Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory Of Domestic Violence

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Domestic violence affects all ethnic groups and all cultures, regardless of the age, the income level, the religious belief or the education level. Many theories have been developed over the years to provide an explanation for why people commit domestic violence or behave as they do. Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory proposes that people learn from one another, by observation, imitation, and modeling (Boeree, 2006). The Social Learning Theory implies that people learn the procedures and mindset of crime from intimate contact with criminal peers (Siegel, 2010). The perspective of the social learning theory that best explains why people commit domestic violence is that people learn to be aggressive by watching others act aggressively …show more content…
People learn violent tendencies and deviance through life experiences and their environment (Gosselin, 2013). An example that supports the social learning theory and why people commit domestic violence is that when aggressive action or behavior yields the desired outcomes, violence becomes an acceptable means to an end (Gosselin, 2013). The learning process occurs in intimate relationships through communication and it includes drives, motives, attitudes, and rationalizations on the commission of crime (Gosselin, …show more content…
Albert Bandura’s social learning theory suggests that learning can also take place simply by watching how others act. In summary, the social learning theory proposes behavior is learned from the environment and life experiences through the process of observational learning. People are surrounded by many influential individuals, such as family members, peers, characters on television shows, and etc.; unfortunately, these “models” provide examples of behavior that can be observed and imitated in the future by the observer. Society may never know why people commit domestic violence; however, the social learning theory is one of many theories that provide a reasonable explanation. The social learning theory states “Criminal behavior is learned through human interaction” (Siegel, 2010, p.

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