Wizard's Anomie Theory

According to Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory, criminal behavior is learned as a result of socialization. This theory focuses on the associations we have with others, and how they impact our behaviors. This theory can be applied to the story of Wizard to help explain his criminal behaviors. According to Sutherland there are three different ideas that can be learned from others that can increase our chances of behaving criminally. The first are definitions about criminality. When we hear favorable definitions of crime, especially when they are weighted either in frequency, duration, intensity, or priority in life, we are more likely to favor the benefits of criminal behavior. For example, when Wizard was young and in school, he was
According to this theory, the majority of people are in pursuit of the America dream, or monetary success. However, there is a chronic gap between the shared end goal (monetary success) and the means in which we have to get there. Wizard was born into an unstable household with a single mother who struggled to keep a steady job and a distant father who bounced in and out of prison. His family had financial problems, and because of this, was forced to live in the projects in a gang-ridden neighborhood. Wizard became involved in gang-life early in his childhood, and this clearly affected his time in school. The path to economic success is aided by a stable home life and quality schooling, all in preparation for a job that will provide economic security in the future. Based on these factors, Wizard was disadvantaged compared to children who came from more financially secure families. In some cases, the inequality and imbalance in means can push people to become deviant in order to reach their goals. According to Merton’s modes of adaptation, those who go about unconventional means in order to achieve economic success or the symbols of success are called innovators—this is what Wizard came to be. Instead of following the normative path to economic success, he used criminal means to achieve these goals, instead. For example, instead of formally earning money through labor of some sort, Wizard would con adults out of bus fare money. Instead of purchasing food and other goods, Wizard would shoplift from supermarkets and other stores. For Wizard, the ends (the monetary benefits) justified the means (the illegal activity). In the pursuit of economic stability and the items of monetary value which his struggling family could not provide him, Wizard used the unconventional, albeit criminal, means he had at his disposal in order to reach these