Theories have played a vital role in determining ideas that are intended to be explained or tested. In the area of crime, criminological theories have been the foundation of establishing why people commit crimes and also understanding the reasoning behind those actions. The paper will evaluate Doug MacRay from the movie The Town (2010) and the different aspects that made him who he is. Criminological theories like Social Learning Theory by Albert Bandura can simplify Doug MacRay and his needs to commit crimes. In this paper, Social Learning Theory will be analyzed and thoroughly clarified. The paper will also analyze the criminal behavior of Doug MacRay and his misfits of friends. Social Learning Theory has a broad aspect of what is defined …show more content…
The Town (2010) starts with Doug MacRay and his associates robbing a local bank. The team is highly experienced and well-prepared with knowledge of every one of the employees moves and the daily routine of the bank. MacRay is the mastermind behind the group’s strategic planning and attacked the local bank where they took out the security guards and also prevented the employees from pressing the silent alarm notifying the police. MacRay takes the bank manager, Claire, to the entrance of the vault to open the combination lock. One of the workers presses the silent alarm notifying the police. The crew tapped into the police radio feed and hear police chattering a possible robbery at the location that they are …show more content…
Social Learning Theory can be defined as a theory that “specifies a complex explanation involving ever-present, on-going, reciprocal causal relationships between misconduct and social learning concepts” (Tittle, Antonaccio, & Botchkovar, 2012). Bandura’s Social Learning Theory express’s an individual’s unique adaptation to observe, imitate, and learn from one another. The basis of an individual’s learning comes early in age and can affect someone’s life depending on the outside factors that includes family or friends influencing decisions. Young children are affected tremendously by how their parents interact with one another and also how they interact with the child. Bandura states that learned behaviors that children adapt to are caused by positive and negative influences from parents (Cuevas & Bui, 2015). Social Learning Theory is used as a basis to determine why children grow up to have abusive relationships and a criminal lifestyle. Children are susceptible to retain and repeat what they have seen which can determine how they form as a person later on in life. If a child witnesses their dad abusing their mom, then the child believes that abuse is tolerable and portrays the same behavior throughout the child’s life. Social Learning Theory can be a never ending cycle of generations teaching their children positively or negatively depending on the environment the
Social learning theory was first developed by Robert L. Burgess and Ronald L Akers in 1966 (Social Learning theory, 2016). In 1973, Akers wrote a book entitled Deviant Behaviour: A Social Learning Approach, which discussed Aker’s conception of the social learning theory. He developed social learning theory by extending Sutherland’s theory of differential association (Cochran & Sellers, 2017). Social learning theory is based on the principles of Pavlov’s operant and classical conditioning. Akers believes that crime is like any other social behavior because it is learned through social interaction (Social Learning theory, 2016). Social learning theory states that the probability of an individual committing a crime or engaging in criminal behaviour is increased when they differentially associate with others who commit criminal behavior (Cochran & Sellers, 2017). Social learning theory is classified as a general theory of crime, and has been used to explain many types of criminal behaviour (Social Learning theory, 2016). Furthermore, social learning theory is one of the most tested contemporary theories of crime. There are four fundamental components of social learning theory; differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement and imitation (Social Learning theory,
Children who are victims of abuse are likely to display aggressive and demanding behaviors. Being a victim of abuse may interfere with how the child may view themselves, their self-worth and their well-being. In attempts to explain why delinquent is a result of abuse the social learning theory is used. It is explained that delinquent and antisocial behaviors are
In this beautiful thing called life are a mixture of all kinds of nationality of people, adults, elderly, and youths. As a nation of humans, people have their own personalities and behave a certain way for a reason. In fact, there are some juveniles that misbehave just as the adults do and that is where the problem may or may not stand. As a result of this, comes the questions of how or what may or may not influence delinquency? Could it be that the social process of from where a person resides? People may pounder um why a person behavior can become delinquent, no one is born to be delinquent. This paper will go over, one or more aspects of how my life relate to social learning theory, social control theory, and social bonds. Discuss how those
In conclusion, social learning theory and labeling theory are both widely viewed. Society should understand why crime happens as it pertains to theories of crime in order to mitigate it. There are many examples that prove both theories. Lastly, there are programs which are beneficial to people of society and that with these programs we can mitigate the crime around
The study discussed in the text clearly shows that crime in Hamilton Park is much lower than in either Projectville or La Barriada. The reasons for this are clearly explained by Sutherland’s two learning theories, his differential social organization theory and his differential association theory. The other theories, Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization and Hirschi’s social control theory, do have some merits, but do not apply as clearly to the neighborhoods in the study. Clearly, Sutherland’s theories of learned behavior and favorable and unfavorable definitions offer clear explanations for the crime in Projectville, La Barriada and Hamilton Park.
- - -. “Social-learning Theory:Observing and Imitating Models.” Human Development. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1992. 213-14. Print.
1. A In chapter 7 this chapter mostly talked about the different theories society has created through social routines. These theories were created to control and describe why criminals commit crimes through their community and social values. This chapter focused more on the variables and factors of why they commit crime rather than stating they commit the crime because of their deemed deviant. In fact, chapter 7 is mainly on the view part of recognizing why certain people replicate crime differently causing the criminal behavior to happen. One thing I liked about this chapter is how Gabriel Trade who coined the idea of crime is a learned process. Was able to look back on past theorist and interpret his ideas towards their research. He created
Learning theories: which state how social environment impacts child’s behaviour and they learn from their good or bad experiences.
Through Social Learning Theory, an individual can be studied based on the behavior acquired by a role model. Verbal conditioning procedures and observation influences the response to an individual’s personality. Environment factors contribute to the Social Learning Theory. Antisocial model is a major contribute to crime, which influences negative characteristics. The Social Leaning Theory has three core social concepts the must be followed: observational learning, intrinsic reinforcement and modeling process.
The social learning theory explains our moral development through reinforcement and modeling. This theory explores how parents reward and punish children for certain behaviors. If a child
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 individuals commit crime through their association with or exposure to others. According to Akers, people learn how to be offenders based on their observations around them and their association with peers. Theorist Akers states that for one, “people can become involved in crime through imitation—that is by modeling criminal conduct. Second, and most significant, Akers contended that definition and imitation are most instrumental in determining initial forays into crime” (Lilly, Cullen, and Ball 2011:57). Although Akers’ theory has been linked to juvenile delinquency in the past, it has also been tested as a possible cause of crime overall. Individuals learn from observation that criminal behavior is justifiable in certain circumstances. In connection with juvenile delinquency and crime, peers and intimate groups have the most effect on individuals when associated with criminal behavior. One is more likely to mimic the behavior of someone who they have close ties with, whether the behavior is justifiable or...
Social Learning Theory is the progression that happens in the course of watching the punishment of others and by deciding if such activity is important enough to replicate (Wallace, n.d.) Fundamentally, this idea supports that individuals discover by examining others. In the 1930s, the Social discovering idea was evolved by Edwin Sutherland, Robert Burgess, Ronald L. Akers, and Daniel Glaser. This group of theorists evolved the discovering idea by distinguishing examples of criminalistic demeanor and the values that escorted these lawless persons, the way in which they dwelled and broadcast they called differential association (Schmalleger, 2012.) Albert Bandura is another theorist that has aided in the development of the idea. Bandura's work put the focus on reciprocal determinism, which focuses on how a person’s behavior, natural environment, and individual features all reciprocally leverage each other. ("Learning- Theories.com", 2012). Bandura evolved a form that involved the following steps. 1. Attention: In order for an individual to discover, they must be adept to pay vigil...
In order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the criminal behavior theories, the word theory needs to be defined. “A theory is an explanation. It tells why or how things are related to each other. A theory of crime explains why or how a certain thing or certain things are related to criminal behavior.” (Bohn and Vogel)
The paper will focus on the application of the social learning theory through the use of video games that incorporate moral choices into their design. In this paper, I will first describe what the social learning theory is and its implications. I will discuss findings that pertain to the social learning theory and through violent television and operant conditioning from violent video games. I will also explore studies focusing on the impact of moral choices in video games on decision making and moral disengagement. From the data, I will determine my own hypothesis as well as a methodical experiment relevant to the focus of this paper.
The definition of the social learning theory is People learn through observing others’ behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors. “Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action.” (Learning Theories Knowledgebase ). Most people learn through watching other. As a child, we learn by mocking what we have observed repeatedly. This is how we learn to walk, talk, speak, and to feed ourselves. We also learn social skills from the people around us. We learn right from wrong, we learn what is acceptable in our everyday lives. We also learn societal norms. Most children learn social norms from the family structure. If the family structure is broken or not complete it may cause problems for the children. If the family has only one parent then the family unit suffers. If the child is part of a family that has deviant problems then the child learns that these problems are the norm. This could lead to the child to think that drinking or drugs are normal. It is also a factor if the child observes crime in the family unit. The child learns that crime is normal until they run up against society who states otherwise.