slide - e-mail: vettorato@unisal.it

La spiegazione delle ipotesi• The theory does not hypothesize that definitions favorable to lawviolation only precede and are unaffected by the initiation ofcriminal acts. Acts in violation of the law can occur in theabsence of any thought given to right and wrong. Furthermore,definitions may be applied by the individual retroactively toexcuse or justify an act already committed• To the extent that such excuses successfully mitigate other’snegative sanctions or one’s punishment, they become cues forthe repetition of deviant acts.• The theory proposes that conforming and delinquent, criminal,or deviant behavior is learned through differential exposure toconforming and deviant patterns. This includes incomplete orfailed socialization in conventional norms and values as well ascountervailing processes of imitation to deviant definition orattitudes