Transcript Exposure to Delinquent Peers

Exposure to Delinquent
Peers
Why S.L. measure?
Strength of Relationship
R’s = .2 - .4 are common
Criticisms
• Measuring delinquency twice
• Causal (time) ordering (birds of a feather
Pro-Criminal Attitudes
Why a measure of S.L.?
Strength of relationship? R’s > .4
Criticism
CAUSAL ORDERING: Rationalization are
simply post-hoc excuses, they do not “cause”
crime, but only allow the criminal to wiggle
out of trouble
Social Learning and the
Life-course
When do the concepts of social learning
(Akers/Sutherland) theory operate?
Gerald Patterson’s Social-Interactional
Theory
Focus on early childhood, and
rewards/punish
“Definitions” and “Imitation” not central
Rather, “Parental Efficacy”
Gerald Patterson (OSLS)
1982 “Coercion Theory”
1992 “Social- Interactional Approach”
Oregon Social Learning Center
Very Applied: Work with families with young,
antisocial boys.
Patterson’s
Social-Interactional Model
Context
•Family Structure
•SES
•Difficult Infant
•High Crime
Neighborhood
•Divorce/Stress
•Unskilled
Grandparents
Family
Management
Parental Efficacy
•Monitor
•Recognize
•Discipline
•R+
•Problem Solving
Outcomes
Antisocial
Child
Social
Incompetence
Later in the Theory
Antisocial Child Affects the Environment
Peer Rejection
Poor Academic Performance
Parental Rejection
This leads to further problems
Deviant Peer Group
School Failure
Delinquency
Beyond Surveys
Establishing causation via experiments
with offenders
What is the policy implication of S.L.T.?
Measure both “intermediate objectives” and
long-term outcomes
Patterson and OSLC
research
Recruited “high risk” children
Stealers, fire-starters, truants…
Focus on training parents
Also cognitive/behavioral methods to build
social competence
Able to substantially reduce delinquency,
improve school performance
Don Andrews (1980)
Group treatment for Prisoners and
Probationers
Manipulated content (definitions), group
leaders (quality of role model), and selfmanagement
Reductions in recidivism ranged from 1025%
Support for the Sutherland/Akers Tradition
Achievement Place
Houses with a married couple serving as
“parents”
Served as “role models”
Token economy + verbal physical praise
Peer groups (“positive peer culture”)
Evaluations are mixed (some positive)
Tend to lose positive effects after release
Be wary of “peer culture” programs
Cognitive Programs
Changing what criminals think
“Criminal Thinking Errors”
(Rationalizations, Definitions)
Changing how criminals think
Anger management
Prosocial Skills
SUPPORT FOR BANDURA, PATTERSON
SUMMARY OF APPLIED
RESEARCH
Cognitive and/or Behavioral Programs are
the best bet for reducing Recidivism
“Meta-analysis” findings are impressive
Average reduction in recidivism across 45
studies?
>30%
SUMMARY OF S.L.T
GOOD
1. Substantial Empirical Support (survey and
experimental)
2. Useful Policy Implications
3. Scope and Parsimony
BAD
1. Causal ordering?
2. Is all antisocial behavior “learned?”
Review of Social Learning
Theories
Bandura
How aggression is learned
operant conditioning, cognitive, vicarious
Sutherland/Akers
How deviant values are transmitted
operant conditioning, vicarious learning
Antisocial values (definitions) are central
Patterson
Early childhood, family processes and “context”