The student will complete 2 Discussions in this course. The student will post one thread of at least 600 words. For each thread, students must support their assertions with at least 3 scholarly citations in APA format, in addition to at least 1 Holy Bible reference. The student must then post 2 replies of at least 300 words. Each reply must incorporate at least 1 scholarly citation in APA format in addition to at least 1 Holy Bible reference. Acceptable sources include the Snipes: Vold’s Theoretical Criminology, peer-reviewed articles, and the Bible.

Note: Responding to a classmate’s post requires both the addition of new ideas and analysis. A particular point made by the classmate must be addressed and built upon by your analysis in order to move the conversation forward. Thus, the response post is a rigorous assignment that requires you to build upon initial posts to develop deeper and more thorough discussion of the ideas introduced in the initial posts. As such, reply posts that merely affirm, restate, or unprofessionally quarrel with the previous post(s) and fail to make a valuable, substantive contribution to the discussion will receive appropriate point deductions.

Post-First: This course utilizes the Post-First feature in all Discussions. This means you will only be able to read and interact with your classmates’ threads after you have submitted your thread in response to the provided prompt.

Module 5: Week 5 Introduction

Overview

In this module, you will look at learning theories and social control theory. Major names in this module include Sutherland, Hirschi, and Gottfredson. Control theories are some of the few theories that are not built upon the premise that people are basically good – naturally bent toward obeying the law.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Explain the importance and prominence of Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory.
• Apply Differential Association Theory to crime problems facing America.
• Articulate the difference between control theories and most other criminological theories.
• Describe how control over others and bring controlled by others can have implications for criminal behavior.

Be sure to complete all Introduction, Learn, and Apply items in Module 5: Week 5 – Social Control & Learning Theories by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on the assigned due date. Use the Modules link on the left side of the screen at any time to view your progress in the course.