Social Learning Theory On Domestic Violence

737 Words3 Pages

The thesis of this essay is to argue that the social learning theory best describes domestic violence.

- Topic sentence: Social learning theory explores the idea that exposure to crime such as domestic violence as a child can predispose an adult to have criminal and abusive tendencies.
Evidence: Data gathered from (Pears and Capaldi, 2001) supports this theory showing parents who were abused in childhood are twice as likely compared to other parents to engage in abusive behaviors towards their own children and partners. This is further portrayed in the research conducted by (Bevan and Higgins, 2002) which supports the assumption that crime such as domestic violence is taught.

- Topic sentence: The social learning theory represents the idea …show more content…

This has also been reinforced in replicate experiments to repeat and prove findings as can be seen in the similar findings made by David J Hicks in 1965 (Luke, 1990)

- Topic sentence: In comparison to the classical theory of criminology, which suggests all humans are equal and all have the same ability to disengage from crime. Social learning acknowledges predispositions have an ability to influence criminal behavior.
Evidence: This is supported by both (Gosselin, 2010) and (Akers, 1990) which highlight and give detail understandings of the differences in the two criminological theories.

- Topic sentence: There is a considerable amount of data and evidence to reinforce the main principles of the social learning theory. Particularly the idea that violent behavior is trans-generational, and a child will normalize violent behaviors as a consequence of constant …show more content…

Evidence: Discussions made by (Akers and Jensen, 2003) and their research about the role of social learning and the consequent development of such organizations will be used illustrate the widespread acceptance.

- Topic sentence: The social learning theory suggests that victims of domestic violence who have experienced domestic violence in childhood may learn to see violent behavior as normal and consequently lead to the under-reporting of domestic violence.
Evidence: This is supported by the report published by the Australia institute of criminology (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2011), which highlights that children who suffered domestic violence in childhood and adolescence may be more “violence-tolerant” in