Origins of Criminal Behavior: Learning and Situational Factors CHAPTER 4 Origins of Criminal Behavior: Learning and Situational Factors

Behaviorism 1913 John B. Watson Psychology as the science of behavior Classical conditioning Pavlov

Classical Conditioning Stimulus Response

Behaviorism B.F. Skinner Prediction and control of behavior Environmental or external stimuli determine all behavior Human and animal

Behaviorism B.F. Skinner Independent variable Environmental stimuli Dependent variable Behaviors elicited by environmental stimuli

Behaviorism Method of Science Knowledge about human behavior can be best advanced if scientists use referents that have a physical basis and can be publicly observed by others

Behaviorism Perspective on Human Nature Humans differ only in degree from their animal ancestry Situationism Reductionism

Operant Conditioning Fundamental learning process that is acquired or eliminated by the consequences that follow the behavior

Operant Conditioning Child wants candy at market checkout Parent gives child candy (reward) Child throws temper tantrum Behavior occurs again during next trip to market

Operant Conditioning Rewards Physical Material goods, money Psychological Feelings of importance or control over one’s fate Social Improved status, acceptance

Operant Conditioning Reinforcement Increases the probability of future responding Reinforcement Gain something we desire as a consequence Positive reinforcement Avoid an unpleasant event as a consequence Negative reinforcement

Operant Conditioning Punishment Extinction Noxious or painful stimuli as consequences of behavior Extinction Neither reinforcement nor punishment for behavior

Operant Learning Skinner’s Basic Principles Goal Action Positive reinforcement Increases desired behavior Introduction of pleasant stimulus following desired behavior Negative reinforcement Increases desired behavior Removal of aversive stimulus following desired behavior Punishment Decreases undesired behavior Introduction of aversive stimulus following undesired behavior Extinction Eliminates undesired behavior No reinforcement or punishment for undesired behavior

Operant Learning and Criminal Behavior Criminal behavior is learned and strengthened because of the reinforcements it brings Humans born neutral Culture, society, and the environment shape behavior

Behaviorism Modern Behaviorism Behavioristic orientation toward the scientific study of behavior Additional factors must be introduced to explain human behavior Social learning Expectancy theory Differential association-reinforcement

Social Learning Theory In order to understand criminal behavior we must examine perceptions, thoughts, expectancies, competencies, and values Each person has his or her own version of the world and lives by that version Cognitive processes

Expectancy Theory A person’s performance level is based on that person’s expectation that behaving in a particular way will lead to a given outcome Rotter

Differential Association-Reinforcement Theory (DAR) People learn to commit deviant acts through interpersonal interactions with their social environment Akers

Frustration-Induced Criminality The more intense and frequent the frustrations in a person’s life, the more susceptible and sensitive the person is to subsequent frustration Individual must have high expectancy of reaching a goal Berkowitz

Frustration-Induced Criminality Two Types of Offenders Socialized offender Product of learning, conditioning, and modeling Have learned to expect rewards as a result of their interactions with the social environment Individual offender Product of a long, possibly intense series of frustrations resulting from unmet needs

Frustration-Induced Criminality Frustration-Induced Riots May help explain the behavior of looters during unexpected events like floods, fires, urban riots, or electrical blackouts Individuals have materialistic goals which were blocked by society. These individuals become impatient and frustrated. When opportunity to loot arises, they take it

Situational Instigators and Regulators of Criminal Behavior Criminality in many cases may simply reflect being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people

Situational Instigators and Regulators of Criminal Behavior Fundamental Attribution Error The tendency to discount the influence of the situation and explain behavior by referring to the personality of the actor instead

Situational Instigators and Regulators of Criminal Behavior Self-serving Biases The tendency to attribute good things about ourselves to dispositional factors and bad things to events and forces outside ourselves

Situational Instigators and Regulators of Criminal Behavior Victimology The scientific study of the causes, circumstances, individual characteristics, and social context of becoming a victim of a crime

Authority as an Instigator of Criminal Behavior Crimes of Obedience “A crime of obedience is an act performed in response to orders from authority that is considered illegal or immoral by the larger community” (Kelman & Hamilton, 1989, p. 46) Milgram’s Experiment

Authority as an Instigator of Criminal Behavior Deindividuation Complex chain of events Feelings of anonymity Loss of identity, part of group Lack of responsibility/accountability for behavior Loss of self-awareness and concern over others’ opinion Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment

Authority as an Instigator of Criminal Behavior Moral Disengagement Bandura Individuals internalize moral principles through social learning Self worth when maintained Self condemnation when violated

Crowd and Mob Violence Collective behavior Riots, gang rapes, panics, lynchings, demonstrations, and revolutions How is violence instigated and maintained?

Classical conditioning Cognitive learning Cognitive processes Chapter 4 Key Concepts Behaviorism Classical conditioning Cognitive learning Cognitive processes Crimes of obedience Deindividuation Dependent variable Differential association-reinforcement (DAR) Discriminative stimuli Expectancy theory Extinction

Fundamental attribution error Imitational learning Chapter 4 Key Concepts Frustration Fundamental attribution error Imitational learning Independent variable Individual offender Models Moral disengagement Negative reinforcement Observational learning (modeling) Operant conditioning

Positive reinforcement Punishment Reductionism Reinforcement Chapter 4 Key Concepts Positive reinforcement Punishment Reductionism Reinforcement Self-serving biases Situationism Social learning theory Socialized offender Stimulus Variable Victimology