individualistic theories Flashcards
(23 cards)
What do individualistic theories suggest about criminality?
Individualistic theories suggest that criminality has a psychological cause rather than a biological one.
What is the relationship between individualistic theories and other theories?
There is some overlap between individualistic theories and biological and sociological theories.
What is social learning theory?
Social learning theory is a theory that attempts to explain socialisation and its effect on the development of the self.
What does social learning theory focus on?
Social learning theory looks at the individual learning process, the formation of self, and the influence of society in socialising individuals.
What did Bandura argue about learning?
Bandura argued that people learn by watching the behaviour of others.
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Vicarious reinforcement occurs when a person is more likely to copy a behaviour after watching someone be rewarded for that behaviour.
What happens when someone watches a person being punished?
Watching someone be punished for their behaviour makes it less likely that the behaviour will be repeated.
What are ‘Models’ in the context of behavior learning?
Models are the people from whom we learn our behaviour.
How do we learn our behaviour from models?
We model our own behaviour on theirs.
According to Bandura, whom do we copy as models?
We copy those who are of a higher status than us.
What influences the learning of behaviours from models?
The learning reflects the consequence of the models’ actions.
What is the effect of a positive consequence on imitation?
A positive consequence makes it more likely to imitate the model’s behaviour.
What is the effect of a negative consequence on imitation?
A negative consequence makes it less likely to imitate the model’s behaviour.
What is a strength of social learning theory?
Bandura takes into account that we are social beings.
What does social learning theory highlight?
It highlights the fact that we learn from each other.
What does Bandura’s study show about role models?
It shows the importance of role models in learning deviant behaviour, as children copy aggressive behaviour that is rewarded.
What is a weakness of social learning theory regarding study settings?
It is based on laboratory studies, which are artificial settings.
What does social learning theory ignore about behavior?
It ignores freedom of choice and assumes behaviour is completely based on learning experience.
What is a limitation regarding observed behaviour?
Not all observed behaviour is easily imitated.
What does social learning theory suggest about crime?
People engage in crime due to their association with others who engage in crime.
How is criminal behavior reinforced according to social learning theory?
Their criminal behavior is reinforced, and they learn beliefs that are favorable to crime.
What do individuals associate with in the context of crime?
They have criminal models that they associate with.
How do individuals come to view crime?
They view crime as something that is desirable or justifiable in certain situations.
