Operant Conditioning

Question 1

What is it?

Answer 1

Our behaviour is shaped by
reinforcements and
punishments.

Behaviour that => rewards = likely to be repeated ( a positive reinforcement)
Behaviour that => to bad outcome = not likely to be repeated (punishment)

Question 2

How does Operant conditioning explain the causes of criminality?

Answer 2

B. F. Skinner.
All behaviour good and bad is the result of reinforcements and punishments.
Therefore it must also explain criminal behaviour.
If crime has more rewards (financial and emotional) than consequences for an individual the are more likely to engage in crime

Question 3

Strengths

Answer 3

logical that crime is more rewarding than punishing outcomes for an individual, they will be more likely to offend.
Skinner proved that animals learn from experience through reinforcement. Some human learning follows this pattern.

Question 4

Weaknesses

Answer 4

The evidence for theory is largely based on animal studies in labs.

The theory ignores the fact humans have free will and choose their course of action.