Who we surround ourselves with impacts us for better or for worse. Naturally, the behavior of others who we spend a lot of time with rubs off on us. The social learning theory suggests that our behavior is learned from observing and imitating those around us. If an individual chooses to surround themselves with a poorly behaved group of people, then it is likely that they will adopt some of their poor behaviors. The social learning theory directly correlates to criminal activity. Committing crimes comes from these learned behaviors that stem from an individual’s social environment through experiences and interactions.
This theory suggests that learning these criminal behaviors result from a number of different factors. These factors include observing and imitating behavior of other people, gaining rewards for engaging in illegal activity, learning that such activity can successfully result in desired objectives, and growing a strong sense of self-efficacy in employing antisocial methods to accomplish goals (Gruman et al., 2016). In the media today we see tons of crimes being committed ranging from misdemeanors and felonies. These criminals may be surrounding themselves with people who act poorly and potentially peer pressure people into doing things. This could start at a young age and be something as small as disobeying one’s parents and staying out past curfew. If this behavior gets any praise or attention from the individual’s peers, they may partake in more activities that are wrong just to get this type of attention.
Criminals that we see all over the news may have acted out violently to get this sort of attention in the media. This media attention could simply be their desired outcome and part of why they committed the crime. They may have seen other people who committed crimes prior to them all over the news and social media and crave that attention even if it is negative attention. This craving of recognition could develop from a lack of attention at home or with friends. It is important to be aware of others’ behaviors and why people may act out in certain situations. The way that such behavior is rewarded or punished could potentially cause further issues. By rewarding bad behavior and not punishing it, people could encourage others to commit crimes. These reinforcements can be positive or negative. In the case of positive reinforcement, the conduct yields a favorable outcome. Such consequences may be “money, the pleasurable feelings associated with drug use, attention from parents, approval from friends, or an increase in social status” (“Crime Causation: Sociological Theories”, n.d.). This results in the negative behavior to be repeated or worsened as the criminal has learned that their behavior gives them the potential desired outcome they want. For this reason negative reinforcements are important as they typically result in the behavior to stop. For example if they do not receive peer approval or higher social status, money, or drugs they will see that the result is negative and nothing comes out of it.
Our social environment affects us more than we realize. It is crucial to surround yourself with people who support you when making good decisions and who make you recognize and do not support your bad decisions. Parents need to check in on their children and be there for them to make sure they are not getting into trouble. It is also important for parents to give their children attention and reward them when necessary to prevent them from acting out to gain what they are missing. Furthermore, it is vital to recognize when one’s child is acting poorly and how to fix this behavior by giving them negative reinforcements to prevent such behavior from being repeated. This theory is important to understand as it explains how we are shaped into who we are and the decisions we make.
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Crime causation: Sociological theories – social learning theory. Social Learning Theory – Individuals, Engage, Beliefs, and People – JRank Articles. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://law.jrank.org/pages/815/Crime-Causation-Sociological-Theories-Social-learning-theory.html
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