Case Interview: Incarcerated Hispanic Men

An individual need to encounter it some place for them to have that attitude of a criminal. This can be gained from peers, parents, teachers neighbors, etc. According to the Social learning theory which is, "learning behavior that is controlled by environmental influences rather than by innate or internal forces" (Britannica Criminology 2017) has been connected to this program and is the motivation behind why pack savagery diminished. In this program, there are similarly invested individuals who endeavor to better their groups, encourage the instruction and unite individuals through positive neighborhood group events. The social learning hypothesis additionally suggests that youngsters who learn positive conduct will keep on becoming positive grown-ups. Indeed, even individuals who have had pessimistic inclinations can change their negative behavior patterns when they are encompassed around individuals with propensities that help better them. Aristotle once said, "Good habits formed at youth make all the difference". He believed that when you are growing up that is the most imperative time in someone's life due to the fact that the brain is learning new information rapidly. Children are also able to distinguish the difference in social class as well.

This paper analyzes and applies the social learning theory to Richard Ramirez a convicted serial killer. From exploring and understanding the social learning theory to giving a glimpse on Ramirez’s backstory and crimes. Beginning with early childhood that consists of his abusive father and personal head trauma. Thus, connecting social learning and other factors that lead to his heinous crimes. Middle childhood that includes his social interactions with his family members and the onset of his first crimes. Shortly, adolescence starts and stronger perverse emotions after hanging out and being influenced by his cousin Mike. Emerging adulthood and adulthood, Richard’s desire is thereon turned into actions that ultimately makes him the “Night Stalker”. Crimes such as burglary, rape, and murder that were learned from his social environment. Finally, a brief analysis on what was learned from the life span and applying the social learning theory to a serial killer Richard Ramirez.

For my research topic, I will be exploring the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and post-9/11 border militarization on the issues of criminalization of immigration and the inequality and structural violence immigrants face in detention centers specifically at the U.S.-Mexico Border. National awareness on issues such as oversight of detention centers, conditions within detention centers, as well as the inhumane practices detained immigrants are subjected to have risen within the last decade. Immigration detention has become the fastest growing form of incarceration in the United States, and immigrants are the fastest growing population in federal prisons (Lopez & Light, 2009). Nearly 30,000 immigrants are detained

Latino/Hispanic Americans cover a much wider demographic then believed. Latino/Hispanic Americans consist of; Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan American to name a few. Latino/Hispanic Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. The Latino/Hispanic culture is very different than ours. Their culture differs in economics, politics, family traditions, family structure, religion, education, language, fashion, art, music, dancing, and food. As natural born Americans in the United States it is important for us to learn about the different cultures migrating into the United States. Many United States citizens have a hard time understanding other cultures; being culturally insensitive is a common theme in the United

It is known that crime is caused through imitation, arousal and desensitising. The social Learning theory (2009), looks at how people engage in crime due to their associations. It explains that a person’s behaviour is a product of the people who surround ourselves – people imitate those who people admire. Theorist Bandura (1997) had completed an experiment in which looked at

Julia, a Hispanic EX-prisoner, works as a Janitor in a marketing company for about 4 months. When she is about to leave work and go home to celebrate her son's birthday. Her colleague and boss secretary asks her to talk to the new Director of Personnel in the company, Terry. Julia feels a bit worry about meeting the new boss plus she can’t be late to her son’s birthday. Then, Julia breaks the worry and goes to the boss office.

The concept of differential reinforcement in social learning theory states that people commit crimes because certain delinquent behaviour is reinforced to encourage officers to do bad things (Maskaly 2015:208). For example, in the police subculture, police officers are positively reinforced to act dangerously, risky and aggressively to prove their masculinity (Maskaly 2015:210). This type of behaviour can lead to criminal behaviour among police officers. The concept of imitation in social learning theory states that people are more likely to commit criminal acts if they observe more criminal acts as opposed to model behaviour (Maskaly 2015:208). Social learning theory states that imitation of delinquent police behaviour happens when rookie officers are being trained by seasoned officers. This is because the training officers are evaluating the rookie officers and if the rookie officers do not copy the training officers behaviour, then they might receive a bad evaluation (Maskaly 2015:211). Therefore, these rookie officers learn to imitate a training officers negative or criminal

risk profiles, the capacity of prison staffs, and rehabilitation programs, including those focused on juvenile offenders and their prison conditions;

The social learning theory says that people learn their behaviors from those they associate with, meaning if a person’s best friend is a “good” person, that behavior will rub off onto that person. According to social learning theory, people engage in crime because of their association with others who engage in crime (Crossman). Their criminal behavior is reinforced and they learn beliefs that are favorable to crime (Crossman). They essentially have criminal models that they associate with (Crossman). As a consequence, these individuals come to view crime as something that is desirable, or at least justifiable in certain situations (Crossman).

Another mechanism is that parents may show their children how to commit crime and may possibly offend together with their children (Farrington,2011). This relates to theories about social learning. In his Differential Association Theory, Sutherland assumes that people learn behaviour through contact with other people such as their parents ( Lanier & Henry, 2004;Sutherland & Cressey,1955). Kids will have parallel attitudes to their parents. An individual will commit criminal acts when he/she has learned more motivations to break rather than to follow the law. Bandura ( 1973, 1977) suggests that children learn behaviour through observation and imitation of role models. Parents are significant role models; if they are hostile, children will copy their hostility. Furthermore, children’s antisocial or violent behaviour might be reinforced by their parents and they might notice their parent’s antisocial behaviour being reinforced. According to these two theories children with violent parents will imitate their parent’s aggressive behaviour and will learn that it is okay to engage in such behaviour. Previous studies in delinquent development confirmed that co-offending of parents and children is unusual and rare (Reiss &Farrington, 1991; West & Farrington, 1977). Parents also

According to NewsCurrents Read to Know states, “Crime and violence have become very common in Mexico. More than 60,000 people have been killed since 2006, and an estimated 25,000 have simply disappeared. Eighty percent of the murders have not been solved.” Sadly everyone that lived in Mexico had to struggle at some point in their life. My interviewee had experienced certain things that no one in their childhood should have gone through. All the stress started in his teens around sixteen through seventeen years old but at the end of the day the life he had prepared him for the real world. One thing for sure is that he was one of the luckiest people from Mexico, not everyone has the chance to get food on their table, get clothes every once in awhile, or have a decent job. He is one of the millions of examples that Mexico needs a major assistance. Mexico is depicted as a perfect paradise, but in reality Mexico is immensely corrupted causing families to live a depleted dreadful existence.

Prisons for a long time have been a gateway to try to save society, when the only thing that it’s doing is hurting the social order because it’s creating more problems that are not being treated from the beginning. Crime has become a big problem during these hard times with the poor economy, but it has especially affected Latin America because of all the problems that overcrowded prisons have brought forward. In Latin America Brazil and Mexico are the two largest countries that have been affected with having the highest percentage of crimes, inmates in prisons, and concerns with overcrowded prisons. And these increase with the high crime rates in Latin America that are rising due to drug trafficking wars in Brazil and Mexico. "The

During the past 10 years’ human trafficking has recognized as major illegal and problematic activity within the criminal justice system throughout the United States and a majority of the world. Although much attention has been paid to the worldwide aspect of human trafficking it is important to realize its domestic prevalence. According to ------------------ and estimated 200,0000 to 300,000 immigrants are trafficked illegally within the United States from impoverished countries. The topic of human trafficking has proved to be the point of interest amongst advocates of human rights as well as the media as it violates basic human rights at its core. Shared Hope International, a nonprofit organization, has found that most of the identified victims in Texas cities are racial minorities and come from households with vulnerable socioeconomic status. Although human trafficking has gained prevalence in the past years and it’s a relatively new phenomenon it has gained the attention of policy makers to adjust laws to protect those who may become involved or become victims of this trend. This essay will serve to discuss the prevalence of human trafficking, especially within the illegal immigrant community, there are several keys which make this particular population susceptible to his type of illicit and illegal activity

Ernest Martinez in his essay “Giving People a Second Chance” tries to persuade Hispanic business owners to give Hispanic ex-cons a second chance at life. Martinez was a former vocational instructor in Wasco State prison so he was first-hand experience with interaction with Hispanic ex-cons. His essay was featured in Hispanic Magazine’s June 1996 edition in which his audience is mainly Hispanic business owners who can put in to action his wishes. In his essay Martinez uses a strong emotional appeal and plays to his audience to try to persuade Hispanic business owners, but in doing so does not provide sufficient evidence or examples that could make his argument a quite strong one.

The social learning theory by Ronald Akers is an important component of criminology that evolves from political, social and historical situations. This theory is more of an extension of Edwin Sutherland's theory of differential association extended on the learning perspective. Sutherland's work basically consists of a culture conflict that is typically the difficult problems within a society. He basically talks about how the society holds the power to turn any person into a deviant person. (Sellin, 1938) Akers provides a more refined version of Sutherland stated. Akers adds on to this theory the concept of force or reinforcement. He states that reinforcement is the factor that increases or reduces the tendency of a person to act a certain way. Using his theory, Akers also goes onto oppose others regarding learning in the criminal theory. Using the principles of the Operant Psychology, he states that behavior is basically a function of consequences. (Pfohl, 1994)