WJEC Level 3 Applied Certificate & Diploma Criminology sample

UNIT 2 CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES Observational learning is thought to take place primarily in three contexts: 1. In the family. 2. In the prevalent sub-culture, e.g. peers. 3. Through cultural symbols such as television and books. CASE STUDY Are we influenced by the television, films, or video games? Do we copy what we see on the media? These questions were debated as a result of the murder of James Bulger by two ten- year-old boys: Robert Thomson and Jon Venables. They are said to have watched the film Child’s Play 3 before the murder. The judge in this case said: It is not for me to pass judgment on their upbringing, but I suspect exposure to violent video films may in part be an explanation. (Mr Justice Morland, Trial Judge) The trial judge made comments about the influence of video films on the killers of James Bulger. Supporting Bandura is the theory advanced by Sutherland (Sutherland et al., 1992) who considers differential associations or different learning experiences. This theory suggests that people learn their values and techniques for criminal behaviour from associations with different people or differential associations. If more favourable attitudes about crime are learned, rather than negatives, then people see criminal behaviour as acceptable. They learn methods of how to commit crimes from those around them, whether the crime is theft or fraud, etc. The learning experiences or differential associations will vary in frequency and importance for each individual. The process of learning criminal behaviour is no different from the learning of any other behaviour. This theory also accounts for the high reoffending rate of released prisoners in our country. While in prison criminals learn from those around them and become more versed in certain criminal techniques and offences. Thus, this is the reason why prisons are known as ‘universities of crime’. Consider the impact of the media. Observational learning: When an observer’s behaviour changes after viewing the behaviour of a model. Differential associations: Interactions with others. Key terms 98