Essay on Akers Social Learning Theory - 2230 Words

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†¦show more content†¦The fundamentals of the social learning theory significantly describe offenders and their criminal behavior which is learned based on observation and imitation. A researcher by the name of Albert Bandura along with coworke rs tested the social learning theory with several experiments on children and their imitation of aggression based on what they saw and were exposed to. Bandura’s focus was to prove that human behavior such as aggression is learned through social imitations and copying the actions of others. Walters (1966) gives details about the Bobo doll experiment and explains its purpose related to learning a violent behavior based on observation. In the experiment, the tested subjects were children of both sexes, ranging from the ages of three to six years. Some of the children were exposed to a non-aggressive adult, while the other children were placed in a room with an aggressive adult who would both physically and verbally attack the Bobo doll. The control group in the experiment was not exposed to any adult. During the second phase of the experiment, the children were left in a room by themselves with the toys, and watched to see if they would demonstrate the aggressive behavior like that of which they observed adults doing earlier. Walter (1966) describes the results as â€Å"children who had been exposed to an aggressive model showed more imitative physical and verbalShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Ronald Aker s First Social Learning Theory1375 Words   |  6 PagesBackground Social Learning Theory Ronald Aker’s first social learning theory article was first published as a way to explain Sutherland’s claim the â€Å"Criminal behavior is learned† (Willams McShane, 2014). Aker believed that most deviant behavior is learned through social interaction. The main components of Aker’s social learning theory focused on differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement, and imitation. A study performed by Kim Lersch (1999) found that social learning theory canRead MoreThe Tattoo By Chris Mckinney Essay1704 Words   |  7 Pageswill argue that one can learn criminal and violent behaviour by those who they hold close interpersonal relationships with, for example, family and friends. In saying that, I will be using the social learning theory looking in particular at Edwin Sutherland and his notion of differential association and Akers concept of differential reinforcement to explore the relationship between Ken Hideyoshi and Koa Puana. In The Tattoo, we were introduced to Koa Kauhi Puana who originates from Kahaluu on theRead MoreHow Development Is The Methodical Changes And Continuities Within The Individual That Occur Between Conception And Death1470 Words   |  6 PagesDevelopment is the methodical changes and continuities in an individual that occur between conception and death (Sigelman, Rider De George-Walker, 2013). There are seven domains of development: physical/biological, psychosocial, cognitive/learning, social, emotional, behavioural and moral/spiritual (AIHW, 2011). Development of these domains occurs in stages, where each stage gives rise to behaviour that is suitable for that stage (Schmidt Neven, 2010). These foreseeable changes are known as milestonesRead MoreChild Abuse And Neglect Cause Juvenile Delinquency1156 Words   |  5 PagesChild Abuse and Neglect cause Juvenile Delinquency Strain theory describes the idea that there are certain events and conditions in an individual’s life that are disliked and involve the inability to achieve goals, loss of positively valued stimuli, and presentation of negative stimuli (Brezina and Agnew). Child neglect and abuse can be described by this theory, and often is, because of its elements and the effect it has on children. Before the idea of child abuse and neglect causing juvenile delinquencyRead MoreThe social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura has become one of the most influential2500 Words   |  10 PagesThe social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura has become one of the most influential theories of learning and behaviour. The theory added a social element, arguing that people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people. Known as social learning theory or modeling, this type of learning can be used to explain a wide variety of behaviors. The social learning theory does no t explain all learning and behaviour, it fails to account for biological and innate behaviours suchRead MoreEssay on Social Control Theory vs. Social Learning Theory1979 Words   |  8 PagesSocial Control Theory vs. Social Learning Theory Abstract 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 criminalRead MoreSocial Control Theory And Social Learning Theory2007 Words   |  9 Pagesor bad, but we really don’t know why we make those choices. There is a point in life when you choose to be deviant. Social control theory and social learning theory suggest what makes us do the deviant behavior and what makes it different from one person to another. They both have to do with the world around us, but have different views on how you portray yourself from that. Social control is how you interact with society, and it suggest that if you are close to society you will ha ve good behaviorRead MoreSocial Learning Theory Of Crime1278 Words   |  6 Pagesconcept, 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 crimeRead MoreSocial Learning Theory 1741 Words   |  7 Pages Akers and Sellers (2013) has stated that social learning theory is an expanded theory of differential association processes and improves it with differential reinforcement and other principles of the behavior theory. They added classical conditioning (the sharpening of involuntary reflex behavior); discriminative stimuli (internal stimuli that lead to signals for behavior); schedules of reinforcement (rewards and punishment ratio following behavioral feedback); and other theories of behavior (AkersRead MoreThe Theory Of Social Learning Theory980 Words   |  4 PagesSocial Learning theory is one of the most widely researched theories because it attempts to explain the origins of criminal behavior. Albert Bandura was one of the pioneers of this approach. His main point was that criminals are not ‘born’ criminals; rather individuals learn to be criminals through a process of learning, which occurs as a result of experiences. (Akers, 1990:3). However, this paper’s f ocus is not on Bandura’s theory rather it is on Ronald Aker’s theory that explores which associations