Ronald Akers On Social Learning Theory

Ronald L. Akers in his book Deviant Behavior: A Social Learning Approach laid out the basic elements of social learning theory. Social learning theory maintains that criminal behavior is more likely to result when an individual associates more with those who engage in and approve of crime than with others who do not. Such a pattern of association provides more criminal than non – criminal role models, greater reinforcement of criminal than conforming behavior and the shaping of more pro – crime than anti – crime attitudes that constitutes the optimal environment in which criminal behavior is learned. Burgess and Aker’s integrated Edwin Sutherland’s differential Association theory with principle drawn from behavioral learning in psychology.
Reasoning that Differential Association theory
Burgess and Akers continued to collaborate for a short time thereafter on refining differential association – reinforcement theory. Akers presented the seven propositions comprising differential association – reinforcement theory but devoted much of the subsequent theoretical discussion to a detailed explication of the key concepts drawn from the behavioral learning and differential association theories that together formed a social learning explanation of deviance. Social learning theory is an integration of differential association and behavioral learning theories. It wholly subsumes differential association theory by recasting it in the context of behavioral learning principles. Akers had tempered social learning theory with principle more consistent with cognitive learning approach advocated by Albert Bandura. The behavioral principles involved in the social learning of deviant behavior are not limited to notions of operant conditioning, differential reinforcement and discriminative stimuli. In learning principle he incorporated concept such as imitation, anticipated reinforcement and self–reinforcement into social