A theory of criminal behavior developed by Ronald L. Akers, building on Robert Burgess and Edwin Sutherland, holding that criminal behavior is learned the same way conforming behavior is learned: through differential association with others, imitation of role models, exposure to definitions favorable to crime, and differential reinforcement of the behavior once it occurs.
Facts
Core ClaimCriminal behavior is learned through differential association, imitation, exposure to favorable definitions and differential reinforcement, the same general learning process that produces conforming behavior. 1 Origin Year1966 marks Burgess and Akers' differential association-reinforcement precursor article; Akers stated the theory fully, under its own name, in his 1973 book Deviant Behavior: A Social Learning Approach. Standing CritiqueSome sociologists objected to introducing behaviorist psychology into a sociological theory, and others charged that its central claim risks circularity, defining criminal associations partly by the criminal behavior they are meant to explain. 1 Connections
Associated With
Harassment, Offenses Akers and Burgess's social learning model explains aggressive and deviant conduct as acquired through reinforcement, observation and modeling; harassment, a form of aggression, is one behavior the model has been extended to.
Source Wikipedia: Social Learning Theory
Developed By
Source SAGE Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory: Social Learning Theory
Informed By
Social learning theory integrates Sutherland's differential association theory with behavioral reinforcement principles from psychology.
Source SAGE Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory: Social Learning Theory
In the Other Atlases
Informed By
Also in Psychology Atlas: which informed this subject.
Source Wikipedia: Social learning theorytier 2
Sources
1. SAGE Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory: Social Learning Theory
SAGE Publicationsp. 22
social learning theory maintains that criminal behavior is more likely to result when an individual associates more with those who engage in and approve of crime than with others who do not.
p. 23
Some sociologists were affronted by the mere introduction of behaviorism into sociology; others charged that the theory was tautological.
In Group: Learning, Neutralization and Labeling Theories, PDF page 1
Social learning theory, in its current form, spells out the specific mechanisms by which criminal behavior is learned
View the Source Wikipedia: Social Learning Theory
Associated With: Harassment, Criminology sectionQuote, Associated With: Harassment, Criminology section
Social learning theory has been used to explain the emergence and maintenance of deviant behavior, especially aggression.
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