NCJ Number
105540
Journal
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology Volume: 19 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1986) Pages: 195-209
Date Published
1986
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Differential association, or social learning, theory supports the notion that if management fraud is to be reduced significantly, the ethics of business personnel will have to change.
Abstract
According to differential association, individuals violate the law because their social world contains multiple moralities, both anticriminal and procriminal. Individuals associate differentially with the two kinds of values, and their behavior depends on which set is dominant in their life experiences. Studies of the relationship between attitudes toward theft and size of victim organization, price control and rationing during World War II, and labor relations law compliance provide support for the principal of differential association. It also is supported by an analysis of the psychological processes of embezzlers who feel they have an unshareable personal financial problem and are able to describe the act of embezzling in words that do not conflict with a self-image of being a trusted person. In addition, three business ideologies contribute to neutralizing the unethical or illegal acts of business executives. These include the notion of 'business is business,' that necessity is a justification, and that laws are socialistic or counterproductive. Thus, people may disobey the law because they have learned that one can be moral and criminal at the same time. 24 references.