SOC 002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Differential Association, Gabriel Tarde, Social Learning Theory

• School: UC Riverside
• Department: Science Fiction and Technoculture Studies
• Course: SOC 002
• Professor: Sharon Oselin

Document Summary

Social learning theory- assumes ideas and behaviors are learned that support and encourage law violation. Ex: growing up in a gang community; you do things to get money because you have seen other people around you doing the same thing. Delinquent behavior is learned through the same psychological processes as any other behavior. While classified as a psychological theory, it also is very sociological in nature since it incorporates culture and social interactions. Learning theories focus on the content of what is learned and the processes by which that learning transpires. Micro approach rather than structural argument in which people are embedded. This theory states in order to commit a crime you must be exposed to delinquent behavior. An early criminologists, gabriel tarde (1843-1904) claimed criminals were normal people who were raised in environments where they learned crime as a way of life. Laws of imitation- individuals emulated and imitated behaviors of others that surround them.