social explanations of crime and Anti-social behaviour (pack 2) Flashcards
What does the social approach to explaining crime assume?
behaviour is shaped by the people around us, this implies behaviour is determined by nurture
what are the three social explanations?
social learning theory
labelling
self-fulfilling prophecy
who developed social learning theory?
Albert Bandura (1977)
what did Bandura (1977) propose?
that observational learning is a major mechanism in explaining all human behaviour
puts forward the idea that behaviour is firstly observed then modelled and imitated then reproduced
what is motivation for bandura’s social learning theory?
incentive present encouraging us to imitate the behaviour…takes form of vicarious or direct reinforcement
what is vicarious learning
learning and copying the behaviours of people who they are more likely to copy in their life
what was the conclusion of Bandura’s 1961 study?
that behaviour can be learned by imitation even if it hasn’t been reinforced. In fact, complex patterns of behaviour can be learned through imitation without needing reinforcement for each part
what was the conclusion for Bandura’s 1963 study?
Bandura concludes that children will imitate filmed aggression in the same way as live aggressive models
that watching violent films is not cathartic= more aggression
what was the conclusion for Bandura’s 1965 study?
children will be less likely to imitate role models they see being punished. However, no consequences shows that behaviour doesn’t have to be punished or rewarded for it to be imitated
when offered incentives, the children had still learnt aggressive behaviour
girls are more restrained by the threat of punishment but this effect lessens when offered positive incentives
what did Williams (1986) carry out regarding social learning theory?
natural field experiment looking at the effect of TV on the behaviour of children in a remote community in Canada…found increased aggression
3 strengths of social learning theory to explain crime?
evidence for the theory- bandura, Williams
it can explain cultural differences, individual differences, gender differences
lab experiments (bandura) credible scientific evidence and so reliable as cause and effect can be established due to good control of the independent variable and confounding. uses objective quantifiable methods
3 weaknesses of social learning theory to explain crime?
predicts that punishment would make reoffending go down, however, high rates of recidivism go against this
methodology, low eco validity, do not reflect real life situations show little of the true role of role models, due to ethical constraints
it overlooks the possibility of a string biological influence on criminal behaviour, provides evidence for why criminal activity runs in families
What can negative stereotypical labels result in?
stigma and prejudice
what is the process of labelling?
The label is given by powerful majority
start to be treated by powerful majority groups according to that label
the discriminatory behaviour experienced leads to the label becoming ‘master status’ of the individual
changes the self-concept of the individual which may influence their behaviour
3 strengths of labelling theory to explain crime?
supporting evidence-
Besemer et al (2013) investigated the extent to which children of convicting parents had a higher risk of conviction themselves because of official bias towards ‘criminal families’= found that children with convicted families are more likely to be convicted themselves than children from other families
Lieberman et al (2014) found that children who had prev. been arrested more likely to commit other crimes compared to those not prev. arrested, due to how people treat them.
Chambliss (1973) observed two groups of high school boys, Roughnecks and saints. Found the Roughnecks more likely to be labelled as deviant by the police and have legal action taken against them.
