Onald Aker's Social Learning Analysis

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onald Aker’s Theory on Social Learning, he talks about how the probability of a delinquent taking on the role of deviant acts, increase if those that they associate with are in fact conforming to such acts. Aker’s believed that you not only learn from your own personal consequences, but those that we observe from our intimate groups. I believe that Aker’s has a very valid point to his argument, but Aker’s seems to state that your peer group is more influential than your family. I do not understand how someone can be more influenced by someone that they associate with for a few hour of the day than by someone they live with. I think that the family association and exposure to delinquency is going to have a much bigger impact than the friend group. Once the peer has seen the violence in the home that I when they are going to seek a friend group that is going to value the same things that they do.
I will be writing about the background of Aker’s Social Learning theory and how I do believe that he is right. Then I am going to begin to talk about how a person that is actually exposed to deviance before acquiring a friend group just seeks out that friend group that will help them in turn achieve deviance. I think that the deviance is already set in someone’s mind before they establish a well-formed group to associate with. So in turn, deviance would be established primarily in the home than before acquiring the deviant association.
In 1966, Ronald Akers and Robert Burgess wrote apiece titled. “A differential association- reinforcement theory of criminal behavior.” This work was largely based off of Sutherland’s Theory on Differential Association. In Sutherland’s Theory he explains how
“A person becomes delinquent because of an...

... middle of paper ...

...study Barnes states, “f a parent acts in a negative way, the child is more likely to follow their parent’s negative attitude. They are also more likely to generalize this attitude to the rest of society. Thus, parents have much influence over their child’s behavior. From birth, a parent will mold and shape behaviors suitable to the norms of society through childrearing” (Analysis of Family Life).
As you have read, the family is a huge part of a delinquent’s initial exposure to criminal activity and favorable definition of crime. They are the main resource that a young child will use to start searching for their peer association, having already figured out what they believe to be morally right. I do think that the peers will further influence the adolescents deviant acts, but that the initial indication that it is “okay” is what they first learn in the home setting.

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