The Social Learning Theory of Crime and Deviance

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of Akers’ social learning theory including its theoretical foundations and four central explanatory concepts of differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement, and imitation. Akers (Social learning and social structure: a general theory of crime and deviance. Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1998) has extended social learning theory to the macro-level, and thus we provide a look at the assumptions, concepts, and propositions of his social structure social learning model (SSSL). This discussion is followed by an examination of empirical research that has investigated the ability of social learning theory to account for variation in criminal and deviant behavior and a review of the evidence on the SSSL model pointing toward future directions for social learning and social structure. The chapter concludes with a look at the applications of social learning theory to programs and policies.