Criminal Behavior: Social Learning, Social Control

Labeling theory and social learning theory are two theories that may be compared and contrasted because the theories are somewhat similar but are still different. Although these theories have their similarities and differences, one theory may prove to be more convincing in terms of giving a better account for crime and having better theory-related policies that would best help to decrease crime rates.

Akers' Social Learning Theory emphasizes that individuals learn through observation, imitation, and reinforcement of behaviors. In the textbook, it states that “Akers argues that we learn to engage in crime through exposure to and the adoption of definitions favorable to crime.” (Akers, 1979). Malcolm

Aker wants people to develop motivation to commit crime, and the skills to commit crime through the people they associate with. The social learning is that when people learn bad behavior by watching others and learning from the social factors in their daily lives. They also see with differential association and imitation can be either positive or negative. On the positive side we see when people are rewarded for their action we began to see more crime occur. Though on the negative side we see can still see a lot of crime occur, but when they know what the consequences are for the crime they are less likely to do it again, or even commit a crime. Though the social learning theory gives us four central concepts. They are differential association,

Social control theory and social learning theory are two theories that suggest why deviant behavior is chosen to be acted upon by some individuals and not others. Both take a different stance on the issue. Social control theory suggests people’s behavior is based on their bonds to society, if they have strong bonds to society they conform and if not they have a tendency to act out or become involved in criminal or deviant behavior. Social learning theory suggest that through vicarious learning people learn from observing others and based on what the observe make the choice of whether to copy those actions to obtain desired results or chose not to if

Why do criminals commit crime? How to we learn to commit crime? These questions can be answered using social learning theory. "Social learning approach is the assumption that all human behavior is socially learned" (Thompson, Bynum 2013 115). The theory of differential association was developed by Edwin Sutherland to try and explain the development of criminal behavior. Essentially what this theory says is that deviant group behavior results from normative conflict. Normative conflict arises when multiple probable rules exist, specifying how one ought to behave in a given situation. Conflicts among norms affect deviant people of a variety of social groups. An individual is part of many social groups including friends, family, and school. Every group has its own set of social norms. Sometimes the norms between these groups can conflict with each other resulting in the possibility of deviant behavior

Twain uses sarcasm to show that the people how are ‘higher’ up are not really higher up. It's all about ego. “Two or three of the boys had long been persons of consideration among us because they had been to St. Louis once and had a vague general knowledge of its wonders, but the day of their glory was over now.” This sniped shows that these boys were considered higher up due to a dumb idea. Twain uses sarcasm to show their true colors.

Some of these theories put the focus on the crime while others focus on the criminal. Some of the major sociological theories include the strain, social learning, control, labeling theory. These theories also differ from one another in several ways that they focus on slightly different features of the social environment, as well as different accounts of why the social environment causes crime. We can

Social learning theory focuses on criminal acts, but does not have a way for predicting or measuring thoughts and feelings which may drive the criminal behavior. A great example of this would be crimes of passion, while

There are many theories that attempt to explain the cause of crime. Two theories for the cause of crime are the Psychological and Social Process Theory. According to Schmalleger (2015), psychological theorist believe “crime is the result of inappropriate behavioral conditioning or a diseased mind” (p. 78). Social Process Theory claims “crime results from failure of self-direction, from inadequate social roles, or from associating with others who are already criminals” (Schmalleger, 2015, p. 103). Another theory is Conflict theory, Schmalleger (2015) states that according to conflict theory “crime is a natural consequence of social, political, and economic inequities” (p. 77). Another approach to crime causation is the Sociological theories which argue “the individual is a product of his or her environment” (Schmalleger, 2015, p. 103).

A shift in mood can be a detrimental occurrence for someone. Sometimes they don’t even understand why or how to control it. Mood swings, shifting from a manic state to a depressive state, is considered to be a sign of Bipolar Disorder 1. Bipolar disorder 1 is the tendency of manic episodes to alternate with major depressive episodes in an unending roller coaster ride from peaks of elation to the depths of despair (Barlow; Durand, 2015). It affects people 's moods, energy and ability to think clearly, negatively hindering that persons relationship with their peers, ability to work, get an education, and function normally with a balanced mood ("Bipolar Disorder",n.d). Bradley Cooper plays a middle-aged man, Patrick Solitano, who suffers from Bipolar Disorder in the movieSilver Linings Playbook. Pat went through many obstacles after a trigger set him off into a rage that landed him at a mental institution for eight months. He spent his life thinking that he just has a short fuse like his father, but later into his adulthood he was diagnosed as an undiagnosed Bipolar until later events recognized his disorder as Bipolar Disorder 1. Pat’s life events that occur throughout the movie highlight how severe and dramatizing the disorder can be when unrecognized. In the film, Pats ending may have been a happy one, but for most Bipolar Disorder patients, it is a stressful long-term illness that is extremely difficult to correct.

Sociological theories are different from biological theories, they view juvenile delinquency as a social problem, they use social context and social pressures to explain juvenile delinquency (Akers & Sellers, 2013). Sociological theories examine juvenile delinquency in terms of different features of social environment such as family setting, school achievement, relationship in peer groups and workplace. For instance, social learning theory by Edwin Sutherland stated that individuals are learned how to engage in criminal activities from each other (Akers & Sellers, 2013). Social conflict theory explains crime within economic and social contexts include the connection among social class, crime and social control (Akers & Sellers, 2013).

The social disorganization theory is defined as that crime is most likely to occur in communities with weak social ties and the absence of social control (OpenStax 145). Social disorganization explains how individuals who live in a poor community is more likely to have more crimes than individuals who live in a regular suburban neighborhood. Sociologist believe those who grow up in a poor community with drugs, violence, and poor parental guidance are the ones who will most likely commit crimes as they get older. With the cultural deviance theory, it states that essential cultural norms of a lower social class can cause crimes. Depending on your status in society, your race or ethnicity can play a role in crime rates.

Each theory explains the crime committed, making sense of the causes for the criminal appeal. Social learning theorists observe violence as something learned through a process called behavior modeling. They think that individuals are born good and they learn to be bad; social control theory, “assumes that people are born bad and must be controlled to be good.” Social control and social learning theory are two theories suggesting why deviant behavior is selected to be acted upon by some individuals and not others. The both take a different position on the issue.

as a general concept, social learning theory has been applied to the many different fields of social science to explain why certain individuals develop motivation to commit (or abstain from) crime and develop the skills to commit crime through the people they associate with. Social Learning Theory (SLT) is one of the most frequently looked at theories in the criminology field. This theory was introduced by Ronald L. Akers as a reformulation of Edwin H. Sutherland 's (1947) differential association theory of crime meld with principles of behavior psychology (Bradshaw, 2011). Akers retained the concepts of differential association and definitions from Sutherland 's theory, but conceptualized them in more behavioral terms and

Many people have different theories as to why crime exists. Some believe crime happens because of the individual’s culture, education (or lack there of), or even their race. Others believe crime is associated with whom we surround ourselves with. There are three sociological theories that suggest why crime happens in society; they are social learning theory, social control theory, and social reaction (labeling) theory. These theories suggest it is our relationships and social interactions that influence our behavior.