Probation Officer Community Briefing: Differential Association Theory and Violent
Crime Prevention
As a probation officer, you will work with communities and other officers to identify
risks and integrate research with theories to explain and prevent criminal behavior. You
will need to use conflict-resolution skills, such as active listening, when you encounter
different opinions on strategies for handling offenders. Probation officers must be able to
identify the policy implications associated with criminality in society to be ready to
justify their decisions for crime prevention based on policy and evidence-based theories.
Assignment Deliverable
Sociologists and psychologists have proposed many theories over the years to try to
explain criminal behavior. Among the psychosocial theories proposed are strain theory,
Sutherland’s differential association theory, cultural transmission theory, and social
control theory. For this assessment, community residents have been notified that the
violent or sex offender from the case you’ll be selecting is planning to re-enter the
neighborhood. Residents have asked for a probation officer to attend an upcoming
meeting where the community will hold a briefing, listen to concerns, and answer
questions to manage potential conflict and resistance.
Select and use an example of violent criminal behavior from a current event in your state
and 1 psychosocial theory to interpret the criminal behavior. Use them to prepare a 525-
to 700-word list of talking points as if you were a probation officer speaking to
community residents during a briefing to justify decisions made in the case. Prepare for
, the briefing by listing the talking points that you will include in your notes while
addressing the community. Provide evidence and explain rationale for the decisions made
in the original case to support your open communication with residents.
Include the following information in your list of talking points for the briefing, with
supportive examples from your research on the selected psychosocial theory and current
event:
Criminal behavior: Summarize an example of violent criminal behavior from a current
event in your state.
Psychosocial theory: Identify a psychosocial theory and summarize its basic principles.
Explain why the selected theory or school of thought is a psychological or sociological
approach. Describe how the theory furthers our understanding of crimes of violence.
Theory-policy connection: Describe how the theory can explain the behavior which is
being targeted for prevention or prosecution. Identify a current policy that the theory may
align to or support.
Crime Prevention
As a probation officer, you will work with communities and other officers to identify
risks and integrate research with theories to explain and prevent criminal behavior. You
will need to use conflict-resolution skills, such as active listening, when you encounter
different opinions on strategies for handling offenders. Probation officers must be able to
identify the policy implications associated with criminality in society to be ready to
justify their decisions for crime prevention based on policy and evidence-based theories.
Assignment Deliverable
Sociologists and psychologists have proposed many theories over the years to try to
explain criminal behavior. Among the psychosocial theories proposed are strain theory,
Sutherland’s differential association theory, cultural transmission theory, and social
control theory. For this assessment, community residents have been notified that the
violent or sex offender from the case you’ll be selecting is planning to re-enter the
neighborhood. Residents have asked for a probation officer to attend an upcoming
meeting where the community will hold a briefing, listen to concerns, and answer
questions to manage potential conflict and resistance.
Select and use an example of violent criminal behavior from a current event in your state
and 1 psychosocial theory to interpret the criminal behavior. Use them to prepare a 525-
to 700-word list of talking points as if you were a probation officer speaking to
community residents during a briefing to justify decisions made in the case. Prepare for
, the briefing by listing the talking points that you will include in your notes while
addressing the community. Provide evidence and explain rationale for the decisions made
in the original case to support your open communication with residents.
Include the following information in your list of talking points for the briefing, with
supportive examples from your research on the selected psychosocial theory and current
event:
Criminal behavior: Summarize an example of violent criminal behavior from a current
event in your state.
Psychosocial theory: Identify a psychosocial theory and summarize its basic principles.
Explain why the selected theory or school of thought is a psychological or sociological
approach. Describe how the theory furthers our understanding of crimes of violence.
Theory-policy connection: Describe how the theory can explain the behavior which is
being targeted for prevention or prosecution. Identify a current policy that the theory may
align to or support.
