Three Social Process Theories
I find it difficult to determine which of the three social process theories I find to be the most valid. I feel that all three have a viable place in explaining criminal behavior and work together to form a cohesive reasoning in a symbiotic system. While each theory stands alone, I often wonder if it’s the need to separate things into one specific category or another that causes the explanations to be flawed. However, the assignment says to choose which theory I believe to be the most valid. Therefore I choose social learning theory/differential association theory. Although this theory has its criticisms, such as the fact that it does not account for the first person who committed a crime. If it’s true that we learn criminal behavior from someone else, how did the first person learn to commit crimes? While I feel that this is a valid question, I have to wonder, how did the first virus come into existence, or the first person to try milk? Sometimes whether it’s mutations (for the virus), dumb luck, or even a dare gone wrong (the first person to try milk, the first successful crime), people stumble upon new things all the time, without rhyme or reason. Therefore, I suggest that it doesn’t invalidate
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Crimes are committed by people from all walks of life from the poor inner city youth to the rich white collar criminal. No class is safe from crimes. From the jock drinking with his buddies without his parents’ knowledge to the outcasts smoking cigarettes in the school bathrooms to drug dealers on the corner making deals, deviant behavior is all-encompassing. Therefore, while I feel that no one theory explains every angle of deviant behavior, I find that differential association/social learning theories best explains how criminal behavior is learned, perpetuated, and found in all social
Crimes are committed by people from all walks of life from the poor inner city youth to the rich white collar criminal. No class is safe from crimes. From the jock drinking with his buddies without his parents’ knowledge to the outcasts smoking cigarettes in the school bathrooms to drug dealers on the corner making deals, deviant behavior is all-encompassing. Therefore, while I feel that no one theory explains every angle of deviant behavior, I find that differential association/social learning theories best explains how criminal behavior is learned, perpetuated, and found in all social