Individualistic theories - Banduras social learning theory

Banduras SLT and evaluations

What are the 3 individualistic theories ?

• Banduras social learining theory

• Eyesenck’s theory of the criminal personality

• Freud’s tripartite structure of the personality

How can Banduras social learning theory explain criminality ?

• Proposed by Bandura

• suggests that criminal behaviour is learned indirectly through vicarious reinforcement

• A person observes a model displaying criminal behaviour and being rewarded for it

• This positive reinforcement encourages the observer to imitate the criminal behaviour so they can recieve the same reward.

According to social learning theory, when is imitation of behaviour more likely ?

imitation is more likely to happen if the person being observed has desirable traits like high social status eg, the lead gang member of a gang or has shared characteristics eg, both being male, this is called identification.

What are 3 strengths of Banduras social learning theory

• Has research to support it (bobo doll study)

• High level of control in the bobo doll study so shows cause + effect relationship

• The research is considered to be scientific due to the bobo doll experiment being a lab experiment so was highly controlled.

what are 3 weaknesses of Banduras social learning theory ?

• SLT is reductionist so a more holistic approach is needed

• Somewhat deterministic and ignores freedom of choice

• Theory may lack ecological validity due to the Bobo doll study using artificial settings.

1) One weakness of SLT is that it is reductionist and is not a full explanation for criminal behaviour…

• In the Bobo doll experiment boys showed more aggression than girls, this may be due to different levels of testosterone and greater quantities in boys may be linked to more aggression.

• This suggests that a more holistic approach that considers all factors like social, cognitive and biological will explain crime better.

2) another weakness of social learning theory is that it is somewhat deterministic…

• This is because this heory assumes that