PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
1. Behavior Theory
a. Rewards
i. Positive: “Good” child is GIVEN a toy. (Something is added to increase
behavior)
ii. Negative: “Good” child is permitted to skip chores. (Something is taken
away to increase behavior)
b. Punishments
i. Positive: “Bad” child is spanked. (A punishment is added to decrease
behavior)
ii. Negative: “Bad” child’s candy is taken away. (Something is taken away to
decrease behavior)
c. B.F. Skinner
d. Operant Conditioning
i. Entire system is based on operant conditioning. The organism is in the
process of “operating” on the environment, which in ordinary terms means
it is bouncing around its world, doing what it does. During this
“operating,” the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus, called a
reinforcing stimulus, or simply a reinforcer. This special stimulus has the
effect of increasing the operant -- that is, the behavior occurring just
before the reinforcer. This is operant conditioning: “the behavior is
followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies
the organisms tendency to repeat the behavior in the future.”
e. Criticism
How could this theory be criticized?
2. Modeling Theory (Social Learning)
a. People observe, then follow the behavior of others.
i. Learning involves observation, extraction of information from those
observations, and making decisions about the performance of the
behavior.
ii. Aggression
b. Albert Bandura
i. Bobo Doll Experiments
c. The Role of the Media
How could the following aspects of media/pop culture enforce the
Modeling Theory?
a. Television:
b. Movies:
c. Video Games:
PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
3. Self-Control Theory
a. People commit crimes when they have not developed adequate attachments, have
not become involved in and committed to conventional activities, and have not
internalized the rules of society.
b. Tries to explain why people DO NOT commit crimes, instead of trying to explain
why people DO commit crimes.
c. Focuses on techniques and strategies that regulate human behavior and lead to
conformity, or obedience to society’s rules.
d. Rewards for good behavior lead to conformity in society.
e. Travis Hircshi and Michael Gottfredson
f. Adaptation to Crime
How does this theory explain why a child would live a life a crime?
How does this theory explain why an adult would live a life of crime?