12244
• Date: 01 May 2020
• Author: Peggy C. Giordano

Received: 5 March 2020 Accepted: 13 March 2020

DOI: 10.1111/1745-9125.12244

THE 2019 SUTHERLAND ADDRESS

Continuing education: Toward a life-course

perspective on social learning*

Peggy C. Giordano

Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University

Correspondence

PeggyC. Giordano, Depar tment of Sociology,

BowlingGreen State University,Bowling

Green,OH 43403.

Email:pgiorda@bgsu.edu

Fundinginformation

NationalInstitute of Mental Health,

Grant/AwardNumbers: MH29095, MH46410;

U.S.Department of Health and Human Ser-

vices,Grant/Award Number: 5APRPA006009;

NationalInstitute of Justice, Grant/Award

Numbers:2009-IJ-CX-0503, 2010-MU-

MU-0031;Eunice Kennedy Shriver National

Instituteof Child Health and Human Develop-

ment,Grant/Award Number: P2CHD050959;

NationalInstitute of Child Health and Human

Development,Grant/Award Numbers:

HD036223,HD044206, HD66087

∗Thisaddress was delivered at the 2019 annual

meetingof the Amer ican Society of Criminol-

ogyin San Francisco, California, on November

13,2019. It has been adapted here for publica-

tion.Suppor t forthe Ohio Longitudinal Study

wasprovided by the National Institute of Mental

Health (MH29095) and MH46410), the W.T.

GrantFoundation, and the Templeton Founda-

tion.Suppor t forThe Toledo Adolescent Rela-

tionshipsStudy was provided by The Eunice

KennedyShriver National Institute of Child

Health and Human Development(HD036223,

HD044206,and HD66087), t he Department of

Health and Human Services (5APRPA006009),

the NationalInstitute of Justice, Office of Jus-

ticePrograms, U. S. Department of Justice

(AwardNos. 2009-IJ-CX-0503 and 2010-MU-

MU-0031),and in par t byt he Center forFamily

Abstract

Sutherland’s differential association theory and the life-

course perspective have at times been conceptualized as

contrasting theories of criminal behavior. I argue instead

that our understanding of delinquency, the dynamics

underlying criminal persistence and desistance, and inter-

generational patterns will be enhanced by a more explicit

integration of these two traditions. I focus on family pro-

cesses as these are foundational intimate relationships that

remain underappreciated as a source of lifelong learning

and influence. Although family support and variations in

parental supervision have been amply investigated, “direct

transmission” takes place within the family as well as

within the confines of the more heavily studied world

of adolescent peer groups. I identify five dimensions of

direct transmission and illustrate these dynamic processes

with qualitative data from two longitudinal studies and

results of recent quantitative analyses. The analysis is

generally in line with Sutherland’s original formulation

but includes several extensions and modifications. It is

important to include a role for human agency, and for

“noncriminal” definitions and lifestyle factors, in addition

to the directly criminogenic definitions Sutherland and

subsequent researchers have emphasized. The focus on

social processes is, however, consistent with Sutherland’s

goal of highlighting limitations of psychological and

biological differences explanations.

Criminology. 2020;58:199–225. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crim © 2020 American Society of Criminology 199

200 GIORDANO

andDemog raphic Research,Bowling Green

StateUniversity, which has core funding from

TheEunice Kennedy Shriver National Insti-

tuteof Child Healt h and Human Development

(P2CHD050959).The opinions, findings, and

conclusionsor recommendations expressed in

this publication are those of the author and do

notnecessar ilyreflect the official views of the

Department of Justice, NationalInstitutes of

Health, W.T. Grant Foundation, or Templeton

Foundation.

Iwould like to thank Wendy Manning, Monica

Longmore,Jennifer Copp, Thomas Mowen,

JohnBoman, and Dar rell Steffensmeierfor

their helpful comments on an earlierdraf t. I also

thank Colleen Scottfor her careful manage-

mentof dat a collection relating to the studies

described, as wellas Claudia Vercellotti, who

conductedall of t he in-depth interviewsquoted

int his address.

KEYWORDS

desistance, family, intergenerationaltransmission, life-course perspective,

qualitative methods, social learning

Sampson and Laub (1993) advanced the life-course perspective (LCP) within criminology, and their

work energized research on topics ranging from age-related trends to the study of intergenerational

continuity and change. Yet even though Laub (2006) suggested in his Sutherland address that the LCP

should be considered the “soul” of criminology, it is perhaps most accurate to classify this perspective

as a paradigm or lens and set of basic principles. Accordingly, the LCP can be considered a kind of

skeleton or scaffolding upon which to build more concrete, fleshed-out theories of criminal behavior.

For example, within the context of Sampson and Laub’sresearch, it is the age-graded theory of informal

social control that represents the core of their ideas about the process of “desisting” from crime. A

major contribution was to extend key tenets of control theory beyond adolescence and the issue of

initial onset, to explore waysin which later transition events influence the likelihood of crime cessation

during adulthood.

If we accept the notion that the LCP is a general framework or lens, then it is potentially useful to

consider that other theories can similarly benefit from a thoroughgoing life-course treatment. I focus

here on differential association and other versions of social learning theory to highlight the value of

applying a life-course lens to this important—and yes—underexplored theory of criminal behavior.

This endeavor, however, does seem at odds with the idea that differential association and the LCP

should be viewed as contrasting approaches. For example, Laub (2006) suggested that it is the LCP

and not differential association that best fits knownfacts about crime (e.g., “the early onset of offending,

the decline in offending with age”; p. 239). Although the process of extending the lens to the full life

course has been useful for documenting these overall patterns and trends, the LCP itself does not really

tell us much about what is going on in the lives of the “early starters,” suggest why many individuals

reduce levels of criminal involvementin adult hood, or identify factors associated with a longer period

of persistence. Theories need to add to our understanding of these why questions and foreground the

most salient dynamic processes.

Sampson and Laub’s (1993) emphasis on social control mechanisms in general fits these criteria

well. Yet a more explicit linking of the life-course and social learning traditions and findings of prior

research provide the basis for offering several assertions. First, the specific mechanisms identified

by control theorists provide an incomplete accounting of human conduct in general and criminal