Social Learning Theory and Aggression

Bullying is still in fact a major source of predicaments among many children, adolescents, and young adults; in the cases of schools in particular, “[o]ne out of every four students (22%) report[ed] being bullied during the school year” (US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015, ¶ 1). Concomitantly, one must accept the fact that bullying is a constant problem that requires more solicitude and awareness from the general public in order to further aid in its prevention. Nonetheless, studies conducted by Hawkins, Pepler, and Craig (2001) have also revealed that more than half of

Teacher and parent awareness is one of main obstacles in preventing bullying prevention. Teachers and parents do not take bullying as being serious and underestimate the effects it has on children (Cohen, 2008). It is reported that 85% of teachers think they intervene to stop bullying, however only 35% of students feel that teachers do (Cohen, 2008). Many parents and teachers do not have the proper knowledge on what establishes bullying. They see bullying as only being violence and ignore the verbal assaults that are occurring (Cohen, 2008). They do not know the signs to look for and have not been properly trained on how to resolve the issue (Cohen, 2008).

Gangs have been a growing issue across the United States for many decades now. Youth gang violence may have started around the ‘50s, but did not become a serious issue until the ‘80s and from there went through a downward spiral in some cities like downtown Los Angeles, which was where the notorious Bloods and Crips gangs both started. First, let’s simply define a gang as a group of people, mostly men ranging for ages 14-30, who claim territory and use it to make money for themselves and their neighborhood through illegal activities such as trafficking drugs and weapons. There are many reasons and components that are factored in when conducting research to hypothesize “why do people join gangs?” That is why it is necessary to compare and contrast all the social, biological, psychological, developmental, and substance abuse aspects and relate it to joining a gang. It is also important to touch base on the differences between males and females that join gangs, such as power differentials, social learning differences and social stratification differences.

In society today, there is a major problem We live in a society where gangs are taking over our neighborhoods in numbers. It is the responsibility of the individuals to part take in getting their neighborhoods back under control. Gangs are becoming a growing problem in American society. More young people are turning to gangs to solve problems in their lives or for acceptance. When youths join gangs, they drop all their social activities with school, family, and friends. However, individuals ruin their lives, and the chances of them having a decent education, and a successful life by getting involved in gang activity.

Schools are the most well-known settings for bullying. This is the place where students learn and socialize for most of the day. A school is a place meant to feel safe, not afraid. However, studies have shown us this is not the case. More and more students are reluctant to come to school. Why? Their peers may criticize them and abuse of them both verbally and physically. Bullying is more serious than most think. Many people just think it’s a simple hoax that was taken too far but this simple joke can lead to indelible emotional and physical scar that could hunt students for life eventually lowering their self-esteems and even ruining their lives. Schools and teachers have failed tremendously at stopping this.

Social Psychological Theories of Aggression Social learning theorists propose that behaviour, such as aggression is learnt through observation, imitation and behaviour shaping. This behaviour is learnt automatically through observation of male and female role models, for example parents, peers and media characters. Whether or not this behaviour is imitated depends on the type of reinforcement that the role model receives. Vicarious reinforcement involves the outcome of a role models behaviour, for example if a child observes a parent acting aggressively and receiving positive rewards for they are more like to be imitate this behaviour in the future, than they would be if the role model

The purpose of this study is to identify the most prevalent forms of bullying on a high school campus and identify which strategies are most effective to prevent or respond to bullying. The study will also identify the most effective strategies to improve student achievement and attendance for those students who have experienced bullying. Students must feel safe to learn. Students who are bullied have a propensity to avoid the bullies; therefore, they choose not to attend school. Poor attendance often will result in poor grades and even dropping out of school.

Bullying at school is a big problem that is found in all the schools in the United States and across the world. Since the late 1990s there have been several fatal school shootings committed by victims of bullying that have brought bullying major media attention. This has resulted in an increase of awareness about the harmful effects on the kids being bullied as well as the bullies themselves. This has brought a large amount of local, state, and nationwide programs designed to try to prevent bullying or to at least try to contain the problem. “In an effort to adequately address the problem, many schools are taking a proactive approach through prevention and intervention, but how do we know if and when such intervention is effective? First and foremost, we must have an accurate understanding of the dynamic and complex phenomenon of bullying across development and as it spans the multiple levels of the social ecology” (Casper, Meter, & Card, 2015, par 2). Many psychologists, sociologists, and school administrators have been publishing research on school bullying. Bullying is a significant threat to many children because it causes psychological problems not only for those who get bullied but also those who do the bullying. Even though bullying is a significant problem the are few solutions that can help prevent or significantly reducing bullying like reporting bullying, know the characteristics, and passing laws.

When examining and analyzing gangs and their social meshwork, it is without a doubt that gangs are seen by the majority as social pests in the community. As a whole, these numerous gangs throughout the country are more than just a bunch of criminals covered in tattoos, they are people, with feelings, who just need positivity in their lives. Most gang members, living in impoverish conditions, grew up in households were they were abused, unloved, and neglected. They grow up with no positive social support and become accustom to violence and negativity. More often than not, these children grow up in family’s were gang life is the only life they know, because their family members are gang members as well. They witness domestic abuse, and disarray, and a large majority grow up in households were a father figure is nowhere to be found. Mostly raised by single mothers, these children become hyper-masculine, and feel the need to make up for not having a father, and also because gang life is masculinized by violence and gang-banging. They come to believe that violence is normal and all of this creates a domino effect of involvement into gang life. With no social support, and no clear direction, children take it amongst themselves to find a connection with anyone willing to show them some sort of family structure. Impressionable children find themselves turning to gang life as a means to have that sense of family they never had. In a gang they feel that they are protected and feel in

Risk factors for gang membership have been identified at five major levels: individual, family, school, peers and community (Howell & Egley, 2005). For example, at the individual level early onset of delinquency and antisocial behavior among pre-adolescents could be an indication of future criminality (Moffitt, 1993). Risk factors within peer association can have an effect on whether an adolescent becomes a member of a gang. These peers may provide antisocial views, aggressive influences and possibly induce delinquent behavior if not previously present. Lastly, community environment has an effect on adolescents, especially in high-crime areas where drugs, violence associated with weapons and disorganization are prominent (Howell & Egley,

From 2002 to 206, 20% of all homicides in Urban areas could be attributed to gang violence (McDaniels, 2012). One notable characteristic of gang membership in the United States, is that youth who join gangs are more likely to engage in assault, robbery, felony theft, and breaking and entering, than their non-gang peers (Hill, et al., 2001). The lack of proper parental supervision in communities with high risk factors such as high poverty rates, is closely associated with delinquent behaviors in juveniles. It is therefore worthwhile to study the impact of socioeconomic factors in a child’s upbringing, and how such factors influence a child’s tendency to engage in deviant behavior. Consequently, it is also equally as important to study the protective barriers parents and community provide to their youth that assist in better coping with adversity.

Teenagers that live in communities where violence is rampant are particularly vulnerable. Gangs and drug distribution provide exposure to violence and violent role models and positive rewards for violent activity. Many children join gangs for recognition, status, safety, security, power, and excitement. Those that are raised under conditions of social deprivation are particularly drawn to gangs. Many youth view joining a gang as a normal and respectable, although the consequences for joining are a series of delinquent and violent acts

One of the easiest ways in order to eliminate the frequency of bullying would be to implement very strong anti-bullying programs in schools, this is the place where many children spend most of their days aside from home, these programs should be effective on a various amount of cases. Michael Morrow did research on elementary school anti-bullying programs and wrote the article “Consultation in Bullying Prevention: An Elementary School Case Study.” This article looked at the various research that has been done on anti-bullying programs and the papers that have been written about it. “Multiple prevention programs have been developed and utilized around the world to address bullying in schools and many employ a schoolwide or whole-community approach. While these programs share similar features, they also vary in numerous ways, most notably in their specific components” (Morrow, 2015, p. 87). There are programs that are implemented that may

One of every five students is bullied each year (Bullying Basics,2017). Knowing that the problem of bullying is a large possibility in their classrooms, administrators’ and teachers’ main goal must be to offer a safe classroom and a positive, supportive learning environment to their students. If they work together to reach this goal, bullying can be

School bullying and bullying as a whole has become a growing concern. The need for more intervention is more recognized, as incidents of bullying and inappropriate acts towards others occur in places outside of the classroom. This literature takes a closer look at bullying in schools. Olwesus (2013) states “the field of bullying research is to some extent plagued by problems, disagreements, and unresolved issues” (p.752). Whether if anyone will agree on the root of bullying, the fact remains that bullying has to be examined at its very core to remedy the matter before it becomes a bigger concern. There is a dire need for intervention based programs to be set in place to address the fact the act of bullying has lasting effects on the bully and the victim. When intervention programs are put into place to address bullying, the act of bullying decreases due to the gained understanding of the effects.