unit 5: learning theories

social learning theory

people are innately good and learn to be bad

criminal behavior is learned the same way other behaviors are

original composed by Sutherland as differential association theory

sutherland’s principles

criminal behavior is learned through interaction in personal groups and communication they learn…

techniques of committing the crime (either complex or simple)

specific directions of motives, drives, rationalizations and attitudes (come from definitions of legal codes as favorable/unfavorable of law)

The process of learning criminal behavior by________________and__ _______________ involve all of the mechanisms that are involved in all other learning​

association with criminal and anti-criminal patterns

While criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and values, it is not explained by those general needs and values because…

noncriminal behavior is an expression of those needs and values​

 People learn criminal motivations and behavior from

close, trusted friends or relatives as well as definitions favorable towards crime

research on differential association

* been able to explain juvenile delinquency, less effective in explaining adult criminality​


* Do people actually “learn crime” from their peers or do “birds of a feather flock together?”​
* Not everyone who associates with people who commit crime adopts criminal values and behaviors

AKERS’ DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT AKA SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Concepts of operant conditioning​

* Negative reinforcement​
* Positive reinforcement​

Reinforcement comes from one’s close social group​

* Adds the mechanism of how learning occurs​
* Criminal behavior is learned in small intimate peer groups

subcultural theories

subculture: groups that have values and norms distinct from those in the majority​

* Often viewed as at odds with mainstream culture​
* Doesn’t have to be involved in crime ​
* Delinquent subcultures​
* Gangs​
* Impoverished inner-city communities develop their own set of rules and values ​
* Excitement, toughness, immediate gratification

dominant culture/subcultures

* The “dominant” culture subscribes to what we call “middle-class” values​


* This implies that other subcultures exist, each subscribing to their own cultural values​

Cohen’s Middle Class Measuring Rods​

in school, boys are judged in relation to middle-class values

lower class boys feel frustration when they fail to measure up to middle class expectation

* they came together to create their own norms and values by creating a delinquent subculture

miller’s focal concerns/cultural theory

Lower class has a separate, identifiable culture that is distinct from the culture of the middle class ​

**6 Focal Concerns:​**

* Trouble​
* Toughness​
* Smartness​
* Excitement​
* Fate​
* Autonomy

the street code (3 aspects)

Decent Values​

* Imported middle class values​
* Improve life’s prospects for children​

\
​Street Values​

* Key: Respect​
* Ability to take care of oneself​

\
Code Switching​

* The need to exhibit street values to survive on the street

learning theories implications/policy

* Crime is normal, learned behavior for some people, delinquent peers are bad​


* Provide prosocial role models​
* Things like mentoring programs, e.g., Big Brothers Big Sisters​
* Change the process in which people learn/process information​
* Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)​
* Changing the culture of communities may be difficult, especially in isolated areas where the code of the street persists