Behaviourism as perspective on human nature
Watson: Eliminate the “mind”
because it could not be observed or measured
Interplay between stimulus & response only
All behaviour controlled by external environment
Learning Theories
All behaviour is learned Instrumental (operant) learning
Skinner & behaviourism Facilitates personal adaptation Consequences and rewards Reinforcements & Punishments
Response is strengthened by outcome that follows Response is weakened by outcome that follows Positive & Negative reinforcement vs. Punishment
Skinnerian Perspective
Environmental stimuli are primary• behaviour can be understood by examining
simplest stimulus-response chains of behaviour
Focuses on emitted behavioursJuveniles repeat rewarded behaviour
(reinforcement) and do not repeat behaviour that is punished
Shoplifting; Burglary; Robbery Physical rewards &/or social & psychological reinforcements
WHY DON’T WE ALL DO CRIME?
Strong connection between deviant behaviour and aversive consequencesPunishment weakens a response or makes it
less likely to recur
Opportunity to make connections (active problem solvers; socialization)
When Punishment Works
Immediately punishing a self-destructive behaviour
Milder punishments appear to work as well as harsh ones
Consistency is important Younger criminals:
reduces rates of arrest but not recidivism; severity of punishment makes no diff (fines &
probation as effective as jail); when get away with crime, behaviour is
intermittently reinforced
When Punishment Fails If administered inappropriately Recipient may respond with anxiety, fear or
rage Effectiveness is often temporary Most misbehaviour is difficult to punish
immediately Punishment conveys little info – only teaches
how to avoid it An action intended to punish may be
reinforcing
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
Focus on ‘inner’ processes in learning Assumption: people learn primarily by
observing and listening to others. Social environment is most important factor in
acquisition of behaviour and reinforcement for the maintenance of behaviour.
Guides our sentencing practices !
Basic concept: people in all walks of life have the potential to become delinquents or criminals.
SOCIAL(COGNITIVE) LEARNING
Cognitive processes: Perceptions, thoughts, expectancies, competencies, & values
Learning is a change in knowledge that has the potential for affecting behaviour.
Albert Bandura Modeling
Edwin Sutherland Differential association theory
Observational Learning - Bandura
Imitational aspects of social learning:Can acquire behaviour simply by watching
others (models) and refined through practice & reinforcement
Direct participation & reinforcement not necessary Not what model says; about what model DOES Observed behaviour more likely to be replicated if
model rewarded Maintained behaviour depends on situation and
expectancies for personal gain Substantial body of evidence supporting theory
The Modelling Process (Bandura: 1977)
Four basic steps Attention
Observe acts
Retention Reproduction
reinforcement
Motivation
Differential Association Theory Edwin Sutherland (cultural, not individual roots) Explains crime across the social structure:
Criminal behaviour is learned through intimate social relationships (peers)
Views about deviance learned through exposure to value system (*attitudes) that are pro-deviant
Deviant communities ‘differentially organized’ subcultures (own values, traditions, & norms for behaviour)
Many forms of crime require people to work with each other (& to be learned same as non-deviant activities)
Accounts for acquisition of criminal tendencies, not maintenance of performance
Differential Association TheoryExposure to competing definitions of appropriate
and inappropriate conduct
Definitions favourableor unfavourable to criminal behaviour
are learned throughinteraction in
intimate social groups
Excess of definitionsfavourable to law
violation
Delinquent andcriminal behaviour
Learning and criminalmotivations and
techniques
Youtube Links
Stanley Cup Riot in Vancouver – 1994
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2II3UIV2ars
The Milgram Experiment
http://youtube.com/watch?v=274wQJmdRQg
Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment
http://youtube.com/watch?v=E-21DE_064s&NR=1
The Family
May provides the reinforcement that shapes behaviour and models for criminal behaviour
Studied from 2 anglesFamily interactions
Do parenting styles and other circumstances bear on development or future delinquency?
Family structure Is having many siblings a protective factor? Is a single-parent household a risk factor?
‘broken home’ or homes ‘broken’
Family Structuring
Reflects the quality of parenting provided:Constant criticism, neglect or verbal abuse?Low supervision?Lack of discipline? Inconsistent discipline?
Harsh physical punishment?
Hoffman’s Child-Rearing Styles
NOTE: research is correlational Personality & behaviour function of many factors
such as: Heredity Parenting styles Bi-directional influence of parent-child Other experiences
In general, physical punishment, inconsistent punishment; poor parental monitoring, poor discipline & lack of family cohesion linked to violent delinquency
The Power of Parents
Nonshared environment is more important influence on personality
Few parents have a single child-rearing style that is consistent over time & that they use with all children (stressors, moods, child’s age & temperament)
Even with consistency, may be little relation between what they do & how child turns out Columbine High School murders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKDvT1f6HDc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ13CZ4Hekg
Reena Virk
Family Relationships
DivorceNot divorce per se or absence of father figureStress & discord prior to separation appears
as operating factor for risk of delinquency Not enough time with children; depressed;
stressed out, self-absorbed
Children may feel unloved & normal practices are disrupted (discipline) & reduces attachment between parent and child
Family and Crime
Criminal parents are more likely to have criminal children:Social modeling: role modelPoorer & more chaoticParenting styles of criminal parents poorDrugs & alcohol more prevalent in home
School & Peer Influences
School is one of most influential environments Academic failure
Peer rejection far more traumatic than punitive treatment
Reflects contact with antisocial youths: Some delinquent acquaintances or friends No positive acquaintances Strong allegiance to peers
Subversive (antisocial) values and ideas Technique of neutralization
Peer Influences: Antisocial Attitudes
Reflects criminal or otherwise antisocial attitudes:Delinquent attitudesUnconventional attitudesNot actively seeking helpActively rejecting helpCallous attitudeDefiant attitude
Social Control Theory Hirschi (1969) – importance of social bonds
(protective factors against crime) Argues that crime and delinquency occurs when
individuals not socialized to be law-abiding Do not have the controls that normally hold basic
human nature in check Child’s relationship with parent is most important
factor in delinquency involvement
Objection to theory: only partially accounts for deviant behaviour – how do bonds break down?
Hirschi’s Social Bonding Theory
Weak attachment to conventional people and
insensitivity to their opinions
Weak commitment to conventional social
enterprises like education, work & social rewards
Weak involvement in legitimate law-abiding
activity
Weak belief in conventional values &the validity of the law
Delinquent or criminal conduct
Deterrence Theory
Frequency of crime will vary inversely with certainty, swiftness, & severity of punishment
Works because of fear of external sanctions and negative consequences (we deter ourselves)
Objection to theory: many crimes are impulsive or emotion based & little consideration of consequences
Deterrence Theory
Delinquent or criminal conduct
Lack of severity(gravity of sanction)
Lack of certainty(high likelihood of
punishment)
Lack of celerity(short period of time
separating misconductfrom punishment)
Labelling Theory Official (social) label & sanctioned process
Society reacts to violations against social norms by applying labels & stigmatizing behaviour of other groups
Self-fulfilling prophecy (deviant label may actually increase deviant behaviour due to label’s negative impacts on one’s social status, ‘life chances’, and sense of self)
Assumptions Acts are not intrinsically deviant Crime is a label that becomes attached to behaviour
for social reasons Criminal justice agents are influenced by
characteristics of offender (age, race, class)
Labelling
Deviancy is socially constructedNot act itself but contextual meaning attached
to it that defines if deviant or not So the focus is on:
Who gets defined/labelled deviant?How does this process occur?What are the consequences of being labelled
deviant?
Stigmatization
Labels inform us as to the conduct but explain very little about the motivations
Labels carry a “generalized symbolic value” Social, self & structural stigma Stigma causes and perpetuates further
deviant behaviour
General Tenets of Labelling Perspective
Ongoing involvement in deviance
Multiplicity of influences Initial primary devianceUnofficial and/or official labelling
Deviant shunned by conventional society
Development ofDeviant self-image,
Self-concept &identity
Impact of Labelling Theory
Objection to theory: focuses on deviance of marginalized groups & oversimplifies relation between attitudes, self-concept & behaviour. Not totally arbitrary.
E.g.; Mental illness Deinstitutionalization between 1965 & 1985 Exposure to institutional life created & reinforced negative self-
images; slowing down recovery & reintegration into community
Age and Gender
Majority of crime committed by males in early teens and twenties
Most theories relate most strongly to particular stages in an offender’s life
Most research conducted with samples of males Theorizing about female offenders uses different
sets of explanatory factors (victims, mental illness, home & family factors)
Criminal ‘Career’ Development
Different developmental pathways (trajectories) suggest how childhood & adolescence antisocial behaviour (ASB) is shaped & maintained
Strong evidence that most serious, persistent delinquency begins early & worsens with age Age of onset & chronic offending in adolescence
Beginning to target development of ASB during preschool years
Moffitt: characteristics of child
Moffitt’s Developmental Theory of Crime
The Dual Trajectories in the Origins of Conduct Disorder (CD)
"Early Starters“ <13 (& continue) "Late Starters“ 13+
Life-course-persistent (LCP) offenders
Adolescent limited (AL) offenders
DSM-IV conduct disorder: childhood-onset type
DSM-IV conduct disorder: adolescent-onset type
Minor aggression (bullying, fighting), lying, hurting animals, biting and hitting
by age 4
Serious aggression (mugging, forced sex, use of weapon), stealing, running
away, truancy, breaking & entering
Neurological problems: attention deficit or hyperactivity
Little to no problems with peer rejection; have learned how to get
along with others
5-10% of the male juvenile offender population (2% females)
Majority of juvenile offender population; ceases or stops offending
around age 18
Merton’s Strain Theory ANOMIE: “without norms” Gives the influence of society upon the individual a central position
Crime is a social construction & defined by those in power (persisting structural social gap that pushes people to break rules – normal, maybe even necessary)
Life is about success Crime increases when the social structure prevents people from achieving
culturally defined goals (getting money) through legitimate means (job)
Where legitimate and conventional means of success are unavailable
1. Unequal opportunity
2. Strain & stress ensue (permanent conflict)
3. Adapt by conforming to rules or deviance becomes a means to an end
Merton’s Strain TheoryMembers of lower classsocialized to embrace
conventional middle-class values & norms
People in lower class confrontlack of legitimate opportunities
to achieve middle-class success
Strain and frustration ensue
Legitimate modeof adaptation“Conformity”
Illegitimate modes of adapation
“Nonconforming”
Summary
Importance of antisocial/antiauthority & pro-criminal attitudes & beliefs in the promotion of criminal behaviour in young people
Broad range of situational & personal factors involved in delinquency
Top Related