Main Tenets of the Theory in Criminal Justice Essay

Main Tenets of the Theory in Criminal Justice - Essay Example Social learning theories explain that people learn new behavior through overt reinforcement, punishment or observation. People learn through others’ behavior.   If people observe positive, desired outcomes in the observed behavior, they are more likely to model, imitate, and adopt the behavior themselves.   It also suggests that the environment can have an effect on the way people behave.   This theory believes that criminality is a function of individual socialization, how an individual has been influenced by his experiences or relationships with his family, peer groups, teachers, church, authority figures, and others.   Various theorists have attempted to develop concepts on how an individual within the social order learns. This has been an important topic because of the manner in which different people function within society. For example, the habitual criminal may not always learn from a jail sentence because of behavioral patterns learned in childhood. Yet, if this is the case, criminal justice entities, as well as psychological therapists have a method of understanding the behavior and treating it.     Learning is defined as the habits and knowledge that develop as a result of experiences with the environment, as opposed to instincts, drives, reflexes, and genetic predispositions. Associationism is the oldest learning theory.  It is based on the idea that the mind organizes sensory experiences in some way, and is called cognitive psychology today.  Behaviorism is the second oldest learning theory.  It is based on the idea that the mind requires a physical response by the body in order to organize sensory associations.  There are two types of learning in behavioral psychology: classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Most social behavior is of an operant nature.