In this essay, I will discuss the subcultures to which I am a member. I will also discuss what norms and values of each subculture might conflict with the norms and values of the larger culture. Finally, I will identify four groups that I am a member of and identify and explain the relationship could any of these clashes lead to crime, delinquency, or deviance.
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Social learning theory (also called learning theory) says that all behavior is learned in much the same way and that crime is also learned. The theory places primary emphasis on the roles of communication and socialization in the acquisition of learned patterns of criminal behavior and the values supporting that behavior. (Schmalleger, (2014) pg.109) Social Control Theory:
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However, individuals have their own norms and values that may or may not necessarily be the same rituals as society. In this essay, I will discuss the subcultures to which I am a member. I will also discuss what norms and values of each subculture might conflict with the norms and values of the larger culture. Finally, I will identify five groups that I am a member and identify and explain the relationship could any of these clashes lead to crime, delinquency, or deviance.
Social Learning Theory.
In social learning theory, author Frank Schmalleger states, “People learn to commit crime from others by learning the norms, values, and patterns of behaviors conducive to crime. Hence, according to the learning theory, criminal behavior is a product of the social environment and not an innate characteristic.” (Schmalleger, (2014) ¶ 2 pg. 104) However, I believe individuals turn to crime because they decide to learn criminal behavior. I feel we all have the freedom to learn good behaviors or bad behaviors. As a mother, I feel it is necessary to find out who my children socialize with. The rules and morals in our family may be different from the individuals of whom my children socialize with. For example, my daughters are aware that stealing is wrong because I have taught them the act of stealing is a criminal behavior. However, stealing may be an acceptable learned behavior to some of their peers. My daughters’ friends may have been taught that it is okay to take things that do not belong to them from their parents, siblings or others. Therefore, I think it is detrimental to interfere in my children’s relationships to avoid bad learning behavior that is conducive to
The social learning theory states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction or indirect instruction. In crime social learning theory is mainly learned in the environment around you. It basically says that if you grow up in and with people who commit crimes and it is more socially acceptable for you to also take part in crime that you are more likely to learn to commit crime. If you grew up in a house where crime is not ok and nobody does it then you are more likely to learn to not commit crime. It isn’t like this in all cases but this is just what the theory says. If you are to see your parents or siblings or friends doing crime you may feel more pressure to fit in and the way you see to do that is to partake in committing a crime. Or maybe watching those around you do it has lead you to believe that it isn’t a bad thing to commit crime and that that’s just the way it is. You and “your kind” are bad and are made to commit crimes and that’s just how it has been and always will be and you also have to continue on this trend. Social learning is also learned through punishment and praise. So if you do something bad and all the other guy are like “Hey man, good job.” Or “man, that was tight!” You are more likely to repeat this behavior because you were given praise for it and that makes you feel good and
Social control theory and social learning theory are two theories that suggest why deviant behavior is chosen to be acted upon by some individuals and not others. Both take a different stance on the issue. Social control theory suggests people’s behavior is based on their bonds to society, if they have strong bonds to society they conform and if not they have a tendency to act out or become involved in criminal or deviant behavior. Social learning theory suggest that through vicarious learning people learn from observing others and based on what the observe make the choice of whether to copy those actions to obtain desired results or chose not to if
High crime rates are an ongoing issue through the United States, however the motivation and the cause of crime has yet to be entirely identified. Ronald Akers would say that criminality is a behavior that is learned based on what an individual sees and observes others doing. When an individual commits a crime, he or she is acting on impulse based on actions that they have seen others engage in. Initially during childhood, individuals learn actions and behavior by watching and listening to others, and out of impulse they mimic the behavior that is observed. Theorist Ronald Akers extended Sutherland’s differential association theory with a modern viewpoint known as the social learning theory. The social learning theory states that
Deviance and crime are wide-ranging terms used by sociologists to refer to behavior that varies, in some way, from a social norm. Cultural Norms are society's propensity towards certain ideals; their aversion from others; and their standard, ritualistic practices. Essentially the 'norm' is a summation of typical activities and beliefs of group of people. This essay will evaluate the sociological theories associated with crime and deviance and to compare and contrast these main theories. And find links between these theories to today’s society. There are various Sociological deviance theories, including Structuralist: why do some people break the rules? ,
Social process theory believes that individuals are socially conditioned into or against crime (Siegel, “Social Process Theory”). Negative family relationships, limited education or association with others who have little or not respect for the
The theoretical stability of social control theory rests upon the existence of four variables which are not only thought to have a correlative relationship amongst each other but are viewed as pivotal perquisites in deterring deviant behavior. These variables are attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Attachment refers to the obligatory connections and expectations that relate the individual to other persons in society. Through the individual's attachments to other people's expectations, norms become internalized by the individual. Commitment refers to the fear of law-breaking behavior and assumes that the organization of society is situated such that the interests of most persons of the given society would be endangered if they decide to engage in criminal and/or deviant acts. Involvement refers to the conventional activities that makes a person too busy to find time and/or the opportunity to engage in deviant behavior. As for Belief, the theory holds that a common, if not, single value system exists in society in which both he law-abiding individual as well as deviant both value. The opinions and impressions that are dependent on constant social reinforcement comprise belief. A person is more likely to conform to social norms when he believes in them. However, there is possibly a wide variability amongst the society as to how much one adheres to the belief that they should obey the norms and rules of society.
Trying to understand why crime happens if a very important concept. Throughout history, criminologist have debated on which theory of crime is most accurate. Currently, social bond and social learning theory are two of the leading theories in the criminological world. Between these two theories there are a variety of differences and similarities. In addition to these theories Gottfredson and Hirschi have published a book where they use the concept of self control to describe crime. Analyzing these three theories can be important to understanding the current criminological world.
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
The majority of sociological theories believe, that the criminal behavior mainly is influenced by a combination of the social surrounding, political and economic factors. Offenders are not necessarily viewed as bad people, these theories tend to look at the social context of a person’s situation, examining his race, neighborhood, intelligence, education, family, political and media influence, income level, job and career, childhood history to determine why did he/she become criminal.There are many different theories seeking to explain criminal behavior such as Social Structure Theory (which itself consists of Social disorganization, Strain, and Cultural deviance theories) differential association, the theory of anomie, neutralization theory, Social Control Theory and many others. I don’t think this would be an acceptable reason for crime because this is something that an individual has learned from their surroundings and or peers this wasn’t something beyond their
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 control theories have a different perspective than the previous theories. Travis Hirschi was the influential theorist behind the social control theory. The problems of crime and delinquency are the main two things that are addressed by the social control theory. The information in which the social control theory was based on is data from self-report survey’s and not police or courts records. The main question that we ask is not why the criminals commit the crime and delinquency when dealing with the social control theory; it is why the criminals do not commit crime and delinquency.
This paper will be going over social learning theory and how it affects juveniles and its relation to Juvenal delinquency. Social learning theory states that learning social behaviors happens through observation and learning from others. This paper will be explaining how family, friends, and socialization affect the child's behaviors in relation to juvenile delinquency. Also going over the strengths and weaknesses of the social learning theory.
This theory has a different focus than typical theories; in this theory, conformity is emphasized, specifically, with the focus being on the reasoning behind why people conform and obey society’s rules, instead of why people deviate from norms. This theory operates under the basic assumption that delinquent behavior occurs because of a person’s bond or tie to society being weak or non-existent. There are four elements that make up this bond: attachment to others, commitment, involvement, and belief. Thus, the stronger the bond’s element, the less likely a person is going to engage in crime; likewise, the weaker the element of the bond is, the more likely a person is going to commit crime. Also, all four identified elements are said to be connected and interdependent, so a weakness in one element will more than likely lead to weaknesses in the other elements. In other words, these elements control a person’s level of conformity; crime control stems from one’s ties to conventional society. This theory also assumes that people are born naturally selfish; however, this is not a born tendency or trait. Rather, this means that the motivation for crime in society is evenly spread out since everyone has the same inclination for crime. Similarly, under this theory, the way people are controlled by society through these bonds is
Another factor that can influence crime is socialization, which is the process of learning how to properly behave. If someone grew up having a distant relationship with their parents, they might be more likely to commit a crime. A parent is a child’s first and best teacher. A good parent should teach their child right
The social learning theory states that criminal behavior is learned. Criminals learn their bad behaviors from close relationships they may have with criminal peers (Siegel & Worrall, 2016). Children look up to their parents; they want to be just like them. So, if children grow up surround by crime, they think that it is both normal and acceptable, and it is likely that they will participate in criminal behavior when they are older. As a result of learning this behavior, it is passed down through generations and is never broken. This can also be learned from friendships people may have with negative influences. Young adults and children want to fit in with their peers, so if they are surrounded with those who commit crimes, they are probably going to do the same because “everyone is doing it”.