Unit 5 Individual Project
In this scenario, James Johnson is a construction worker who lives at home with his mother, and he occasionally goes out with a circle of friends. However, he also burgles homes and garages in the neighboring communities. He was recently arrested after a failed burglary attempt and his mother had to bail him out. In an argument they have with his mother, his mother blames him for his bad behavior and he, in turn, blames his further for how he has turned out. However, it is also revealed that his father was raised in an abusive family. Furthermore, James’ father also physically and emotionally abused his wife in the presence of James but did not abuse James. Both the social learning theory and the strain theory explain how James may have possibly picked up his criminal habits.
One theory that can help to explain the behavior that he exhibits is the psychological theory of social learning which is because human behavior is based on contacts with the family and it is learned from these contacts. This theory reveals the fact that crime is a learned behavior and that it is learned through continued interaction with an intimate peer group or social group (Eriksson & Broidy, 2017). The theory focuses on how an individual becomes a criminal rather than why they become a criminal. The theory integrates both psychological and social processes to the occurrence of crime. The theory explains that, by witnessing violence between parents, children are more likely to integrate such behavior and in the future may pick up violent traits. The theory helps to explain that attitudes and patterns in one’s behavior are usually impacted by exposure to others.
The impact of exposure to negative behavior may vary according to the frequency of the exposure. This theory explains that people can learn a lot from the people who are around them and this can have an impact on their behavioral traits and patterns. The theory can be applied to James’ situation because he grew up with a criminal father and at the same time saw the actions he committed against his father, which made him acquire these tendencies. The theory also explains that people who engage in crime learn this trait primarily through their association with others (Akers & Jennings, 2019). It is possible that James possibly gained more experience in crime through his interactions with other criminals. Juveniles learn to engage in crime the same way that they learn to engage in conforming behavior and this can be through exposure or associations with other people.
The association with delinquent friends is a major predictor of delinquency and it can have a major impact on an individual’s likelihood to participate in the crime. It is also clear that individuals can engage in crime if they have beliefs that are favorable to crime. Some people can continue to approve of and recognize crime based on the belief that certain types of crime are acceptable, such as James in this case who may have believed that the crime of burglary is acceptable (Akers & Jennings, 2019). It is also revealed that James had begun to exhibit criminal behavior even as a pre-teen and he managed to hide his crimes from his parents, and it largely went unrecognized. It is clear that James had become a juvenile delinquent from a young age and this affected him to his life after adolescence.
In James’ situation, it is clear that he may have lacked enough opportunities in his life and this could have factored his decision to adopt a life of crime. The lack of legitimate opportunities can produce pressure and this may have a major role to play in delinquent behavior. When there is an enormous pressure to succeed this may lead an individual to adopt a life of crime such as seen in this particular situation (Hayward,2017).Every human being desires chances to succeed and when some are frustrated this may lead them to adopt a life of crime, such as in the case of James. The Strain theory can have a major role in explaining the plausible causes of crime and how this leads to the occurrence of crime. Different emotions create pressure on corrective action and crime is one possible solution for people who tend social deviance (Eriksson & Broidy, 2017). Both of these theories may have possibly had an impact on James’s father as well. His father also came from a physically and emotionally abusive family and this could have directly affected him as well. James’ father grew up in an environment that was not conducive because he witnessed his father abusing his mother when he was a small child.
The environment that a child is raised in can affect their behavior in the future and this harmful environment may have affected how he grew up. These theories have a major impact on future generations because they can help give solutions concerning how to reduce the rates of crime (Eriksson & Broidy, 2017). It is necessary to counsel families to understand that the environment in which they raise their children can influence how these children grow up. Furthermore, they should be taught those child tendencies to delinquent behavior begin from familiar environments such as the home environment. The strain theory explains that criminal behavior can most likely occur due to distress or a lack of hopelessness in life. Therefore, it is necessary to provide opportunities for the youth as this can help prevent their tendencies to participate in criminal behavior. Both of these theories effectively explain the issues that may have led to James’ criminal tendencies and explains how to avoid the youth from picking up criminal behavior.
References
Akers, R. L., & Jennings, W. G. (2019). The social learning theory of crime and deviance. In Handbook on crime and deviance (pp. 113-129). Springer, Cham.
Eriksson, L., & Broidy, L. (2017). Strain Theory and Crime. In The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice (pp. 543-556). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Hayward, K. (2017). Cultural Criminology: Theories of Crime. Routledge.
