Crime and Social Learning Theory - Research Paper Example

Crime and Social Learning Theory ABSTRACT This paper mentions about the social learning theory which is basically studying the behavior of the criminals in context of a society and introspecting deeply their internal processing as an individual. This paper looks how Sears and Bandura , the theologist of this theory approach the criminal psychology of an individual in context of a society. Here two journals are studied where one favors and other rejects the social learning theory . Also the aggressive factor and the “Bobo Doll Experiment” are studied with the help of journal compiled by Hart and Kritsonic. Crime and Social Learning Theory Introduction Crime is not a new concept in today’s world as it has been present in the society ever since the emergence of humanity. Nowadays, crime is rampant everywhere and the criminals does it for varying reasons. Studying the crime and criminals is essential in order to understand crime and stop it. This is where criminology comes into the scene and there are many theories applicable to this study. One of it is the social learning theory where the cognitive functioning and behavioral aspect of the people are studied in the context of a society. In social learning theory, observation is an important aspect and also the reward and punishment system is evaluated. The learning of behavior is done by observing a behavior and observing the consequences of it on an individual and the process is known as vicarious reinforcement .It is not that social learning theory does not have limitations and this part will be investigated with the help of some readings.The social learning theory has both advantages and limitations but indeed it is a credible way to understand the crime and criminals in a society. ( Thesis). A Glimpse of Social Learning Theory Social learning theory is a study where the observation and cognitive learning theory is collaborated to understand crime and criminal’s mentality. For the criminologists, social learning theory is an observing and learning process where the study the nature of crime and criminal and understand the way rewards and punishment effect them. Society being the context of this theory, the effect it has on the mental and physical growth and cognitive development is closely observed and analyzed. Some of the important aspects of this theory are vicarious reinforcement, modeling and reciprocal determinism. As discussed earlier, vicarious reinforcement is all about observation and the extraction of information from individuals with the help of modeling technique. In modeling technique, the observable change in the behavior of the person is learned by criminologists. According to ( Bandura,1971,pg. 3) “In the social learning system, new pattern of behavior can be acquired through direct experience or by observing the behavior of the other”. In social learning theory, the learner is not passive but he actively studies cognitive functioning, behavior and environment of a criminal. This process is known as reciprocal determinism. However, social learning theory deeply stresses on the modeling technique where certain stimuli come in to play. Some of these are live model, verbal instruction and symbolic. Here, the demonstration of the desired behavior by a person and the way in which instruction is carried on to the person and use of social media in modeling is of utter importance. But, the stimuli can come in real or fictional form. It is a fact that behavioral and cognitive aspects like attention, retention, reproduction and motivation also come into play in social learning theory. Social Learning Theory and its Positive Side Now, if we look at social learning theory from a boarder perspective, it would be justifiable to study the reading compiled by John .E. Grusec. Here, Grusec look at this theory as seen by Robert Sears and Albert Bandura. Both Sears and Bandura worked on social learning theory in the 1960s and these men definitely can be considered as fathers of this theory. By studying this reading called “Social learning theory and developmental psychology” one can clearly understand the points raised by Sears and Bandura. This reading which is a journal article gives importance to social learning theory evaluation and its historic relevance. According to (Grusec,1992,pg. 776) “This analysis of social learning theory involves consideration of the work of two individuals who were very different in their approaches even though unified by a common theoretical label”. Both Sears and Bandura look at social learning theory form different dimension. However, psychoanalytic and stimulus response is a part of the study. In Sears study, the human behavior and psycho analytics has great importance while Bandura more or less invested on cognitive thinking and information process .So, in the research article by Grusec, we can see that the theorist study the criminal’s psychology and cognitive processing with regard to a certain society. The social behavior is indeed what decides what kind of crime a person can get into .This literature mentions that the social learning theorist look at the radical behaviorism of a person and this definitely is a prominent advantage of the social learning theory. The interesting part is that both Sears and Bandura were colleagues but had different approaches to the theory. They studied social learning theory from many angles and hence the advantages of theory are well extractable from this journal article. In this reading, we can perceive that the general framework of human behavior is looked into by Sears and Bandura which on the other hand gave insight into the behavior of many criminals. For example, if a student likes smoking at an early age he can pull his friend in to it and they can develop as a group in future and indulge in drug abuse. So, with the help of using social learning theory the problems and issue of a criminal can be understood in precise with the society as a context. Social Learning Theory and its Limitations Social learning theory definitely cannot be considered as a perfect way to study crime and criminals.In criminology, the criminologists does look at the limitation of any specific theory. With the help of a journal article, written by Karen.E.Hart and William.A.Kritsonis we can see the critical side of this theory. In the journal article “Critical Analysis of an Original Writing on Social Learning Theory” the authors look at the theoretical perspectives suggested by Bandura. Here, Albert Bandura and two of his colleagues work is being criticized by the authors. The aspects in question were the “Film mediated aggressive models” and “ Bobo Doll study” which was proposed by Bandura and his colleagues during 1960s. The authors argue that the aggressive behavior cannot be analyzed solely with social learning behavior paradigm. In the article (Harts & Kritsonis,2006,pg. 3) states that “According to Bandura’s postulation, individuals acquire aggressive responses using the same mechanism that they do for other complex forms of social behavior: direct experience or the observation-modeling of others”. The article suggest that aggression cannot be an intentional causal behavior unlike stated by Bandura. The authors of this journal article criticize that aggression cannot be studied with the infamous “Bobo doll Study” as done by Bandura and his two colleagues. In the “Bobo Doll Study” Bandura hypothesized that the children’s observation of aggressive behavior in media can lead them to be aggressive in later life. Since this experiment by Bandura and his colleague did not showcase the social class, gender and ethnicity of the children participated in the experiment it failed to get validity from the authors of the journal article. According to ( Bandura,2006,pg.3) “ Aggressive models can be ordered on a reality fictional stimulus dimension with real life models located at the reality end of the continuum, non human cartoon characters at the fictional end and films portraying human models occupying an intermediate positions”. The experiment failed due to the ambiguity and typical selection of subjects. The authors criticized Bandura for selecting mainly upper middle class white children as participants as it would have delivered ambiguous results. Conclusion Social learning theory is not a mere theory , but it look into many factors like behavior ,consequences of the behavior , effect of rewards and punishment on a criminal and its aftermath. Social learning theory was given birth by Sears and Bandura in 1960s and they both had their own approach to it. We know that society is the main context when it comes to crime and criminals. And we can see very well in the literature that a criminal or crime is a consequence of a bad society and inappropriate social behavior among people. The best part of social learning theory as we see is that it gives importance to an individual in a wholesome way. This means a crime is well studied and the criminal’s social background, behavior and cognitive functioning are looked in to. It cannot be recommended that social learning theory has its limitation. Since society, individuals, rewards and punishment are taken into consideration, the theorist can get a good result about the crime and criminal with this theory. We can understand that, media is an influence in a child’s behavior and it can be strongly said that Karen.E.Hart and William.A.Kritsonis is wrong in their claims. It is understood that violent video games, television shows and movies definitely inculcate aggression in children when they grow up. And the “Bobo Doll experiment “was a precise experiment and Bandura did select the right group of participants for this research study. So, finally it could be said that social learning theory is the appropriate theory for criminologists to study crime. Work Cited Bandura, A. (1971). Social Learning Theory. General Learning Press, 10(3), 1-47 Bandura, A.(2006). "Imitation of Film Mediated Aggressive Models." Journal of Abnormal And Social Psychology ,66 (1), 3-11 Grusec, J,E.(1992)."Social learning theory and developmental psychology." Developmental Psychology, 28(5), 776-86 Hart, K,E. and Kritsonis,W,A.(2006)."Critical Analysis of an Original Writing on Social Learning Theory: Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models." NATIONAL FORUM OF APPLIED EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL ,20 (3) , 1-7 Read More