Ronald Akers' Social Learning Theory integrates the differential association theory of Sutherland with the learning of operant conditioning (Skinner) and observational learning (Bandura). In his theory, Akers proposes that social behavior is shaped by a number of processes, including differential association, differential reinforcement, and cognitive definitions. Akers proposed that the same processes involved in learning and conforming behavior are involved in learning deviant behavior. He believed individuals learned aggressive acts through operant condition. In this process, the aggression was acquired after through direct conditioning and modeling others’ actions. He believed that positive rewards and the avoidance of punishment reinforced aggression. It is found that adolescents that watched excessive amounts of television during their childhood became adult criminals. They committed crimes, such as rape and assault, "at a rate 49% higher than teenage boys who had watched below average quantities of television violence. Hence, criminal behavior and attitudes are more likely to be learned when they are reinforced/rewarded by friends and/or family. One of the most well established empirical findings is that rates among males are higher than rates among females for most types of crime and deviance. It suggests that gender differences in rates of crime and delinquency can be approached by examining differences between males and females in social learning experiences, environments, and situations conducive to deviant rather than conforming behavior. The outcome of such structures is that sex role socialization and exposure to opportunities, beliefs and attitudes, models, and rewards are differentially distributed in society in ways that tend to encourage norm-violating behavior in boys more than in girls. Such gendered learning holds for group differences but it’s not assumed to be uniformly distributed among all males and all females. Therefore, “if an individual female scores higher on these variables in the deviance-prone direction for a particular type of behavior than an individual male, she will have a higher probability than he will of committing the deviant act" (Akers 1998:339). In sum, the ratio of male to female deviance is a reflection of the extent to which socialization practices and behavioral learning are gendered within society. Social class is another factor that has long been treated in sociological theory as an important factor in crime. Socioeconomic status  would be expected to influence crime and deviance to the extent that it is associated with different patterns of association, reinforcement, imitation, and definitions. One route by which Social class might affect social learning is class-related interpersonal stresses. It can be hypothesized that hostile fathers provide their sons with poor behavioral role models against which to pattern their future adult conduct. To the extent that fathers from lower class households undergo more stress due to financial hardship and hence may be more likely to have negative family relationships, the role models they provide their children may be more conducive to criminal behavior. In addition, Social class may influence social learning variables through Social capital. If members of middle and upper class groups have more extensive Social networks, then these associations should offer adolescents and young adults concrete economic opportunities as well as role models for attaining success through legitimate activities. Disadvantaged families with sparser Social networks are less able to provide their children with these associations or role models. Likewise, conformist behavior is less likely to be reinforced if there are fewer individuals within a Social network who can or would provide that encouragement. As with other socio-demographic factors, age is routinely included as a control variable in research on criminal, delinquent, and deviant behavior  . Although the exact shape of the curve is strongly contested, there is general agreement in the literature that during the adolescent years there is a positive relationship of deviance to age; in later adulthood it becomes a negative relationship. The findings of much of the research are that age as an indicator of location in the Social structure. As such, the social learning process should mediate the effect of age on behavior.Generally, research has found that children in families in which both mother and father are present are less likely to engage in deviant and delinquent behavior than children reared in single-parent homes. Parallel finding at the aggregate level is that neighborhoods with higher proportions of single-parent households have higher crime rates. Since most single parents are women, prominent explanations for this relationship focus on the consequences of the absence of males at the community level. Such communities typically lack the strong, positive role models  that employed and socially integrated males, particularly fathers, provide. Additionally, the absence of a significant population of males, again particularly fathers, with strong commitments to their homes and a firm stake in the safety and stability of their communities further erodes informal Social control and consequently encourages the likelihood of juvenile delinquency and criminality. Kids in single-parent households are at higher risk of differential exposure to pro- deviant associations, reinforcements, role models, and definitions. All else being equal, two parents are in a better position than a single parent to provide supervision and control of conformity in the family, counter associations with deviant peers, exposure to conforming models and attitudes, isolation from deviant media and peer influences  , and construction of a more rewarding environment for conformity than for rule violation.Various social and demographic aspects of community structure; including population size, composition, and density; regional location; economic conditions; and community type (rural, urban, or suburban) have been related to crime and delinquency. As noted earlier, such community variations as indicators of differential Social organization. The data set does not allow examination of these various dimensions of community, but it does have a measure of the size of the communities in which the adolescents reside that is used here as the indicator of community structure. The expectation is that the larger the community the greater the likelihood that adolescents in it will consume alcohol and marijuana. His theory has been applied to a range of deviant and criminal behaviors. References: Akers, Ronald L. 1985. Deviant Behavior: A Social Learning Approach  . 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.  Akers, Ronald L. 1998. Social Learning and Social Structure : a General Theory of Crime and Deviance. Boston: Northeastern University Press.  |
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