Three Theories Of Criminology

Theories of Criminology This paper will be discussing the 3 different theories of criminology, and comparing and contrasting the theories. Social learning theories, Social control theories, and social reaction (labeling) theory. Social learning theories has two different types of theories associated with it. Differential and Neutralization. Social learning is the view that people learn to be aggressive by observing others acting aggressively to achieve some goal or being rewarded for violent acts. In other words people engage in crime because of their association with others who are engaged in crime. Some people will think “oh just cause so and so didn’t get caught I could do …show more content…
So in other words it is possible to take another person’s life but not to be considered a “Murderer” someone could probably act in self-defense or even an accident and people will go ahead and label you as one, so people will actually get that vibe that they are actually a murderer. Some parents tell their oldest child that they are a bad influence to their younger brother or sister and they will actually live up to that, they won’t be able to better themselves if they are just getting negative remarks about them. Labeled people may identify themselves as members of an outcast group and become locked into deviance. The three theories have similarities and differences. The differences between the theories are that Social learning discusses that people learn how to commit a crime. It suggests that people learn the criminal behavior the same way as they learn conventional behavior. Social control theory is about the failure of society to control criminal behaviors. Social labeling theory maintains the negative labels that make them think who they are when they are really not who people tend to label them as. The similarities of the three are that they all have to do with crime and how it is