Effects Of Social Learning Theory On Juvenile Delinquency

The way individuals learn to interact with society as children tends to predict how they will interact with society and respond to its environments as adults. There are social theories that help the understanding of why individuals choose deviant behaviors and how they progress through life. Social process theories view criminal and deviant criminal behaviors as evolving mechanisms learned through societal interaction. Social development theories view deviant and criminal behaviors as part of a maturation process. Social theories are conclusions that have come about based on the response of individuals to

There are three main integrated theories that explain delinquent behaviors committed by juveniles. They are the General Theory of Crime, the Social Process Theory, and the Interactional Theory. After researching each theory, I believe that Terence P. Thornberry's Interactional Theory best explains why children commit crimes. This essay will explain in great detail the Interactional theory and discuss its advantages and disadvantages.

The fundamentals of the social learning theory significantly describe offenders and their criminal behavior which is learned based on observation and imitation. A researcher by the name of Albert Bandura along with coworkers tested the social learning theory with several experiments on children and their imitation of aggression based on what they saw and were exposed to. Bandura’s focus was to prove that human behavior such as aggression is learned through social imitations and copying the actions of others. Walters (1966) gives details about the Bobo doll experiment and explains its purpose related to learning a violent behavior based on observation. In the experiment, the tested subjects were children of both sexes, ranging from the ages of three to six years. Some of the children were exposed to a non-aggressive adult, while the other children were placed in a room with an aggressive adult who would both physically and verbally attack the Bobo doll. The control group in the experiment was not exposed to any adult. During the second phase of the experiment, the children were left in a room by themselves with the toys, and watched to see if they would demonstrate the aggressive behavior like that of which they observed adults doing earlier. Walter (1966) describes the results as “children who had been exposed to an aggressive model showed more imitative physical and verbal

There are many theories that contribute to what may cause Juvenile Delinquency, one of which is called Social Learning Theory. Social Learning Theory states that behavior is modeled through observation, either directly through intimate contact with others or indirectly through media. Social learning theorist Albert Bandura, Walter Mischel, and Richard Walters indicate that children model their behavior according to the reactions they receive from others, the behavior of their parents, and the behavior they view through media.

Social learning theory has been applied to the alcohol use in college students who may be influence drinking. The social learning theory was created by Albert Bandura in 1977 when he conducted a research on children by observing their behavior. The bobo the doll experimented was created to the individuals that observed society through influential models. Children were so obsessed to pay attention to people or any behavior. The more they observed the more the behavior they imitate. Kids will do as the parents will do or any other programs that are being broadcast while viewing what they perceive. In the literature review, social learning used in a deterrence model of criminological theory was using the tenets in social learning called the social learning theory of deviance. Social learning

as a general concept, social learning theory has been applied to the many different fields of social science to explain why certain individuals develop motivation to commit (or abstain from) crime and develop the skills to commit crime through the people they associate with. Social Learning Theory (SLT) is one of the most frequently looked at theories in the criminology field. This theory was introduced by Ronald L. Akers as a reformulation of Edwin H. Sutherland 's (1947) differential association theory of crime meld with principles of behavior psychology (Bradshaw, 2011). Akers retained the concepts of differential association and definitions from Sutherland 's theory, but conceptualized them in more behavioral terms and

The Social Learning Theory is similar to the Differential Association Theory in the respect that they both depend on the approval of others. It says that "...crime is something learned by normal people as they adapt to other people and the conditions of their environment" (Bohm, 2001: 82). People learn by reinforcement weather it is positive or negative. Growing up Kody began to feel more and more that his mom no longer expressed any love or care for him, but that she only nagged him. After returning home from juvenile hall the greeting that Kody got from his mother wasn't exactly what he wanted. "I knew she meant well, but I wasn't up to it tonight. I wanted to be loved, to be missed, to be wanted, not scolded" (Scott, 1993: 173). The

Social learning theory refers to Akers’ theory of crime and deviance. Akers attempted to specify the mechanism and processes through which criminal learning takes place by explaining crime and deviance; he did this in such a way that the likelihood of conforming or deviant behavior based on the influence of an individual’s history of learning was accounted for. This theory was based off Sutherland’s differential association

Juvenile delinquency is very prevalent especially among adolescents because studies have shown that during the time of adolescence that is when delinquency tends to increase and once adolescence has passed at about 17 years of age then it tends to decrease (Adolescent Delinquency, 2002). There are many factors that can contribute to the increase of delinquency during adolescence, some of the factors can be personality, mental disorders, genetics, economic status, environment, family, and culture among others, also to understand better the causes of juvenile delinquency the social control theory is the best theory to explain juvenile delinquency as a whole (Adolescent Delinquency, 2002).

Social Learning Theory (SLT) is one of the most widely recognized theories of criminology because of it’s success in describing deviant and criminal behaviors. SLT explains how individuals learn to behave based on interaction with others, as well as through one’s experiences in their immediate environment (Miller & Morris, 2016). In addition, individual’s deviant behavior is shaped through reinforcement and punishment, imitation and differential reinforcement. Because this theory is so prominent in the criminological field, it has been researched and tested numerous times in order to prove its effects on deviant behavior. (Cochran et al, 2017).

Juvenile delinquency is a social issue in the United States today. Juvenile delinquency, is when “a violation of the law is committed by a juvenile and is not punishable by death or life imprisonment” (Juvenile Delinquency). The juvenile system is different from the adult system in many way and most juvenile delinquents are from the age of ten to the age of seventeen (Juvenile Delinquent). Once the delinquent or anyone is at the age of eighteen, they are considered to be an adult. Therefore, in the justice system they are tried as an adult. There are many different reasons why a child would commit crime, such as mental and physical factors, peer influence, home conditions, neighborhood environment and school conditions. Teens are greatly influenced by the interactions and surroundings they are around. Their behaviors can result from the parent and/or their peer influences. Parents play a great role in the child’s life and a teen’s peers also play a strong role in how the teen behaves when the parents are not insight. This research will examine links between the social environment of teens and how it influences the teens actions and behavior which leads them to commit an offense.

Social learning theory focuses on criminal acts, but does not have a way for predicting or measuring thoughts and feelings which may drive the criminal behavior. A great example of this would be crimes of passion, while

Learning theory is the belief that everyone starts off as a blank slate and is taught criminal behavior (Tibbetts, 2012, p. 142). Edwin Sutherland in the 1930s was the first to propose that significant others (parents, teachers, boyfriends/girlfriends) could pass on criminal behavior. Sutherland believed that if an individual had more people in their life that were pro-criminal behavior, they would be more likely to become a criminal (Tibbetts, 2012, p. 142). He believed this was only possible through social interactions, not from television or other forms of media (Tibbetts, 2012, p. 142). Some people criticize this theory by saying some people commit crime then find people who are like-minded (Tibbetts, 2012, p. 145). Sutherland’s theory only applies to those who learned about criminal behavior from peers than became criminals. Others also criticize it by asking if people learn criminal behavior than become criminals, who first did criminal behavior, if they had no one to learn it from (Tibbetts, 2012, p. 145).

According to Hawkins and Weis, juvenile delinquency is a social problem because it not only affects the offender, but also the victim(s) and the surrounding population. Almost two thirds of adults worry about becoming the victim of a juvenile offense, so figuring out what decreases these behaviors will be beneficial to the whole society. Prevention can be categorized as early intervention or primary prevention. Early intervention seeks out individuals who are at high risk for delinquency and primary prevention tries to prevent initial delinquency at the institutional level. Since delinquency is a social problem, it needs to be approaches with a social development model, so Hawkins and Weis integrated control theory and social learning theory

Criminal behavior is not something researchers have been able to pin point the cause of indefinitely, as there are several theories and ideas of what may lead to criminal behavior. My original thoughts can be summed up to say children's upbringing by their parents and the interactions of negative peer groups within school are underlying causes of criminal behavior. I believe these thoughts, after learning specific criminology theories, are most related to the work of Travis Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory. Social bonding theory takes the relationships and goals an individual has and examines whether these positive or negative bonds within a relationship or concerning a goal influences criminal behavior. Within my paper I will