Introduction
There have been many reasons on what cause someone to become a criminal. However, it is hard to pinpoint one exact cause of crime because it could be a number of things such as psychological factors, low intelligence and environmental factors. Gangs have been around for a while and have been an issue due to their involvement within society. This involvement is usually bad in a sense that the members are participating in delinquent behavior and they create problems in communities and in schools by interacting in this delinquent behavior. Members of a society usually can point out members of a gang or identify what a gang is, but do they actually know what gangs are and why people commit crimes once they join a gang. There is something …show more content…
People learn behavior through observing what is done right in front of them. Peer and parental influence is the best explanation as to why certain criminal acts are committed. In this case, youth gangs are involved in serious criminal behavior that one does not just pick up naturally; this is a behavior that was imitated through observation. According to Akers’ social learning theory holds the assumption that humans are neutral, neither inherently neither deviant nor inherently social, and human behavior is therefore a result of interactions with other individuals, groups, and social institutions (Payne & Salotti, 2007). Youths could see gang membership as a necessity in order to protect what is theirs or as a way of protection. This behavior is clearly learned and could even be taught. For example, another factor, exposure to juvenile delinquent activity, a child can be previously exposed to gangs and gang activity especially if it runs in the family. They could have easily seen this through parents, brothers or sisters, or close friends of theirs. If youth hang around peers who participate in gang activity, then they are more likely to be negatively influenced and have a greater chance of committing or becoming involved in the same acts as their friends, just by observing what they …show more content…
Basically, associating with other criminal individuals help the member learn criminal behavior. In addition, criminals can exist in any income, race or sociological background. In other words, surrounding yourself around other criminals will more than likely increase your chances of becoming a criminal as we see this happening with gang members. The theory also indicate that people who has contact with various values, beliefs, and attitudes supportive of criminal and delinquent behavior will result in them engaging in that sort of behavior (Sheldon et al., 1997, Curry & Decker, 1998). A person is exposed to these behaviors to an extent that they began to mimic and model them. According to this theory there are two components in which people go by to express this theory. First, the content of what is learned includes specific techniques for committing crime and the process by which the learning takes place involves associations with other people in intimate personal groups (Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, 2010). Therefore, these components are important in the learning process in the social learning theory because without them people wouldn’t be involved in any delinquent
There have been many reasons on what cause someone to become a criminal. However, it is hard to pinpoint one exact cause of crime because it could be a number of things such as psychological factors, low intelligence and environmental factors. Gangs have been around for a while and have been an issue due to their involvement within society. This involvement is usually bad in a sense that the members are participating in delinquent behavior and they create problems in communities and in schools by interacting in this delinquent behavior. Members of a society usually can point out members of a gang or identify what a gang is, but do they actually know what gangs are and why people commit crimes once they join a gang. There is something …show more content…
People learn behavior through observing what is done right in front of them. Peer and parental influence is the best explanation as to why certain criminal acts are committed. In this case, youth gangs are involved in serious criminal behavior that one does not just pick up naturally; this is a behavior that was imitated through observation. According to Akers’ social learning theory holds the assumption that humans are neutral, neither inherently neither deviant nor inherently social, and human behavior is therefore a result of interactions with other individuals, groups, and social institutions (Payne & Salotti, 2007). Youths could see gang membership as a necessity in order to protect what is theirs or as a way of protection. This behavior is clearly learned and could even be taught. For example, another factor, exposure to juvenile delinquent activity, a child can be previously exposed to gangs and gang activity especially if it runs in the family. They could have easily seen this through parents, brothers or sisters, or close friends of theirs. If youth hang around peers who participate in gang activity, then they are more likely to be negatively influenced and have a greater chance of committing or becoming involved in the same acts as their friends, just by observing what they …show more content…
Basically, associating with other criminal individuals help the member learn criminal behavior. In addition, criminals can exist in any income, race or sociological background. In other words, surrounding yourself around other criminals will more than likely increase your chances of becoming a criminal as we see this happening with gang members. The theory also indicate that people who has contact with various values, beliefs, and attitudes supportive of criminal and delinquent behavior will result in them engaging in that sort of behavior (Sheldon et al., 1997, Curry & Decker, 1998). A person is exposed to these behaviors to an extent that they began to mimic and model them. According to this theory there are two components in which people go by to express this theory. First, the content of what is learned includes specific techniques for committing crime and the process by which the learning takes place involves associations with other people in intimate personal groups (Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, 2010). Therefore, these components are important in the learning process in the social learning theory because without them people wouldn’t be involved in any delinquent