Social Learning Theory: a Historical Review

Social Learning Theory: a Historical Review

Abstract

The search for a theoretical model of sexually deviant interests has led to the emergence of many related theories. However this search has not yet found a unified theory addressing the causes of criminal behavior as related to the crime of rape, although attempts have been made to explain the same through various theories.

Aker’s who was born in Jan.7, 1939 developed the theory of social learning as it applies to deviant behavior. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Kentucky. Aker argued that human beings develop deviant behavior as a result of the environment that they live in and the people that they associate with. He argues that people learn deviant behavior behavior by observing and learning from the social considerations around them. To him criminal behavior is conditioned and not inborn.

Social Learning Theory: a Historical Review

William James laid the foundation for the study of human relations and the environment in the year 1890.Afred Adler in early 19000s, argued that behavior is purposeful and that it is motivated by individual goals. Human perception of the environment influences behavior. To him, thoughts and feelings influence one physical action. E.C. Tolman, in 1930 debated that cognitions influences a person’s behavior. Miller & Dollard officially launched the social learning theory with their publication of “Social Learning and Imitation.” in 1941.They argued in their book that human behavior is influenced or motivated by internal persuasions.

Social Learning Theory has been used for many years to study the deviant behavior by criminologist as well as other scholars.

Social Learning Theory and the Crime of Sexual Aggression

Aggression including sexual aggression is analyzed in terms of frequency and intensity, duration and comparative importance. SLT views sexual aggression as part of the wider influences of the theory. Aggression is learned, sustains if reinforced and is shaped by consequences.

According to this theory male aggression or violence against the female gender happens because, among many reasons, it is created at both the personal and society level. Also it is thought to have positive impacts to the criminal suspect or rather the perpetrator. It indeed, leaves the rapist feeling better due to the relieved tension achieved through the action. Also this type of crime is rarely linked with serious punishment on the side of the perpetrator. Social learning occurs through social information processing. This includes the process of decoding, responding and judging. As a fact, violent men are deficient in skills required to decode information from the female gender.

Seasonal Crimes Patterns

A seasonal crimes pattern, particularly those related to rape, is a topic that has attracted a lot of research for many decades. This is partly because of the complicated nature of crimes and criminals. The history of crime can be traced to the origins of human beings. Criminological research has been sustained for many centuries. However, the results generated by various studies appear to have inconsistent outcomes. The present study applies a long time series and a significant sample to derive more complete cycles and variability of crime. It is the finding of the current research that substantial crimes exhibit some seasonal behavior and in essence adhere to some criminal trend. The presence of seasonal patterns cannot be distilled by monthly temperatures differences between different areas. However seasonality and temperatures differences between distinct regions are related. This discovery suggests that seasonal differences encompass both environmental and social features which can mix to create varied patterns from one geographical area to another.

Crime seasonality is a source of consistent variation that can prove to be vital more so when creating theories on criminology and in predicting the future. Seasonal pattern of crimes is an area of interest for any criminologists. This has been the state of affairs since the mid-19th century. However, these studies have over the years been producing inconsistent results. This study intends to build on the already available knowledge related to seasonal crimes patterns.

The literature on the seasonality of crimes is significant more so in terms of its volumes. This is informed by the number of studies that have been undertaken in this area. This thesis also includes a myriad of loosely connected topic areas. The present work includes an analysis of fluctuations particularly in high frequency data to researchers of the criminological importance of humidity, environmental conditions, and cloud cover. There are many rigorous studies of this nature. The most basic questions that run through the paper is the question as to whether crime trends adhere to predictable patterns, and if that is the case, in which time of the year are they highest or lowest. Some studies have concluded that most crimes occur during the summer. Existing literature also unravel some cycles of both violent and non-violent crimes. The present studies also carry some inconsistencies in the sense that broad and individual categorization of crimes is inconsistent in many cases. The crime of homicide has attracted a lot of attention, particularly among personal offenses. It also produces the most diverse outcomes. Homicides occasion many adverse consequences since homicides are rare as compared to other forms of crime.

Study on Seasonality in Crime Rates

Modern research often accounts for crime sensationally under the temperature aggression theories. Temperature- aggression theories are not comprehensive of the two, and they cling to the idea that individuals become significantly irritable as heat and humidity levels increase. However, this argument applies as a general rule, and therefore they have exemptions. They differ from each other in fundamental aspects.

Current Study

This research tries to investigate each of the directions mentioned above for crime at place studies. It starts with a theoretical assumption that crime hotspots could be as a result of social disorganization. Although, Braga and Clarke (2014) argued that a further study is necessary to explicitly explore the link between causation of hotspots and the disorganization theory. Future studies should set the effective theoretical framework of collective efficacy. Researchers should concentrate on variables that have been tried substantially in previous studies, particularly on social disorganization theory. Effectively, studies founded on the social disorganization theory should evaluate whether collective could be abused at the street level.

Crime and Location

The journal explicitly sheds light on the relationship between crime and location. First, a small number of individuals are responsible for many of the crimes. Additionally, most crimes happen in a few places; for example in slums or in urban areas. The article is essential as it avails crime theories that are fundamental in analyzing the nature of crimes and their causes. Traditionally, theories of crimes have been divided into two basic categories; mainly development of criminal vents and development of offenders. Development-of-offender theories avail explanations for personal-level delinquency decisions. Although some of these theories define the behaviors of specific offenders effectively, they fully do not describe the reason why crime is entrenched in small-sized environments. One of the advantages of analyzing crime at the macro-level is that crime patterns can be viewed easily and criminal records can connect to aggregate standards of aggregated population data recorded. A significant demerit in studying crime particularly in macro-level locations is that the attention on individual crimes is missed or lost.

Crime has significantly reduced over the last decade. This has happened despite the prevalent economic shocks, shifts in levels of employment and the changing behaviors related to drug and alcohol abuse, technology and other social norms. Crime has changed regarding its nature: The traditional high volume crimes including burglary and street crimes have reduced by more than half, previously ‘secretive’ crimes particularly child sexual abuse, domestic violence, and rape have all become more visible and prevalent. There is also a growing and worry trend of the scale cyber-crime and online fraud.

The reduction in these crime rates can be attributed to many factors including better crime preventive strategies. The evidence is accurate: the government must work hand in hand with both the law enforcement agencies, businesses and the general public in preventing crime. Public participation forms an essential part of any effective security strategy. The involvement of all relevant stakeholders can ensure a sustained and significant reduction in crime rates. This becomes important to the victims of crime, and relevant communities. It also carries economic sense. Now, due to changes in crime levels, this policy recognizes the need for substantial evidence as the basis for a modern method of crime prevention.

Six Chief Drivers of Crime

This strategy targets or seeks to address the six significant contributors to crime.

   Opportunity

The policy aims at removing opportunities to offend both in online and offline environments. There is concrete evidence that increase in crime is related to the increase in relevant opportunities to commit a crime. When crime opportunities are reduced, crime levels can be reduced. However, this does not mean that any person will commit a crime if they think they can get away with the same. It is true that some people will never in their lifetime commit some types of crime disregard of the situation.

    Character

This entails taking the necessary action early, so as to manage those people that are exposed to factors that might lead them to commit a crime. One of the essential findings in the discipline of criminology is that crime is usually committed by a small minority. Although an opportunity for crime contributes to criminal acts, there are crimes that are consistently perpetrated by particular kinds of offenders’ disregard of the prevailing circumstances. Character traits of an individual can be a good explanation for the commission of some types of crime by some people. For example, people’s willingness to break the prevailing social norms is a form of character related crimes. Therefore for crime to be reduced character of individuals must be shaped towards doing what is morally right. Building character and resilience is a good step towards building positive character.