Social Causes of Crime: Social Learning Theory

Question 1

Define ‘role model’.

Answer 1

A person looked to by other as someone who they can identify with as an example to be imitated due to admiring them and being of higher status.

Question 2

Give 3 examples of relatable characteristics of the role model.

Answer 2

1) Gender
2) Age
3) Status

Question 3

Give 2 examples of characteristics of the observer.

Answer 3

1) Self-esteem

2) Self efficacy

Question 4

State the 4 main stages of social learning.

Answer 4

1) Attention
2) Retention
3) Reproduction
4) Motivation

Question 5

Describe the first stage of social learning.

Answer 5

The observer pays attention to the behaviours of the role model in order to learn from them due to idolising them.

Question 6

Describe the first stage of social learning using a criminal example.

Answer 6

A child pays attention to his father stealing from a shop due to him being a role model that he wants to learn from.

Question 7

Describe the second stage of social learning.

Answer 7

The observer retains the behaviour being modelled and usually involves imitation at a later date with mental rehearsal to remember complicated actions.

Question 8

Describe the second stage of social learning using a criminal example.

Answer 8

The child then retains the information of his father stealing.

Question 9

Describe the third stage of social learning.

Answer 9

The observed behaviour is then performed and involves reproducing what has been retained. People with low self-esteem are more likely to imitate the behaviour of role models due to not liking how they are
People with high self-efficacy are likely to believe they have the willpower to reproduce this behaviour.

Question 10

Describe the third stage of social learning using a criminal example.

Answer 10

The child then reproduces his father’s actions by going to a shop and stealing as he did. The child will need a low self-esteem and high self-efficacy.

Question 11

Describe the fourth stage of social learning.

Answer 11

Motivation to continue may come from vicarious, external, and internal reinforcements, whereby vicarious or internal reinforcement are the highest motivators.

Question 12

Describe the fourth stage of social learning using a criminal example.

Answer 12

If the child is motivated he will continue to steal due to either receiving vicarious reinforcement from observing his dad receiving no negative consequences or from internal motivation due to receiving thrill from the experience.

Question 13

Define ‘vicarious reinforcement’.

Answer 13

If an observed behaviour is punished it is less likely to be reproduced and if rewarded it is more likely to be reproduced.

Question 14

Define ‘external reinforcement’.

Answer 14

If a behaviour is rewarded it will be repeated.

Question 15

Define ‘internal reinforcement’.

Answer 15

Behaviour is more motivating if some internal need is satisfied, such as excitement.

Question 16

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘evidence’ points.

Answer 16

P - Bandura supports
E - He found that children were more aggressive after observing an adult being aggressive towards a Bobo doll
E - Therefore suggesting that people can exhibit aggressive behaviour (that may lead to crime) when observing a role model doing so
P - Huesmann and Eron (1986) supports
E - Found that the more violence people watched on TV the more likely they were to have committed a crime by the age of 30
E - Thus demonstrating that observing criminal behaviour can lead to reproducing it in the future after retaining the information

Question 17

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘how’ points.

Answer 17

P - Huesmann and Eron used correlational data
E - This only looked at the relationship between the amount of violence viewed on TV and whether or not people had committed a crime
E - Therefore there may be other factors involved such as people who are naturally violent may look for violent TV
P - Bandura’s research is reliable
E - He used a standardised procedure of observing children’s behaviour for 20 minutes, taking observations every 5
E - This is easily replicable and so easier to test for consistency

Question 18

Are there any applications?

Answer 18

P - Yes
E - Suggests that criminality is learnt through observing it first and so intervention at a young age can be achieved through the Watershed where TV channels only show violent programmes after 9pm or show more positive role models
E - Therefore regulating the amount of violence they are exposed to due to 9pm being the average child’s bedtime

Question 19

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘criticisms’ points.

Answer 19

P - SLT cannot account for all crime
E - It cannot explain opportunist crime that has not been observed first
E - Therefore this theory is insufficient as an explanation for all criminal behaviour and so other explanations are needed such as Eysenck’s personality theory which accounts for both social and biological factors
P - Reductionist
E - The Diathesis Model explains behaviour as a predispositional vulnerability (e.g. XYY), combined with environmental factors (e.g. extroversion) lead to certain behaviours, such as crime, due to our psychological equilibrium becoming unbalanced
E - Therefore suggesting that there are other factors instead of just the environment that can lead to criminality, rendering SLT insufficient