This article will provide an explanation on how Differential Association Theory explains burglary. Burglary, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), considers a property crime a Type 1 index crime due to its potentially violent nature. The FBI divides burglaries into three subclassifications. This article discusses the elements of the crime of burglary and what constitutes a structure or dwelling. It will discuss a brief history of deviance, trends, and rates and how it relates to the specific theory that will also be discussed in this article. Differential association theory best explains the deviance of burglary. There are many principles associated with this type of learning theory. Edwin Sutherland's theory discusses how crime is a learned behavior in which family, peers, and the environment have a great influence. Differential association theory seeks to demonstrate that criminal behavior is learned, and this article will evaluate the connection between the two. Under common law a few years ago, burglary was the breaking into a dwelling at night for the purpose of committing a crime or theft (Bernasco and Luykx 2003). Under common law, there were a couple of reasons for this specific definition of burglary. First, as Bernasco stated, breaking is the act of creating an opening by disabling any part of the home intended to serve as a prevention tool against intrusions. Second, nighttime was an important element of burglary by common law standards; legislators considered people incapable of protecting themselves at night. According to common law it was not enough to simply enter a house, there had to be an act of breaking and entering; if entry is through an open door, then burglary...... middle of paper ......ance of a child engaged in a neutral activity as it discourages and prevents that child from coming into contact with a person acting of a criminal nature. There are many research findings that support the differential association theory. Pratt and his collaborators found that the association between crime and differential association theory is quite strong (Siegel 239). Works Cited Wim Bernasco and Floor Luykx, “Effects of Actressness, Opportunity, and Accessibility to Burglars on Residential Burglary Rates of Urban Neighborhoods,” Criminology , vol. 41, no. 3, 2003, p. 981-1002. Lawrence Friedman, “Crime and Punishment in American History,” BasicBooks, 1993, p. 109-111. Print.http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-us/2010/crime-in-the-us-2010/property-crime/burglarymainLarry J. Siegel, “ Criminology”, Cengage Learning, 2012, p.236-40.