In Christian Bolden’s autobiography, Out of the Red: My Life of Gangs, Prison, and Redemption, he tells of the experience before, during, and after his time in prison. His criminal activity can be applied to multiple criminology theories, including social learning theory, social bond theory, and general strain theory. Along with the description of his life, Bolden expresses how the criminal justice system treats gangs and the struggles criminal offenders have to endure in Texas prisons and post-incarceration. Social learning theory can be applied to Bolden’s experiences and can reveal how crime is learned. This theory insinuates that all people start as a “blank slate”, and then they start learning certain actions and beliefs that shape their …show more content…
The group that a person is around will express their own definitions, either directly or indirectly, which will impact the person’s views and beliefs. Although Sutherland came up with the idea that criminal behavior is learned, he never stated how it is learned, which is what Ronald Akers adds to social learning theory. Akers contributes the ideas of differential reinforcement and imitation that can explain the process in which criminal behavior is learned. Differential reinforcement uses the concept of operant conditioning, where an individual learns a certain behavior or action through the use of rewards and punishments. Using positive and negative reinforcements and punishments, criminal behavior can either be encouraged or prevented in an individual. Imitation is when definitions, differential association, and differential reinforcement come together in an individual's experience, causing them to imitate the beliefs and behaviors of others they have observed. Each of the four main concepts of social learning theory can be seen in Christian Bolden’s life, as described in his …show more content…
At this event, he ended up injuring a gang member’s stepfather and was sentenced to prison time. Bolden imitated the violence he had seen and used in the course of his lifetime to gain retribution. Social learning theory can help explain how Bolden learned from bullies and gang members to use acts of violence and intimidation to protect himself, which led him to perform a drive-by shooting that gave him time in prison. The second criminology theory that can be used to explain Christian Bolden’s criminal behavior is the social bond theory, which emphasizes the relationship between an individual and their environment. The theory was developed by Travis Hirschi, who said that if social bonds are strong, there is less chance that the person will exhibit criminal behavior. This also means that when an individual’s bond to society is broken, they are more likely to commit a crime. Hirschi outlined four elements that discuss the individual’s bonds to their environment. First is attachment, which is an individual's emotional bond with the people around them, including their family and
Some instances of social learning theories are present throughout this book. Society is not cohesive. Instead, within societies there are a variety of subcultures and some of these are quite conductive to criminality and delinquency. People are constantly being persuaded by the presence of their peers. The presence of delinquent peers may also increase the anticipated benefits of delinquency, since delinquent peers often reinforce delinquent acts. A lot of the people he grew up around took part in gangs and gang related crimes. They helped persuade him in taking part and picking what “side” he was
Travis Hirschi is an American Criminologist known for his contributions and influence on criminology with his research and theory of early juvenile delinquency with correlation to the lack of an individual's social bonds. Hirschi developed the social bond theory within the late 60's. At a later time in his career, Hirschi collaborated with another Criminologist by the name of Michael R. Gottfredson and revised Hirschi's earlier theory of social bonds. The two Criminologists later created the self-control theory indicating that crime can be explained as opportunity being presented to commit an act of crime coupled with the lack of an individual's self control neglected from early parent rearing.
Travis Hirschi first introduced his control theory ‘The Social Bond Theory’ in Causes of Delinquency in 1969. In social bond theory Hirschi looked at four social fundamentals which affected the probability of either conforming or deviating from social norms set by society. The four fundamentals were attachment, commitment, involvement and belief which were considered relevant if weak or broken.
First, the integrated theories involve connecting, linking, combining, synthesizing the relations and fragments of other theories into formulations of crime and crime control that are more comprehensive, which combines the concepts and central propositions such as social disorganization, anomie, learning, and social control within the same discipline. (Critical Criminology, 2009) The purpose of the integrated theories is to produce a theory that is superior to any theory individually. The integrated theory takes several forms according to Delbert Elliott (1933), who “contend that social disorganization, strain, and inadequate socialization combine weaken conventional bonding and strengthen delinquent bonding” (Bohm & Vogel, 2011, p. 147). Therefore, the likelihood of social control of one’s association with delinquent peers is high, which increases their likelihood of delinquency. Nevertheless, when a person levels of social control experience strain, it began to
Part 2 1.) control theory- A control theory proposes that exploiting the process of social activities and social learning builds self-control, and reduces the inclination to indulge in behavior recognized as antisocial. 2.) differential association theory- This theory asserts that criminal behavior is learned primarily in interpersonal groups and that youths will become delinquent if the reward outweighs the risk. 3.)
There are many different theories about different causes of criminal behavior. In the first section of my paper I will discuss the Behavioral Learning Theory (BLT), the Social Learning Theory (SLT), and the Differential Association Theory (DAT) which all support the idea that criminal behavior can in fact be learned. I will identify some of the people that have contributed to these theories and give examples of some of their work. Finally, I will give examples of how these theories are of use to criminologists and scholars in today’s society.
Though both social learning and social control theories address the socialization process, social learning theory maintains that humans are inherently good and are therefore taught delinquent behavior through the socialization process, just as they are any other behavior (McNamara 2014: pp. 115). Social learning theory holds that people become involved in criminal activity when the reasons, called definitions, to commit crime outweigh the definitions to abstain from it, which is normally determined by one’s social affiliations (McNamara 2014: pp. 118). For example, if a teenage boy hangs out with criminals and learns criminal behavior (including its rationalizations and reward) from them, then he will likely engage in criminal behavior because he will have more definitions for it than against it, according to the theory (McNamara 2014: pp. 118). On the other hand, social control theory maintains that humans are inherently bad and must therefore be “resocialized” to create stronger community influences to lesson the hedonistic tendency to engage in crime—or pressured into conforming through formal and information sanctions (McNamara 2014: p. 120). The theory explains that people engage in criminal behavior due to low self-control and low attachment to “society and significant others” (McNamara 2014: p. 121). For example, when a child doesn’t have strong connections to family, friends or school involvements, he is more likely to engage in delinquent behavior because he has less connection to
The Social Bond theory originated in 1969 when Travis Hirschi first described it. Travis was an American criminologist and This was his attempt of explaining people’s approaches to social problems and how they explain them. He wanted to explain why criminals act the way they do. He described the social bond theory to include elements such as family attachment, adhering to social norms and institutional norms and getting involved in different activities because such elements are of importance and value. He found that these elements of human relationships were among the key factors that keep people from acts of crime and defiance.
So according to Sutherland, deviant and criminal behavior is learned in an association with intimate others through interaction, not by just watching it on television or being passive but by being involved. A more hands on approach, being involved in the action with others and communicating two things (Schmalleger, 2012, p. 178). The technique or how to do it and the definition, the attitude that is needed to support delinquency, the why. The content of differential association or patterns presented in association would differ from individual to individual. Differential association was accepted in the 20th century theorists because it combined some psychological principles with sociological principles onto what was perceived as a coherent perspective on criminality.
The Social Bond theory was created by Travis Hirschi in 1969. Elements of social bonding include attachment to families, commitment to social norms and institutions (school, employment), involvement in activities, and the belief that these things are important. Attachment is described as the level of values and or norms that an individual hold in society. Attachment is especially important when it comes to the person’s parental figures. Commitment is a rational component or an assessment of the costs and benefits of crime. Are these people afraid to lose a special person or a relationship? The factor of involvement is a person’s choice to get involved in conventional versus deviant behavior. This choice is formed not far after basic rules
Nice post! Are you familiar with the theory of differential association? It is a learning theory that focuses on the processes by which individuals come to commit deviant or criminal acts. According to the theory, created by Edwin H. Sutherland, criminal behavior is learned through interactions with other people. Through this interaction and communication, people learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal behavior.
Social learning theory, believes that the social environment is the way we acquire behaviour. Behaviours is both acquired and maintained by the principles of operant conditioning. Social learning theory suggests that while in a social environment this is where the cognitive process that takes place and can occur through observation or direct instruction. In addition, with this, learning also occurs through the observation of rewards and punishments, a process known as vicarious reinforcement, this is where a reinforcement is received indirectly by observing another person who is being reinforced, this was developed by B. F. Skinner, who called the use of reinforcement to strengthen behaviour operant conditioning. Traditional behaviour theories
An example of this is easily seen in children, as they observe the actions of their parents and then proceed to repeat them. Social Learning Theory is made up of a series of components, however seemingly the most crucial being the models we imitate. These models are usually presented in the forms of authority figures such as parents, teachers or in other cases peers as well as the media. It is possible for a model to have a direct and indirect effect on the learner, however customarily models do not opt to influence our behaviour. We accumulate knowledge in 3 different ways; through classical conditioning, which deals with our experiences and associations, operant conditioning, directly relates to learning through either punishments or rewards, and lastly observational learning, which focuses on learning through the intake of information.
This more modern approach to criminology places a focus on the sciences and the social services necessary to help prevent crimes from being committed in the future. The sciences are used as a means to rehabilitate while the social services are delivered to the community as a means to educate the population on why crimes are committed and how to actively engage the youth in a positive manner a preventative measure. The positivist approach took another turn in its development within the criminal justice system in the 1960’s by taking an inside look at a criminal and their behavior through the lens of the deviance theory, which is the broadening study of the social pressures and context that help explain why criminals behave in a deviant manner (Boundless Sociology, Retrieved April 28, 2018). In the 1970’s the approach of the positives, theory stayed the same, but the new crime on the street was drugs and the effects of these illegal substances were astronomical. This lead to a moral panic where society as a whole felt that their moral bubble was being overwhelmed pressured by criminal activity.
Many people have the belief that an individuals’ socialization can be the determining factor whether he or she may commit a crime. In criminology, there are many different theories that suggest the idea that socialization is a factor behind one committing crimes. There are three socialization theories that can support the fact that one’s socialization is the main factor in criminality. The social control theory expresses that a person who has a weakened bond with society in general, there is more room for that person to participate in delinquent behavior. Most social learning theories state that a person learns behavior from observing the people that they interact on a daily basis within society.