Introduction
Criminal justice seeks to understand and explain criminal behavior in order to develop strategies for preventing and eradicating it. One of the theories that best explains the causes of criminal behavior is the Social Learning Theory (SLT). This theory justifies the development of criminal patterns as a result of society’s negative influence on individuals. In contrast to theories of innate characteristics, the theory of social behavior does not claim that criminal intentions are inherent in a person from birth. The Social Learning Theory provides an in-depth explanation of criminal behavior and offers sound recommendations for its prevention, punishment, and rehabilitation of offenders to foster a just society.
Defining Social Learning Theory
The Social Learning Theory posits that a person’s environment can have either a negative or positive impact on them. SLT is associated with the names of Sutherland and Bandura and stems from the assertion that the study of criminal behavior must include awareness of motives and rationalization (Navarro & Marcum, 2020, p. 528). The behavior of people from the social environment can determine a person’s behavior. The commission of crimes directly follows from the experience of social interaction. An important factor influencing the decision to commit a crime is observing others (Krohn et al., 2019, p. 109).
According to the theory, the crime can be motivated by awareness of the rewards for engaging in illegal activities. The person involved in the crime can imitate the model of behavior when observing an example of a crime that led to the fulfillment of a life goal. SLT combines all these factors into motivation for criminal behavior, which is formed due to social influence.
According to SLT, the formation of criminal behavior can occur both consciously and unconsciously. The wrong environment can cause people to commit crimes or cause them to misbehave unintentionally. Such a negative influence is dangerous at “early adolescence [which] represents a particularly critical phase”, when antisocial behavior can be approved and consolidated by peers (Bullo & Schulz, 2022, 2).
In the future, as an adult, a person may continue to demonstrate criminal behavior to gain approval or attention. Negative influence can manifest itself not only with the help of the environment but also in the media. For example, a criminal may commit a crime because of a desire for fame and publicity. Cravings for recognition can form due to a lack of attention, which subsequently leads to antisocial and criminal behavior.
Social Learning Theory as a Key to Understanding Criminal Behavior
Approaching Criminal Behavior as a Learned Pattern
Firstly, SLT explains criminal behavior academically because it recognizes it as a learned pattern. Social learning theory “builds upon enormous theoretical and empirical development of behavioral psychology during the twentieth century” (Krohn et al., 2019, p. 395). Being opposed to the biological theories of criminal behavior, SLT has more evidence and is significantly more socially just. Thus, SLT is based on evidence rather than prejudice, which makes it attractive to justify criminal behavior.
Considering the Social Impact
Social Learning Theory is based on the fact that the environment significantly influences a person. This is also a proven fact: since a human is a creature that does not survive without society, it is logical to consider a significant influence of society on them. Social and ethical norms, even “illegal, dangerous and morally reprehensible” are formed in a person under the influence of other people (Krohn et al., 2019, p. 384). People cannot eliminate social influence because it constantly exists in society from birth. Therefore, SLT explains criminal behavior effectively, considering the social factor as the main one.
Individualizing in Moral Standards
Social influence is an important but not the only factor that explains human behavior. SLT explores the processes of justification and rationalization of criminal and deviant behavior in depth. The theory attempts to explain how individual traits, in addition to social influence, determine behavior patterns. The theory concludes that a person cannot make a choice that is contrary to the individual’s moral beliefs (Rumjaun & Narod, 2020, p. 87).
People can commit crimes if they do not have generally accepted moral codes, are not aware of causal relationships, or devalue the victim of the crime (Navarro & Marcum, 2020, p. 529). Even though society often invests in moral standards, people take their own attitude towards them. Thus, SLT considers collective influence and individual attitude, which helps make the theory versatile.
Considering the Motivational Processes
SLT is a practical theory for evaluating criminal behavior because it focuses on motivation. Motivation, “being the first and most important thing to explain,” is one of the primary methods of proving guilt and an essential factor in understanding criminal behavior (Krohn et al., 2019, p. 263). Motivation is the will to perform a specific behavior from modeling other actions (Burke et al., 2019, chapter 5.5).
The desire to imitate criminal behavior is associated with the degree to which the reward is perceived: if the reward is high, the person is likely to imitate the behavior (Krohn et al., 2019, p. 395). At the same time, the social reaction to the act will influence the consolidation of such a pattern. The perpetrator’s motivation in terms of SLT is clearly explained, which makes this theory effective.
Paying Attention to the Age of the Criminals
Another argument favoring the social learning theory is the attention paid to the age at which criminal patterns are formed. The negative social influence has been proven to affect most adolescent personality formation (Andrews et al., 2021, 109). The human psyche is fragile and mobile during this life period, so the importance of approval and recognition remains significant (Andrews et al., 2021, 109). That is why criminal patterns appear during adolescence, which justifies the need to pay close attention to the environment in which adolescents find themselves. Thus, SLT substantiates why teenagers are involved in criminal activity, which is an advantage of the theory in understanding behavioral patterns.
Offering Effective Ways of Punishment
Social learning theory is suitable for explaining criminal behavior because it offers practical ways to solve this problem. From the point of view of this approach, punishment for a crime should serve to eliminate learned criminal schemes (Krohn et al., 2019, p. 245). The theory does not consider positive and negative reinforcement as a way of learning.
On the contrary, only the uprooted environmental conditions that created the pattern are seen as a way to overcome it. The suggestion of opposite behavior is the only effective method in changing socially dangerous behavior (Krohn et al., 2019, p. 402). SLT offers a working concept of changing the hostile environment to eradicate criminal behavior.
Offering Effective Preventive Measures
Social Learning Theory is practical in explaining criminal behavior because it offers quality and effective programs to prevent it. SLT is applicable as a basis for developing programs to support minors. Non-violent intervention based on modeling positive behavior through environmental change demonstrates effectiveness (Andrews et al., 2021, p. 110). Communities can integrate a participatory prevention approach to support adolescents at risk. SLT also suggests that parents of minors pay attention to the environment in which their children find themselves. Thus, SLT effectively explains criminal behavior because programs based on it help prevent it.
Counterarguments and Criticism
While SLT is a proven theory for explaining criminal behavior, it has detractors who argue that it does not fully capture the range of influencing factors. The theory ignores the role of biological factors in forming criminal patterns. SLT does not consider innate traits that, according to biological concepts, determine whether a person is capable of committing a crime in the future (Ling et al., 2019, p. 626).
The theory also does not consider genetic factors that may explain patterns in a particular family due to the inheritance of specific health characteristics (Ling et al., 2019, p. 627). Mental health is also not considered by SLT as a factor that pushes people to commit illegal acts. The rationale for the theory of learned behavior may seem simplistic since it is based on the well-known fact of the significant influence of society on a person. Moreover, SLT ignores the impact of life changes that occur as a person develops, does not recognize personal transformation, and takes only social factors into account.
The counterarguments to the SLT are mainly based on the lack of biological factors in the concept that can influence criminal behavior. However, biological behavioral theories do not explain the reason why genetics at some point “becomes so powerful… [that] it leads to antisocial behavior” (Krohn et al., 2019, p. 91). SLT can explain how negative behavior patterns are learned from interaction with a toxic family environment, while copying behavior matters remain more influential than genetics.
Biological factors also include psychological aspects related to the features of the brain (Ling et al., 2019, p. 626). These factors can also influence criminal behavior, but do not always fully justify it. SLT, despite its simplification, looks like the theory that most fully covers social interaction as a factor determining behavior patterns. Criminal behavior is a complex phenomenon, and the coverage of all the causes that determine it is impossible within the framework of a single theory.
Conclusion
Social Learning Theory is the most effective way of explaining the causes, characteristics, and mode of formation of criminal behavior. This concept is based on recognizing criminal behavior as learned, giving the most significant importance to the influence of the environment. SLT’s strengths include considering motivation, the age of offenders, scientific validity, and the proposal of measures to combat criminal patterns, allowing it to be recognized as the best concept defining criminal behavior.
References
Andrews, J. L., Ahmed, S. P., & Blakemore, S. J. (2021). Navigating the social environment in adolescence: The role of social brain development. Biological Psychiatry, 89(2), 109-118. Web.
Burke, A., S., Sanchez, S., Fedorek, B., Carter, D., Morey, T., & Rutz-Burri, L. (2019). SOU-CCJ230 introduction to the American criminal justice system. Open Oregon Educational Resources.
Bullo, A., & Schulz, P. J. (2022). Do peer and parental norms influence media content-induced cyber aggression? Computers in Human Behavior, 129(1), 1-12. Web.
Krohn, M., Hendrix, N., Penly Hall, G., & Lizotte, A. (eds). (2019). Handbook on crime and deviance. Springer.
Ling, S., Umbach, R., & Raine, A. (2019). Biological explanations of criminal behavior. Psychology, Crime & Law, 25(6), 626-640. Web.
Navarro, J. N., & Marcum, C. D. (2020). Deviant instruction: The applicability of Social Learning Theory to understanding cybercrime. In Holt, T., Bossler, A. (eds.), The Palgrave handbook of international cybercrime and cyber deviance (pp. 527-545). Web.
Rumjaun, A., & Narod, F. (2020). Social Learning Theory – Albert Bandura. In: Akpan, B., Kennedy, T.J. (eds.), Science education in theory and practice. Springer texts in education (pp.85-99). Springer. Web.