According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) the deferential association theory was created by Edwin Sutherland starting in 1939. Cullen and Agnew (2011) provided some historical perspective in the history of the creation of the differential association theory of crime. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) Edwin Sutherland developed the basis of his theory of differential association from the work of Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) Edwin Sutherland developed his theory based on Shaw and McKay's argument that differences in crime in neighborhoods or communities resulted from exposure to and learning of criminal values, primarily from association with others in the same neighborhood. Sutherland capitalized on these ideas in his theory of differential association which according to Cullen and Agnew (2011) was the first attempt to explain crime from an individual's perspective to what social factors drive this individual to commit crime. In the beginning, according to Cullen and Agnew (2011) Sutherland's central thesis to differential association theory explains why each individual gravitates towards criminal behavior and that criminal behavior is learned through interaction with other people. Furthermore, Cullen and Agnew (2011) stated that a person becomes delinquent (criminal) due to an “excess” of “definitions” favorable to committing crimes over “definitions” unfavorable to committing crimes. Feldmeyer (lecture, 3/12/2014) stated that "definitions" can be described as exposure to the social message regarding behaviors that are acquired over time and that shape one's opinions on crime such as: motivations, rationalizations, beliefs, attitudes, life experiences. .Also, according to Feld...... half of the paper ......nce to try to explain deviant behavior in society. The similarities between micro-level learning theories and macro-level learning theories are that criminal behavior is learned through the same processes and is learned behavior taught by other criminals. The main differences between these theories are that macro level theories focus on the beliefs, norms, and attitudes of deviant cultures, subgroups, and subcultures such as: lower classes, youth, street gangs, and African American communities. While micro-level theories focus on the beliefs, norms and attitudes of individual people and do not place emphasis on the group to which these individuals may or may not belong. According to Cullen and Agnew (2011) Akers extended his social learning theory to also include some aspects of macro-level social learning theories.