SOC 2700 Lecture Notes - Juvenile Delinquency, Differential Association, Edwin Sutherland
Document Summary
Strain and learning theories are complementary with each other but they have different emphases. Basic psychological approaches to learning learning refers to habits and knowledge that develop as a result of the experiences of the individual entering and adjusting to the environment. One of the oldest formulations about the nature of learning is that we learn by associa- tion. Basic sensory experiences become associated with each other in the mind because they occur in certain relationships to each other as we interact with the object. Aristotle formulated 4 laws of association: law of similarity, law of contrast, law of suc- cession in time and the law of coexistence in space. Social learning theory emphasizes the point that behaviour may be reinforced not only through actual rewards and punishments, but through expectations that are learned by watching what happens to other people. Social learning focuses more on human learning than animals learning, since it directs attention to higher mental processes.
