http://law.jrank.org/pages/815/Crime-Causation-Sociological-Theories-Social-learning-theory.html
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Social learning theory

Why do people engage in crime according to social learning theory? They learn to engage in crime, primarily through their association with others. They are reinforced for crime, they learn beliefs that are favorable to crime, and they are exposed to criminal models. As a consequence, they come to view crime as something that is desirable or at least justifiable in certain situations. The primary version of social learning theory in criminology is that of Ronald Akers and the description that follows draws heavily on his work. Akers’s theory, in turn, represents an elaboration of Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory (also see the related work of Albert Bandura in psychology).

According to social learning theory, juveniles learn to engage in crime in the same way they learn to engage in conforming behavior: through association with or exposure to others. Primary or intimate groups like the family and peer group have an especially large impact on what we learn. In fact, association with delinquent friends is the best predictor of delinquency other than prior delinquency. However, one does not have to be in direct contact with others to learn from them; for example, one may learn to engage in violence from observation of others in the media.

Most of social learning theory involves a description of the three mechanisms by which individuals learn to engage in crime from these others: differential reinforcement, beliefs, and modeling.

Differential reinforcement of crime. Individuals may teach others to engage in crime through the reinforcements and punishments they provide for behavior. Crime is more likely to occur when it (a) is frequently reinforced and infrequently punished; (b) results in large amounts of reinforcement (e.g., a lot of money, social approval, or pleasure) and little punishment; and (c) is more likely to be reinforced than alternative behaviors.

Reinforcements may be positive or negative. In positive reinforcement, the behavior results in something good—some positive consequence. This consequence may involve such things as money, the pleasurable feelings associated with drug use, attention from parents, approval from friends, or an increase in social status. In negative reinforcement, the behavior results in the removal of something bad—a punisher is removed or avoided. For example, suppose one’s friends have been calling her a coward because she refuses to use drugs with them. The individual eventually takes drugs with them, after which time they stop calling her a coward. The individual’s drug use has been negatively reinforced.

According to social learning theory, some individuals are in environments where crime is more likely to be reinforced (and less likely to be punished). Sometimes this reinforcement is deliberate. For example, the parents of aggressive children often deliberately encourage and reinforce aggressive behavior outside the home. Or the adolescent’s friends may reinforce drug use. At other times, the reinforcement for crime is less deliberate. For example, an embarrassed parent may give her screaming child a candy bar in the checkout line of a supermarket. Without intending to do so, the parent has just reinforced the child’s aggressive behavior.
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Data indicate that individuals who are reinforced for crime are more likely to engage in subsequent crime, especially when they are in situations similar to those where they were previously reinforced.

Beliefs favorable to crime. Other individuals may not only reinforce our crime, they may also teach us beliefs favorable to crime. Most individuals, of course, are taught that crime is bad or wrong. They eventually accept or “internalize” this belief, and they are less likely to engage in crime as a result. Some individuals, however, learn beliefs that are favorable to crime and they are more likely to engage in crime as a result.

Few people—including criminals—generally approve of serious crimes like burglary and robbery. Surveys and interviews with criminals suggest that beliefs favoring crime fall into three categories. And data suggest that each type of belief increases the likelihood of crime.

First, some people generally approve of certain minor forms of crime, like certain forms of consensual sexual behavior, gambling, “soft” drug use, and—for adolescents—alcohol use, truancy, and curfew violation.

Second, some people conditionally approve of or justify certain forms of crime, including some serious crimes. These people believe that crime is generally wrong, but that some criminal acts are justifiable or even desirable in certain conditions. Many people, for example, will state that fighting is generally wrong, but that it is justified if you have been insulted or provoked in some way. Gresham Sykes and David Matza have listed some of the more common justifications used for crime. Several theorists have argued that certain groups in our society—especially lower-class, young, minority males—are more likely to define violence as an acceptable response to a wide range of provocations and insults. And they claim that this “subculture of violence” is at least partly responsible for the higher rate of violence in these groups. Data in this area are somewhat mixed, but recent studies suggest that males, young people, and possibly lower-class people are more likely to hold beliefs favorable to violence. There is less evidence for a relationship between race and beliefs favorable to violence.

Third, some people hold certain general values that are conducive to crime. These values do not explicitly approve of or justify crime, but they make crime appear a more attractive alternative than would otherwise be the case. Theorists such as Matza and Sykes have listed three general sets of values in this area: an emphasis on “excitement,” “thrills,” or “kicks”; a disdain for hard work and a desire for quick, easy success; and an emphasis on toughness or being “macho.” Such values can be realized through legitimate as well as illegitimate channels, but individuals with such values will likely view crime in a more favorable light than others.

The imitation of criminal models. Behavior is not only a function of beliefs and the reinforcements and punishments individuals receive, but also of the behavior of those around them. In particular, individuals often imitate or model the behavior of others—especially when they like or respect these others and have reason to believe that imitating their behavior will result in reinforcement. For example, individuals are more likely to imitate others’ behavior if they observe them receive reinforcement for their acts.

Social learning theory has much support and is perhaps the dominant theory of crime today. Data indicate that the people one associates with have a large impact on whether or not one engages in crime, and that this impact is partly explained by the effect these people have on one’s beliefs regarding crime, the reinforcements and punishments one receives, and the models one is exposed to.

Read more: Crime Causation: Sociological Theories – Social Learning Theory http://law.jrank.org/pages/815/Crime-Causation-Sociological-Theories-Social-learning-theory.html#ixzz0bHyPdwPL

http://www.rememberanything.com/social-learning-theory/
rememberanything.com
Mary

Social learning theory is the concept that learning occurs in social settings, such as the family unit, school, or work environment. In essence, it is the idea that people can learn from observing one another’s behaviors, without necessarily repeating those behaviors. It is considered to be a compromise between behavioral theory and cognitive theory.

There are three central concepts to social learning theory: First, that observing the behavior of others and the outcomes of that behavior can be a learning experience. Second, that this learning is not necessarily expressed by a change in behavior—that is to say, that an individual can learn by observation alone, and that changed behavior might not occur. Instead, the evidence of change may only be cognitive. This leads to the final concept, that cognition is a major part of learning. Reinforcement or punishment, and the awareness and expectation of such, can affect behavior.

Expanding upon these core concepts, we first address the idea that observation of others is a learning experience. Social learning theory states that mimicking or modeling the behaviors of others is an important part of learning. This modeling can be reinforced in several ways.

First, the person or persons that the individual mimics might reinforce the lesson. For example, a child mimicking his father’s food preferences may gain the favor of his father. Additionally, people other than the model of the behavior may reward the individual for their mimicry. Consider the mother who praises the child for being just like the older sibling.

The behaviors may also be self-encouraging—that is to say, the copied behavior is beneficial, and therefore self-reinforcing. A child who learns by observation to exercise regularly may feel the benefits of such a regimen and continue it.

Finally, and most importantly for social learning theory, the individual may be vicariously reinforced by viewing others being reinforced for the same action. Imagine a child viewing another student studying, and then seeing that student rewarded for that effort. Behavioral theory would not see this last instance as a learning instance, as the child has not expressed any learning through behavior. Social learning theory posits that the child has learned, and that its awareness of the consequences of certain behaviors is evidence of this fact.

The next two main concepts of social learning theory are tied closely together. First, that while learning may be expressed by behavior, it need not be so. Second, that there is a strong cognitive element to learning. Under social learning theory, cognition alone can sometimes be all that is required to demonstrate learning. The child, having viewed another’s actions, is aware of the consequences of certain behaviors. Even without expressing this learning through behavior, the child has the ability to foresee the consequences of certain behaviors, and can thus be said to have learned. In other instances, the expression of behavior leads to reinforcement. In this way, learning is comprised of both behavioral and cognitive elements. In this manner, social learning theory represents a compromise between behavioral and cognitive theories of learning. Through observation, an individual may learn from others. This learning may be expressed either in behaviors, or simply in cognitive change.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/41928/social_learning_related_to_criminal.html?cat=17
associatedcontent.com
by midwestgirl

There are a number of theories regarding how social learning affects criminal behaviors. One of the theories of social learning related to criminal behavior is behavior theory. This means that human actions are developed through learning experiences. People learn behavior patterns or
change their behavior based on the reactions it receives from others. Criminals learn how to become criminals by either watching others or being taught how to commit crimes. Children who grow up in dysfunctional families or are surrounded by family members that engage in or support criminal behavior can learn to become criminals. Just like most children learn how to properly behave and act these children learn how to commit crimes. The boy who watches his father beat his mother, is more likely to grow up and beat his wife or girlfriend. The child whose mother uses drugs in front of them is more likely to use drugs themselves. Gangs and peers can also have a learning effect on others by teaching or showing peers how to commit crimes. Gangs and peers show members and friends how to steal, rob, sell and use drugs, kill, and Not only are people affected by the actions of their family members and friends, but are also affected by what they watch on TV and in the movies. Some, in particularly children, believe through watching TV and movies that certain behavior is acceptable and that criminal or irresponsible
behavior is rewarded and exciting. This definitely has been proven by the many instances of children and adults watching the news, TV, or the movies and doing copycat crimes. According to this social learning theory, the rewards or benefits of committing crimes outweigh the negative consequences involved in criminal behavior. However, social learning is also responsible for preventing most people from becoming criminals. The punishment or negative consequences of committing a crime outweighs any rewards one may experience. A teenager who gets arrested for shoplifting may feel embarrassed, find jail unpleasant, and feels sorry for letting down family members, so she will refrain from shoplifting. However, another young person may feel that the incident impressed friends, are encouraged by friends to continue shoplifting, or she may feel the need to shoplift because of the family’s financial position, or she simply may not take the punishment seriously and continue the criminal behavior. Social learning according to behavior theory does not believe people are born criminals. However, it does imply that genetic traits and certain environmental factors such as living in high crime areas can predispose someone to criminal behavior.

http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/social-learning-theory
healthline.com
Thomson Gale, Detroit

n the early 1960s, researchers who had become disillusioned with the radical behaviorism of theorists like B.F. Skinner began to look for theories that would explain the process of learning without relying on the behaviorist model. That model, pioneered by John Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and Skinner, was developed by studying the effects of conditioning on animals. With the cognitive revolution of the late 1950s, however, researchers began to acknowledge the faults of such an approach to studying human learning. The difference being, of course, that when dealing with human children, “instructors” are dealing with an organism whose capacity to think is equal to their own. That is, radical behaviorism fails in application to humans because children are not, as some behaviorists like to assert, empty vessels simply waiting to be filled with correct social instruction. Social learning theory is an expansion upon strict behaviorism but differs in that the child is understood to have broad interpretive skills and is not simply responding by instinct to parental cues and instructions.

Social learning theorists, having rejected reinforcement and association as the sole constructors of knowledge, offered new theories about how we acquire knowledge of the world. One such theory states that children learn by imitation, by observing the consequences of certain behaviors and by the exposure to the thinking of others. A child learns by: attending to a model; remembering what is they have seen and heard; reproducing the model behavior at an appropriate time; and being reinforced for accurately performing the behavior.

Clearly, this schema differs from classical behaviorism in that it requires that the learner understand the context of a behavior. In classical behaviorist studies of animal behavior, the response of the learner is always within the context of a specific reinforcement. Pavlov’s dogs were trained to salivate at the sound of a bell rather than the appearance of food. In the schema presented above, a child learns to soothe a crying playmate with calming words and light touches because she has seen this done to either herself or others and then makes the decision to repeat the performance in a socially appropriate context, or, in some cases, doesn’t.

This is the heart of social learning theory: humans exhibit wide latitude in choosing which behaviors to imitate and which to ignore. In reacting to any given situation, children, and indeed all people, engage in a complex process that not only involves behaviorist principles, but also such factors as ethics, morals, and a person’s understanding of his or her role in the world. Social learning theorists conceive of this interaction as involving three elements: the person (P), behavior (B), and environment (E). According to this conception, people learn by filtering all experience through their own interpretations in relation to their environments. This theory is known as reciprocal determinism. It highlights the importance and limitations of subjectivity in the creation of personal belief systems, or personal narratives. These belief systems—a person’s understanding of how the world works and his or her place among these complex workings—drastically impact one’s responses to the world.

A final tenet of social learning theory holds that the successful integration of a personal belief system and behavior in response to that system leads to feelings of competence or self-mastery, a belief that one is “in charge” of one’s relations to and understanding of the world. This feeling of mastery is brought about in a variety of ways, including verbal instructions (a parent telling a child she can accomplish some difficult task) and imitation, but it relies most heavily on personal experience, or what social learning theorists call enactive attainment. Children learn to rely on their skills and on their ability to think through problems by being given the opportunity to do so successfully. This kind of reinforcement, the experience of having achieved something, is, according to social learning theory, the most powerful form of learning in humans.

Books

Bandura, Albert. Social Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1977.

Fiske, Susan T., and Shelley E. Taylor. Social Cognition. New York: McGraw Hill, 1991.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Applying+social+learning+theory+of+career+decision+making+to+gay,…-a0207078893
thefreelibrary.com
Paul A. Datti

Incorporating J. D. Krumboltz’s (l979) social learning theory of career decision making, the author explores career development issues for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) adolescents and young adults. Unique challenges for the GLBTQ population are discussed, specific recommendations for effective career counseling with this population arc outlined, and suggestions for future research are presented.

It is generally accepted that approximately 10% of people are gay or lesbian (Voeller, 1990). With the population of the United States recently reaching 300 million (U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, 2007), this approximates 30 million or more Americans. More than 40 million Americans are 10 to 19 years old (U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, 2008); thus, using the 10% approximation, more than 4 million adolescents and young adults may be predominately or exclusively homosexual. Recognizing that this figure does not include those who identify as bisexual, transgender, or questioning is essential. Even though in recent years people of differing sexual and gender orientations have been more widely visible and accepted, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) youth in particular face career decisions that are unique to the status quo.

Throughout the life span, GLBTQ individuals encounter issues that are significantly different from those faced by heterosexual individuals. Even in childhood, many GLBTQ youth, although perhaps not old enough to realize their sexual or gender orientations, may believe that they are different in some way (Ryan & Futterman, 2001). Particularly during adolescence, GLBTQ individuals may form negative self-perceptions, feel isolated, or face rejection, any of which may result in problems such as depression, shame, or low self-esteem (Travers & Paoletti, 1999). These emotional problems can result in drastic actions, such as substance abuse or even suicide, but may have more subtle effects, including social isolation or dropping out of school (Grossman & D’Augelli, 2007; Grossman & Kerner, 1998). Moreover, the time, energy, and internal resources of managing a perceived marginalized status may affect vocational decision making (Schmidt & Nilsson, 2006).

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Literature focusing on career issues of GLBTQ individuals is limited, and few empirical studies have been conducted in this area (Degges-White & Shoffner, 2002; Pope, 1995). Although some authors have noted that the amount of research being conducted has been increasing (Pope et al., 2004), recent research has indicated that the career issues of GLBTQ individuals is an important area for continued professional focus, particularly concerning adolescents and young adults. Schmidt and Nilsson (2006), for example, in their study of 102 lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth, tested Hethcrington’s (1991) bottleneck hypothesis. “According to the bottleneck hypothesis, LGB adolescents may be coping with the career tasks of their development at a slower pace than [are] individuals who are not negotiating a marginalized sexual identity” (Schmidt & Nilsson, 2006, p. 25). Schmidt and Nilsson’s study gave empirical support to the bottleneck hypothesis, thus suggesting that LGB youth can be distracted from typical career development tasks because of limited psychological energy being devoted to them. That is, particularly during adolescence, these individuals may put off, be unaware of, or deliberately forgo important career development activities because they are busy dealing with identity issues connected to their sexual orientations (Morrow, Gore, & Campbell, 1996). Schmidt and Nilsson noted that the converse may also be true in that some adolescents may put more psychological energy into career-related tasks and leave sexual identity development for a later time. Either way, career development implications exist. Clearly, more research and information is needed in terms of working with younger GLBTQ individuals and their career development.

With the emergence of an identifiable gay and lesbian culture in larger metropolitan areas, the negative stereotypes of effeminate gay men and masculine lesbian women are beginning to dissipate, and stereotypical career matches for gay men (e.g., hairdresser, waiter, flight attendant) and lesbians (e.g., gym teacher, truck driver, construction worker) are coming to an end (Pope et al., 2004). Although GLBTQ individuals are choosing a wider array of careers, issues continue to arise with career decisions that are unique to these individuals. Identity issues, fear of social acceptance, anticipated discomfort with work environments, and possibilities of significant discrimination may be present or arise and make for more difficult career development and decision-making processes. Moreover, facing the decision of making one’s sexual orientation publicly known (hereinafter referred to as being “out”) may be a major challenge both personally and professionally for many GLBTQ adolescents and young adults.

Morrow et al. (1996) noted the need for integrative models of career development because they apply to specific populations, and Chung (1995) discussed the need for theories to guide counselors’ understanding of the career issues of LGB people. Understanding career development from a social learning standpoint can help counselors to conceptualize how many aspects of GLBTQ individuals’ careers may develop and can provide counselors with information on how to assist GLBTQ individuals with career issues. I pose a theoretical approach aimed at understanding GLBTQ career development to assist such individuals with these and related concerns. The approach is oriented toward GLBTQ adolescents and young adults and incorporates Krumboltz’s (1979) social learning theory of career decision making (SLTCDM). Although many career theories have been applied to GLBTQ populations (Degges-White & Shoffner, 2002), Herring (2002) noted that SLTCDM is one of the broader models that may be applicable across various cultures. Furthermore, SLTCDM focuses on origins of career choice in terms of environmental conditions, events, and learning experiences that relate to career development (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2005). Whereas such factors indeed influence careers for people in general, they can be helpful in conceptualizing unique effects as they relate to GLBTQ individuals’ career development.

SLTCDM’s Four Factors in Relation to GLBTQ Individuals

SLTCDM considers four factors that influence individuals’ career decision making: (a) genetic endowment and special abilities, (b) environmental conditions and events, (c) instrumental and associative learning experiences, and (d) task approach skills (Krumboltz, 1979). These factors are meant to help explain the origins of career choices and are not independent of each other because they interact in various ways (Krumboltz, 1979).

Genetic Endowment and Special Abilities

SLTCDM lists genetic endowment and special abilities such as gender, race, and physical appearance as the first factor thought to influence career decision making (Krumboltz, 1979). Because research exists that supports sexual orientation having a genetic predisposition (Lobaugh, Clements, Averill, & Olguin, 2006; Marmor, 1998), one can surmise that a person’s sexual orientation is an inherent quality that will likely influence career decisions. For example, some GLBTQ individuals may have the capacity to view the world from the perspective of both male and female genders. In fact, Lobaugh et al. discussed several biological investigations comparing gay and lesbian individuals with heterosexual individuals. The investigators noted an overarching hypothesis that gay males may have feminine personality characteristics common to heterosexual females. In some careers (e.g., counseling, medicine, the arts), these characteristics can be viewed as an asset and may draw an individual to such occupations. In addition, some GLBTQ individuals may be able to relate to others who belong to minority or marginalized cultures (e.g., racial). GLBTQ individuals, like those belonging to other stigmatized groups, experience negative internalizations as well as adverse societal attitudes related to their sexual minority status (Meyer, 1995). These experiences may result in some GLBTQ individuals eschewing various careers (e.g., armed forces, politics, clergy) because of their perceptions of their inherent orientations or their beliefs about how others may perceive them. Pope et al. (2004), for example, specifically noted that employment discrimination continues to exist for this population and that pursuing work at a religious or even governmental agency can pose significant risks for GLBTQ clients.

Environmental Conditions and Events

Perhaps the most significant factor in terms of career influence, environmental conditions and events including family traditions, geographical location, and legislation are described by SLTCDM as important in terms of shaping one’s career choices (Krumboltz, 1979; Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2005). Many conditions and events that are viewed as common for heterosexual individuals may affect GLBTQ individuals more intensely or create compounded issues for them. Whereas any person’s family traditions may affect his or her career choices (e.g., a teenage boy decides to join the Air Force because his father had a successful military career), a GLBTQ individual making these choices may have added issues. For example, if this teen is GLBTQ, he may be forced to live a double life because of the current climate in the U.S. military. Furthermore, depending on his perceived or actual level of support from his family of origin, he may feel obligated to keep his identity secret to spare his family from embarrassment.

Geographical location also plays an important role, particularly in terms of whether a GLBTQ individual lives in an area of general acceptance or with an adequate GLBTQ population. Some areas of the country are commonly less hostile toward GLBTQ individuals and thus may attract these individuals to their areas (Rostosky & Riggle, 2002). Certainly, a GLBTQ youth raised in New York City, in which an active and thriving GLBTQ culture exists, is likely to develop a different worldview and distinct perceptions of some careers in comparison with a GLBTQ individual raised in a small town in the Midwest, in which much less visibility and acceptance of GLBTQ culture may exist. The GLBTQ individual in New York City may feel more comfortable pursuing a larger variety of careers because the culture is more in the mainstream and therefore less stigmatized. The individual in the small Midwest town, however, may limit career decisions on the basis of societal norms of typical gender roles or avoid, for example, careers that involve working with children or conservative corporations in which his or her sexual orientation may be an issue (Pope et al., 2004).

Legislation proves a significant factor as well, because the lifestyle associated with differing sexual orientations has legal ramifications in some areas and because laws and policies exist prohibiting common benefits such as health insurance and marriage licenses for GLBTQ individuals. Perhaps most prominent is the lack of protection from discrimination at work on the basis of sexual or gender orientation. Most states do not include either as a basis for protection in civil rights laws, and currently no federal law addressing them exists (Elliott & Bonauto, 2005). These issues are likely to be perceived as limits to career choices for GLBTQ individuals because of the potential need for same-sex partner benefits, fear of discrimination, and legal difficulties.

Instrumental and Associative Learning Experiences

Although learning experiences affect everyone to some extent, GLBTQ individuals may experience unique effects in many situations, including career decisions, in comparison with those experienced by heterosexual individuals. For example, a GLBTQ teenage boy may attend a medical career fair with intentions of gaining information about nursing occupations. However, at the fair he learns that few men are employed as nurses and hears from his friend that “all male nurses are ‘fags.’” This associative learning experience may result in the teen deciding that he will not pursue this career area because he fears being labeled or because he is not yet comfortable with his sexual orientation and the possibility of it becoming public. Conversely, the same teen, if more comfortable with his sexuality, may find this information advantageous in that he may expect to be more comfortable in this occupation and be surrounded by individuals with similar interests and qualities.

GLRTQ individuals can have unique circumstances surrounding instrumental learning experiences as well. These experiences are characterized by an individual’s acts producing certain consequences and are unique from associative learning experiences in that they involve personal volition on the part of the learner (Krumboltz, 1979). For a young GLBTQ individual, this type of experience can have lasting effects and can influence career decision making to significant extents. For example, a GLBTQ teenage boy may be confronted by a family member or friend regarding his sexual orientation. Should the teen decide to be forthcoming about it (i.e., come out to that individual) and experience rejection, he may be more inclined to keep his sexual orientation a secret in educational and workplace settings and avoid careers or vocational situations in which he believes that being outed would be problematic. On the other hand, should he have a positive experience with the family member or friend, he may be more inclined to be open about his orientation and be accepting of careers in which this potential is less of an issue. As another example, consider a GLBTQ teenage girl contemplating writing an essay on GLBTQ issues for a class assignment. When suggesting the topic to her teacher, she may be told that this topic is not appropriate or acceptable for the assignment and, as a result, believe her decision to create this work has been negatively judged and discarded. The teen may subsequently avoid addressing or promoting GLBTQ issues in career decisions, which may in turn limit career options. Of course, should her decision to produce the work be accepted, the opposite may occur.

Task Approach Skills

Task approach skills include individual work habits, emotional and cognitive responses, and problem-solving skills (Krumboltz, 1979). If genetic endowment, environmental conditions, and learning experiences are considered as antecedents of sorts to task approach skills, GLBTQ individuals’ approaches to tasks are likely to significantly differ from the approaches expected of heterosexual individuals. These differences in approach may be because of not only their cognitive and emotional experiences, but also their consideration of their genetic characteristics, special abilities, and environmental influences (Krumboltz, 1979; Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2005). For example, a GLBTQ adolescent or young adult who is out may approach situations involving discrimination of a friend with more fervor (i.e., may be more inclined to do something) than would a heterosexual person or a GLBTQ person who is not out. On the other hand, should the individual not be comfortable with his or her sexual orientation, he or she may choose to do nothing. Either way, the stage may be set for further similar behaviors (or lack of them), which may be applied to career decisions in many ways. For example, a GLBTQ individual may take an active approach and be more apt to confront discriminatory practices in an employment setting. On the other hand, an individual, although interested in a career that is not considered gender traditional, may take a passive approach and opt not to pursue it because of societal conformity. Another example correlated to task approach skills can be gleaned when considering the example of instrumental learning in which the GLBTQ teen comes out to a friend or family member and receives a positive response. This individual may be more inclined to use the same approach in a work setting on the basis of his experiences and be more willing to come out to his supervisor and coworkers. This approach may indeed serve a more personal objective but nonetheless has implications for career decisions.

The four factors of SLTCDM are thought to influence beliefs about self in terms of self-observation generalizations, task approach skills, and actions (Krumboltz, 1979). For GLBTQ adolescents and young adults, this influence may involve forming self-defeating generalizations regarding careers (e.g., believing they should not be teachers because of their GLBTQ orientations), developing worldviews that include anticipated oppression and discrimination in the workplace (e.g., fearing they will be fired if their orientations become known), taking significant caution in approaching many common career tasks (i.e., limiting career research to those believed to be gender-specific occupations), or taking improper action toward career exploration decisions (e.g., opting for a lower paying job with limited room for advancement solely on the basis of its location in a city with a large GLBTQ community). Furthermore, in light of the possibility that GLBTQ adolescents and young adults may veer from appropriate career development activities (Schmidt & Nilsson, 2006), career counselors who are accepting and knowledgeable of GLBTQ issues being visible and available in communities and schools would be beneficial.

Recommendations for Counselors

To work effectively with the GLBTQ population, career counselors need to be knowledgeable of and appropriately address GLBTQ issues such as the coming-out process, minority status, cultural and family values, self-esteem, and identity confusion. However, as an initial step to working with this population, counselors must first consider its invisible minority status. Knowing whether clients are part of the GLBTQ community is impractical; therefore, counselors need to not only address clients with the appropriate openness and sensitivity but also communicate to clients their acceptance of diversity in a GLBTQ sense. Beyond providing comfort for a GLBTQ youth who is out, these practices can help to increase the confidence of those who are not out to use counseling services. Thus, opportunities are created to foster positive environmental conditions and associative learning experiences for individuals, which may greatly influence not only their views of counseling but also their subsequent career decisions. Research has supported the need for these appropriate counseling environments for GLBTQ young adults. For example, Nauta, Saucier, and Woodard (2001) found that LGB students perceived less support and guidance from others in their academic and career decision making in comparison with the support perceived by heterosexual students. Moreover, as Bieschke and Matthews (1996) noted, many LGB clients may choose not to come out to counselors on the basis of how they perceive the counselors’ openness or the organization’s climate in terms of acceptance.

Suggestions for this initial focus come in the form of simple advertising. For example, placing a “Safe Zone” sign outside a counselor’s office, indicating that the environment is free of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination for all individuals regardless of sexual or gender orientation, is advisable. In addition, advertising in accessible GLBTQ publications and Web sites such as the Gayellow Pages (Green, 2007); local, state, or national GLBTQ magazines or newsletters; or GLBTQ-friendly Web sites (e.g., http://www.outforwork.org/) will convey an important message to the masses. In schools, GLBTQ sensitivity can be part of the counseling program’s advertising on bulletin boards, in flyers, and in newsletters. In the office setting, having career resources that are conducive to the GLBTQ community available and visible would be helpful as well. Provision of such information may suggest options that the client may not have explored (Pope et al., 2004). Resources may include GLBTQ interest information such as literature from the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, or postings from employers and educational institutes that have affirmative recruitment and tolerance policies. The creation of these GLBTQ-friendly environmental conditions can pave the way to positive events for GLBTQ individuals in terms of their feelings toward their orientation, others’ acceptance of it, and its prevalence in the community. Furthermore, creating these conditions may help validate the genetic endowments of the individuals, which can promote normalization.

Considering the role of other cultural variables in addition to and in conjunction with sexual and gender orientation in the career development of GLBTQ individuals is essential. Gender, in particular, can have significant implications. For example, many young lesbian or bisexual women may have the perception that particular career opportunities (e.g., those involving physical labor) are gender specific to men and thus may discount such careers as options. In fact, research has shown that women have consistently been noted to report lower levels of self-efficacy when considering traditionally male-dominated domains (Williams & Subich, 2006). Exploring gender issues and how they interplay with career beliefs in conjunction with sexual orientation can be beneficial in these instances. Furthermore, individuals’ race, ethnicity, or disability status may need to be considered. For example, in addition to the potential for dual marginalization, many GLBTQ individuals belonging to minority racial or ethnic groups (e.g., African American, Latino American, Asian American, Native American) have to deal with increasingly negative views toward differing sexual orientations in comparison with those faced by individuals belonging to the majority culture (Fukuyama & Ferguson, 2000). This situation may have implications in terms of lower levels of self-disclosure, increased feelings of stigmatization, and added career difficulties because of increased fears of discrimination. Processing these or related issues in conjunction with sexual and gender orientation may be crucial for optimal career planning. Similar issues may be encountered by many GLBTQ individuals with disabilities, whose career beliefs, interests, and decisions may already be significantly affected by their disability status. In addition to significant unemployment and underemployment rates, research has indicated that several factors exist that affect individuals with disabilities in terms of the career development process, including self-esteem issues, family involvement, limited vocational information, and limited decision-making opportunities and abilities (Yanchak, Lease, & Strauser, 2005). Understanding these individuals not only as part of a GLBTQ community but also as individuals within a disability culture may enable counselors to better gauge how to approach career development issues with them.

Including in initial assessments items that adequately address issues significant to the career development of GLBTQ individuals is important as well. Morrow et al. (1996) suggested that addressing the role of sexual orientation in the workplace may not only aid in understanding individual career choices but also have a role in career satisfaction. Furthermore, a need exists for expanding or developing new career assessments that incorporate the common concerns and unique issues faced by sexual minority groups (Chung, 1995). In addition to demographic, social, cultural, interest, ability, value, educational, and vocational background information, assessing factors such as perceived importance of separating personal and professional roles, comfort in working with a variety of individuals, interest in working for entities that have tolerance and discrimination policies, and targeted geographical locations would be helpful. Collecting similar information can prove to be just as or more useful than results of standardized tests. Assessing these factors can assist in determining how individuals may feel in particular work environments and, if unaddressed, can potentially limit the career options of GLBTQ individuals. In addition, assessment of comfort level with disclosure (coming out) may be helpful for some clients, as would the identification of personal and other resources available for managing potential negative reactions associated with this activity (Rostosky & Riggle, 2002). Assessing these factors can aid counselors not only with attitudinal information but also with information about task approach skills of GLBTQ clients that may be applied to the career development process.

Implications for Counselors

Considering GLBTQ career development from a social learning point of view, creating GLBTQ-friendly environments, considering other cultural variables in conjunction with sexual and gender orientation, and providing appropriate assessments can assist counselors with helping GLBTQ clients make specific career decisions beyond simply choosing an interesting occupation. Hetherington, Hillerbrand, and Etringer (1989) discussed the assumption of career development assistance being one of the most constructive ways that counselors can help LGB clients improve their quality of life. Nauta et al.’s (2001) work supported this notion and suggested that focusing on emotional support and guidance when working with this population may be especially important. GLBTQ clients, especially adolescents and young adults, have unique needs when facing career development issues. These individuals are likely in the prime of their vocational development and need knowledgeable, competent, and empathetic counselors to provide quality services to them. Such services may influence the rest of their lives. Therefore, counselors should consider incorporating these approaches in their counseling as an avenue for working effectively with this population.

Whereas many counselors already have abilities, experience, and skills conducive to understanding and working with GLBTQ individuals and their career issues, many may not be in a good position to work well with this population. Therefore, in considering this population’s potential for invisibility, all counselors should become familiar with GLBTQ culture beyond learning typical characteristic information that may be provided in counseling literature and should strive to interact with GLBTQ individuals on a community as well as professional level. These activities can serve as further instrumental and associative learning experiences for counselors, which will likely resulting in better understanding of differing worldviews among GLBTQ individuals, more positive experiences with them, and increased cultural competence in working with this population. Subsequently, the task approach skills of counselors (in terms of their work habits, emotional and cognitive responses, and problem-solving skills) toward working with this population may become more appropriate via these experiences. Familiarization and access to resources for GLBTQ individuals with career issues are essential as well. Examples are GLBTQ Web sites (e.g., http://www.outforwork.org/), local GLBTQ community groups (e.g., a campus or community alliance for GLBTQ individuals), networks of employers and educational institutions with affirmative GLBTQ recruitment policies (see OUT for Work, n.d.), and professional counseling organizations such as the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling (n.d.), which are geared toward increasing awareness and competencies with GLBTQ issues.

Additional research needs to be conducted regarding the career decision-making processes of GLBTQ adolescents and young adults. Comparative studies, such as those conducted by Schmidt and Nilsson (2006), should be implemented to glean more information regarding the career decision-making skills and behaviors of GLBTQ individuals so that steps may be taken toward ensuring normalizing approaches. Comparative studies between GLBTQ and heterosexual groups should avoid implicit or explicit implications that heterosexuality is the norm or standard and should not be used to stereotype clients (Chung, 1995). Furthermore, the profession would benefit from investigating the effects of having GLBTQ-friendly environments on GLBTQ clients’ use of career counseling services. Surveys can be conducted with counselors who promote such environments and those who do not in an effort to compare service use frequency and outcomes for GLBTQ individuals. Finally, the profession needs to ensure that counselors are practicing appropriate and diverse career counseling with GLBTQ adolescents and young adults. This involves practitioners and counselor educators remaining up to date on GLBTQ cultural issues and on current research involving the population.

References

Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling, (n.d.). Competencies for counseling gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) clients. Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http://www.algbtic.org/resources/competencies.html

Bieschke, K. J., & Matthews, C. (1996). Career counselor attitudes and behaviors toward gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 48, 243-255.

Chung, Y. B. (1995). Career decision making of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. The Career Development Quarterly, 44, 178-190.

Degges-White, S., & Shoffner, M. F. (2002). Career counseling with lesbian clients: Using theory of work adjustment as a framework. The Career Development Quarterly, 51, 87-96.

Elliott, R. D., & Bonauto, M. (2005). Sexual orientation and gender identity in North America: Legal trends, legal contrasts. Journal of Homosexuality, 48, 91-106.

Fukuyama, M. A., & Ferguson, A. D. (2000). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people of color: Understanding cultural complexity and managing multiple oppressions. In R. M. Perez, K. A. DeBord, & K. J. Bieschke (Eds.), Handbook of counseling and psychotherapy with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients (pp. 81-105). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Green, F. (Ed.). (2007). Gayellow Pages #29 US/Canada, 2007-2008: USA and Canada. New York: Renaissance House.

Grossman, A. H., & D’Augelli, A. R. (2007). Transgender youth and life-threatening behaviors [Electronic version]. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37, 527-537.

Grossman, A. H., & Kerner, M. S. (1998). Self-esteem and supportiveness as predictors of emotional distress in gay male and lesbian youth. Journal of Homosexuality, 35, 25-39.

Herring, R. D. (2002). Multicultural counseling for career development. In J. Trusty, E. J. Looby, & D. S. Sandhu (Eds.), Multicultural counseling: Context, theory and practice, and competence (pp. 219-246). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.

Hetherington, C. (1991). Life planning and career counseling with gay and lesbian students. In N. J. Evans & V. A. Wall (Eds.), Beyond tolerance: Gays, lesbians, and bisexuals on campus (pp. 131-145). Alexandria, VA: American College Personnel Association.

Hetherington, C., Hillerbrand, E., & Etringer, B. D. (1989). Career counseling with gay men: Issues and recommendations for research. Journal of Counseling and Development, 67, 452-454.

Krumboltz, J. D. (1979). A social learning theory of career decision making. In A. M. Mitchell, G. B. Jones, & J. D. Krumboltz (Eds.), Social learning and career decision making (pp. 19-49). Cranston, RI: Carroll Press.

Lobaugh, E. R., Clements, P. T., Averill, J. B., & Olguin, D. L. (2006). Gay-male couples who adopt: Challenging historical and contemporary social trends toward becoming a family [Electronic version]. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 42, 184-195.

Marmor, J. (1998). Homosexuality: Is etiology really important? Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 2, 19-28.

Meyer, I. H. (1995). Minority stress and mental health in gay men [Electronic version], Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36, 38-56.

Morrow, S. L., Gore, P. A., Jr., & Campbell, B. W. (1996). The application of a sociocognitive framework to the career development of lesbian women and gay men. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 48, 136-148.

Nauta, M. M., Saucier, A. M., & Woodard, L. E. (2001). Interpersonal influences on students’ academic and career decisions: The impact of sexual orientation. The Career Development Quarterly, 49, 352-362.

Niles, S, G., & Harris-Bowlsbey, J. (2005). Career development interventions in the 21st century (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

OUT for Work. (n.d.). Corporate equality index. Retrieved June 10, 2009, from http:// www.outforwork.org/resources/cei.asp

Pope, M. (1995). Career interventions for gay and lesbian clients: A synopsis of practice knowledge and research needs. The Career Development Quarterly, 44, 191-203.

Pope, M., Barret, B., Szymanski, D. M., Chung, Y. B., Singaravelu, H., McLean, R., & Sanabria, S. (2004). Culturally appropriate career counseling with gay and lesbian clients. The Career Development Quarterly, 53, 158-177.

Rostosky, S. S., & Riggle, E. D. B. (2002). “Out” at work: The relation of actor and partner workplace policy and internalized homophobia to disclosure status. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49, 411-419.

Ryan, C., & Futterman, D. (2001). Lesbian and gay adolescents: Identity development [Electronic version]. The Prevention Researcher, 8, 1-5.

Schmidt, C. K., & Nilsson, J. E. (2006). The effects of simultaneous developmental processes: Factors relating to the career development of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. The Career Development Quarterly, 55, 22-37.

Travers, R., & Paoletti, D. (1999). The Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Youth Program (LGBYP): A model for communities seeking to improve quality of life for lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth [Electronic version], Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 8, 293-303.

U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. (2007). Table 1: Annual estimates of the population for the United States, regions, states, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007 (Document No. NST-EST2007-01). Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www.census.gov/popest/states/tables/NST- EST2007-01 .xls

U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. (2008). Table 1: Annual estimates of the population by sex and five-year age groups for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July I, 2007 (Document No. NC-EST2007-01). Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2007/NC-EST2007-01.xls

Voeller, B. (1990). Some uses and abuses of the Kinsey scale. In D. P. McWhirter, S. A. Sanders, & J. M. Reinisch (Eds.), The Kinsey Institute series: Vol. 2. Homosexuality/heterosexuality: Concepts of sexual orientation (pp. 32-38). New York: Oxford University Press.

Williams, C. M., & Subich, L. M. (2006). The gendered nature of career related learning experiences: A social cognitive career theory perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69, 262-275.

Yanchak, K. V., Lease, S. H., & Strauser, D. R. (2005). Relation of disability type and career thoughts to vocational identity. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 48, 130-138.

Paul A. Datti, Department of Counseling and Human Services, University of Scranton, and Department of Counselor Education, Counseling Psychology, and Rehabilitation Services, Pennsylvania State University. The author thanks Spencer Niles, Liza Conyers, and Jerry Trusty at the Pennsylvania State University for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Paul A. Datti, Department of Counseling and Human Services, Panuska College of Professional Studies, University of Scranton, 800 Linden Street, Scranton, PA 18510 (e-mail: dattip2@scranton.edu).

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-social-learning-theory.htm
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Social learning theory (SLT) focuses on learning that happens within a social environment and emphasizes the premise that people learn from one another by means of observational learning. The theory argues that individuals are strongly influenced by society’s reward and punishment systems and model their behaviors accordingly. A leading proponent of social learning theory, Albert Bandura, helped to shape the conjecture by incorporating aspects of cognitive and behavioral learning.

During the 1950s, American psychologist Julian Rotter first introduced social learning theory in her work Social Learning and Clinical Psychology. Rotter argued that an expected outcome for a given behavior greatly influences the actions and motivation of the individual. Bypassing a theory rooted in behaviorism and psychoanalysis, Rotter concluded that people aspire to attain positive results for their actions, while remaining mindful of negative behaviors and their consequences.

In the 1970s, Bandura took Rotter’s theory one step further by incorporating Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s social development theory into his own theory formulation. According to Vygotsky, social interaction itself anticipates cognitive and behavioral development, which is the product of socialization. Bandura’s social learning theory ultimately proposed that there is a reciprocal relationship between environmental, cognitive, and behavioral influences.

According to Bandura, there are several conditions that must be met before successful modeling of behavior can occur. The individual, also referred to as the model, must pay attention to and remember the behaviors exhibited by others. After witnessing a given behavior, the model must possess the ability to reproduce the actions witnessed and demonstrate what has been learned. Theorists and proponents of Bandura’s theory insist that attention is the most significant factor in the social learning process.

The environment reinforces modeling behaviors in a number of ways. Initially, the model receives reinforcement from the person whom he is imitating, as well as, third party observers. The imitated behavior itself results in reinforcement via positive or negative consequences. Vicarious reinforcement occurs when the model’s positively reinforced behavior is repeated by a third party.

Cognitive factors associated with social learning theory rest upon the model’s ability to learn, comprehend, formulate expectations, and understand cause and effect. Bandura argued there is a distinction between learning via observation and the act of imitating what one has learned. The model must be capable of comprehending situations, anticipating potential outcomes, and making a correlation between response reinforcements, response punishments, and behavior.

http://www.articlesbase.com/childhood-education-articles/combining-social-learning-theory-with-afterschool-programs-in-hollywood-pembroke-pines-1445091.html
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Brilliant Minds

hild psychologists are taking an active part in the planning and development of After-School Programs in Hollywood and Pembroke Pines. Teachers and tutors have started their orientation with the different developmental theories of social and emotional learning from formal schools of thought like those of Piaget, Erickson, and Bandura, in order to be better equipped when dealing with children’s learning experiences.

One theory they have focused on is Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. The general idea behind the theory is that individuals learn and acquire knowledge through observation and experience with the environment. The theory also implies that most social and emotional learning are gained through observing and imitating models. Progressive schools that are in the process of developing their curriculum and K-5 After-School Programs know that teaching young school-aged kids have to go beyond the academic and must also tackle other aspects of their development (social, emotional, physiological, cognitive, and moral). That is why character education is part of most after-school curriculum across the Florida state.

There are exactly 4 processes under Bandura’s theory. The first one is attention. The process of developing attention among young children stimulates and encourages exploration and perception. Tutoring programs in Broward County and Dade County, FL,  as well as After-School Programs in Hollywood and Pembroke Pines practice this process by alternating paper and pencil activities and outdoor activities. Subjecting kids to everyday desk work cannot provide enough mental and socio-emotional stimulation for the them. Giving them outdoor activities such as insect explorations or mini filed trips to the school lab are some of the ways educators can capture the attention of young learners.

The second process involves memory. The tutoring process is one way of constantly reviewing lessons learned in class, but, tutoring is also one way of embedding non-academic learning for kids for the improvement of future behavior. A story-telling activity is a non-threatening way of continuously reminding kids of good moral values and positive attitude. And since stories are symbolic and visual representations of real situations, kids tend to be more receptive to these information, rather than simply giving them phrases and words to remember. Enrichment Programs in Broward County have these story-telling sessions to teach reading and reinforce character education as well.

The third process has to do with motor development. According to the social learning theory, children learn gestures and motor reactions from their immediate environment (i.e. family members and teachers). Exceptional children who learn to paint or to play the piano by merely watching others do it is a concrete example of the link between learning and observation. Enrichment programs and After-School programs are expected to provide the needed support system for exceptional and gifted kids in order to nurture their skills. Many schools in Broward County have answered this need for a nurturing support system.

Lastly, the fourth process has to do with the concepts of incentives and motivation. This process implies that with the right amount of motivation and a healthy reward system, kids will be expected to give appropriate responses for future situations.

The Social Learning Theory is mostly applied to children with anxiety disorders and aggressive behavior. The use of this theory for problematic kids provide counselors, teachers, and tutors with the right resource for explaining negative behavior and then creating a strategy to effectively deal with the problem. Summer camps that provide intensive counseling services for troubled kids also use this theory as part of their background for interventions and psychiatric therapy sessions. Furthermore, the theory provides the basis for most current behavior-modification interventions in clinical practice.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5557505_tardes-social-learning-theory.html
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By M. Johnson

Gabriel Tarde (1843-1904) was a sociologist and social theorist known for holding this central thesis: the human person, living in society, has a complex form of existence that derives from every conceivable kind of direct and indirect experience he can encounter. Hence, any idea of the “social whole” or even of the “individual” is in reality an abbreviation of these experiences and how they have been interpreted and internalized by the person. Therefore, societies and people are infinitely complex (practically speaking) and the process of learning, therefore, has by far more to do with experience, proximity to peer groups and other structures that to the classroom curriculum.

Social Life
# There is no collective life that can be understood through language. The undefinable life of the collective is in reality the constant interplay between symbols, interpretation, individuals and proximity to all of these. Knowledge, exists in the indefinable interplay of all these factors, most of which are ignored or not even considered in normal consciousness. People become who they are through experience, not through discursive language.
How Societies Form
# Most social theories approach the small from the large. They are constructed on the basis that the collective life of the social derives from huge forces such as class, race, climate, warfare, government structure and even genetics. For Tarde, the opposite is true: the large comes from the small. Even the human person is little more than an aggregate of these experiences. Social wholes derive from tiny changes among and within individuals.
Action and Reaction
# There is more logic in ritual than the meaning of the ritual; there is more logic in the symbol than in what the symbol stands for. This is of central importance in understanding Tarde’s sociology of education. What a human being will become, therefore, is a constant mutual action and reaction not with logical discourse expressed in sentences, but in the social rituals and symbols that have become a close part of the person’s life.
How We Learn
# All of these impact on education in the following manner. If the individual is himself an aggregate of experiences that, collectively, make him who he is, then three things are true: first, that we are most influenced by those people and ideas that are closest to us. Secondly, as we grow, we come to imitate and identify with those symbols, ideas and people. Finally, these become, so to speak, models for later development. We understand them only in the aggregate, and aggregates are only abbreviations of these complex sets of growth experiences.
On Education
# If the above is true, then human beings learn not through rote memorization, or even through language as expressed in sentences, paragraphs or lectures, but through the aggregate of experience. “Language” for Tarde is a huge and complex concept that ideally includes all experiences that eventually create a person. What might be learned in school is not the typical curriculum but conformist behavior, the functioning of cliques and the relations among the sexes. These are at least equal to the content of the curriculum itself, but likely are much greater in creating the personality.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Albert-Bandura—What-is-Social-Learning-Theory&id=3296056
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By Annette H. Hill

They are many people who contributed greatly to the study of human behavior and one of them is a psychologist named Albert Bandura. He is the main proponent of the social learning theory which even today is widely recognized as one of the best theories that explain the behaviors of human beings. Together with his Bobo Doll experiment, Bandura came up with the social learning theory.

So what is the social learning theory about? Why is it considered as an effective theory? What made it different from other theories in the field of psychology?

Here are some important things you should know about the social learning theory:

• The Proponent
Albert Bandura is a well known psychologist even today. He conducted several studies, authored many psychological books like Adolescent Aggression and Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis, and many other articles. He also received major awards such as receiving twelve honorary degrees from different universities including University of British Columbia, University of Rome, University of Salamanca, Indiana University, and University of New Brunswick among others. He was president of the American Psychological Association and the Western Psychological Association as well. Further, he garnered the most coveted Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award by the APA in August 2004.

• The Bobo Doll Experiment
Do you ever wonder how the social learning theory came about? Well, thanks to Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment. This one of a kind experiment proved the value of observation and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of other people. The experiment showed that children mimics what others were doing to the Bobo Dolls. If they saw someone punch and kick at the doll, they will also do the same.

• Modeling and How it is Done
The social learning theory of Bandura put emphasis on modeling and how it is done. He pointed out that there are three steps involved and these are attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. According to Bandura, if you want to model someone or something, you have to pay attention to every single detail. Retention is just as important since it is the manner by which you were able to synthesize and learned by heart what you have just observed. In order for modeling to be effective, you have to put into practice whatever you have learned. Lastly, you must be able to motivate yourself to do the act. You can provide intrinsic or extrinsic motivations and other forms of reinforcements to keep you going.

The social learning theory of Bandura may just be another theory on human behavior but we cannot deny the fact that it proved to be very helpful. Once you apply the information provided by this theory, you will definitely help yourself become a better performer and be the person you want to be.

http://psych.fullerton.edu/jmearns/rotter.htm
psych.fullerton.edu

Biographical Note

Julian B. Rotter was born in October 1916 in Brooklyn, NY, the third son of Jewish immigrant parents. Rotter’s father ran a successful business until the Great Depression. The Depression powerfully influenced Rotter to be aware of social injustice and the effects of the situational environment on people. Rotter’s interest in psychology began when he was in high school and read books by Freud and Adler. Rotter attended Brooklyn College, where he began attending seminars given by Adler and meetings of his Society of Individual Psychology in Adler’s home.

After graduation, Rotter attended the University of Iowa, where he took classes with Kurt Lewin. Rotter minored in speech pathology and studied with the semanticist Wendell Johnson, whose ideas had an enduring influence on Rotter’s thinking about the use and misuse of language in psychological science. Upon finishing his master’s degree, Rotter took an internship in clinical psychology — one of the few available at the time — at Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts. In 1939, Rotter started his Ph.D. work at Indiana University, one of the few programs to offer a doctorate in clinical psychology. There, he completed his dissertation on level of aspiration and graduated in 1941. By earning his Ph.D. in clinical psychology after having done a predoctoral internship, Rotter became one of the very first clinical psychologists trained in what is now the traditional mode.

After service in the Army and Air Force during World War II, Rotter took an academic position at Ohio State University. It was here that he embarked on his major accomplishment, social learning theory, which integrated learning theory with personality theory. He published Social Learning and Clinical Psychologyin 1954. Rotter also held strong beliefs about how clinical psychologists should be educated. He was an active participant in the 1949 Boulder Conference, which defined the training model for doctoral level clinical psychologists. He spoke persuasively that psychologists must be trained in psychology departments, not under the supervision of psychiatrists. His ideas are still influential today (Herbert, 2002).

In 1963, Rotter left Ohio State to become the director of the clinical psychology training program at the University of Connecticut. He is now professor emeritus there.

Rotter has served as president of the American Psychological Association’s divisions of Social and Personality Psychology and Clinical Psychology. In 1989, he was given the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution award.

Rotter was married to Clara Barnes, whom he had met at Worcester State, from 1941 until her death in 1985. They had two children.

[The above information is based on a biographical essay written by Julian Rotter: Rotter, J. B. (1993). Expectancies. In C. E. Walker (Ed.), The history of clinical psychology in autobiography (vol. II) (pp. 273-284). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Photos courtesy of University of Connecticut.]

Overview of Theory

When Rotter developed his Social Learning Theory, the dominant perspective in clinical psychology at the time was Freud’s Psychoanalysis, which focused on people’s deep-seated instinctual motives as determining behavior. Individuals were seen as being naive to their unconscious impulses, and treatment required long-term analysis of childhood experience. Even learning approaches at the time were dominated by drive theory, which held that people are motivated by physiologically-based impulses that press the individual to satisfy them. In developing Social Learning Theory, Rotter departed from instinct-based Psychoanalysis and drive-based behaviorism. He believed that a psychological theory should have a psychological motivational principle. Rotter chose the empirical law of effect as his motivating factor. The law of effect states that people are motivated to seek out positive stimulation, or reinforcement, and to avoid unpleasant stimulation. Rotter combined behaviorism and the study of personality, without relying on physiological instincts or drives as a motive force.

The main idea in Julian Rotter’s Social Learning Theory is that personality represents an interaction of the individual with his or her environment. One cannot speak of a personality, internal to the individual, that is independent of the environment. Neither can one focus on behavior as being an automatic response to an objective set of environmental stimuli. Rather, to understand behavior, one must take both the individual (i.e., his or her life history of learning and experiences) and the environment (i.e., those stimuli that the person is aware of and responding to) into account. Rotter describes personality as a relatively stable set of potentials for responding to situations in a particular way.

Rotter sees personality, and therefore behavior, as always changeable. Change the way the person thinks, or change the environment the person is responding to, and behavior will change. He does not believe there is a critical period after which personality is set. But, the more life experience you have building up certain sets of beliefs, the more effort and intervention required for change to occur. Rotter conceives of people in an optimistic way. He sees them as being drawn forward by their goals, seeking to maximize their reinforcement, rather than just avoiding punishment.

Rotter has four main components to his social learning theory model predicting behavior. These are behavior potential, expectancy, reinforcement value, and the psychological situation.

Behavior Potential. Behavior potential is the likelihood of engaging in a particular behavior in a specific situation. In other words, what is the probability that the person will exhibit a particular behavior in a situation? In any given situation, there are multiple behaviors one can engage in. For each possible behavior, there is a behavior potential. The individual will exhibit whichever behavior has the highest potential.

Expectancy. Expectancy is the subjective probability that a given behavior will lead to a particular outcome, or reinforcer. How likely is it that the behavior will lead to the outcome? Having “high” or “strong” expectancies means the individual is confident the behavior will result in the outcome. Having low expectancies means the individual believes it is unlikely that his or her behavior will result in reinforcement. If the outcomes are equally desirable, we will engage in the behavior that has the greatest likelihood of paying off (i.e., has the highest expectancy). Expectancies are formed based on past experience. The more often a behavior has led to reinforcement in the past, the stronger the person’s expectancy that the behavior will achieve that outcome now.

It is important to note that expectancy is a subjective probability, because one common source of pathology is irrational expectancies. There may be no relationship whatsoever between the person’s subjective assessment of how likely a reinforcement will be and the actual, objective probability of the reinforcer occurring. People can either over- or underestimate this likelihood, and both distortions can potentially be problematic.

Reinforcement Value. Reinforcement is another name for the outcomes of our behavior. Reinforcement value refers to the desirability of these outcomes. Things we want to happen, that we are attracted to, have a high reinforcement value. Things we don’t want to happen, that we wish to avoid, have a low reinforcement value. If the likelihood of achieving reinforcement is the same, we will exhibit the behavior with the greatest reinforcement value (i.e., the one directed toward the outcome we prefer most).

As with expectancy, reinforcement value is subjective, meaning that the same event or experience can vastly differ in desirability, depending on the individual’s life experience. Punishment from a parent would be negatively reinforcing to most children, and something to be avoided. However, children who get little positive attention from parents can seek out parental punishment because it has a higher reinforcement value than neglect.

The least amount of reinforcement that still has a positive value is known as the minimal goal. If people achieve an outcome that equals or exceeds their minimal goal, they will feel that they have succeeded. When the level of reinforcement falls below an individual’s minimal goal, that reinforcement feels like failure. People differ in their minimal goals. Thus, the same outcome may represent success to one person (with a lower minimal goal) while it feels like failure to another person (with a higher minimal goal).

Predictive Formula. Behavior Potential (BP), Expectancy (E) and Reinforcement Value (RV) can be combined into a predictive formula for behavior:

BP = f(E & RV)

This formula can be read as follows: behavior potential is a function of expectancy and reinforcement value. Or, in other words, the likelihood of a person exhibiting a particular behavior is a function of the probability that that behavior will lead to a given outcome and the desirability of that outcome. If expectancy and reinforcement value are both high, then behavior potential will be high. If either expectancy or reinforcement value is low, then behavior potential will be lower.

Psychological Situation. Although the psychological situation does not figure directly into Rotter’s formula for predicting behavior, Rotter believes it is always important to keep in mind that different people interpret the same situation differently. Again, it is people’s subjective interpretation of the environment, rather than an objective array of stimuli, that is meaningful to them and that determines how they behave.

Generality versus Specificity. An important dimension of personality theories is the generality versus specificity of its constructs. General constructs are broad and abstract, while specific constructs are narrow and concrete. Both types of constructs have their advantages. A theory with general constructs allows one to make many predictions, across situations, from knowing only a small amount of information. The disadvantage of general constructs, though, is that they are harder to measure and the predictions made from them have a lower level of accuracy. Specific constructs, on the other hand, are easier to measure, and they can be used to make more accurate predictions. However, these predictions are limited to being situation-specific.

For example, knowing that someone is a generally hostile person allows us to make predictions that this individual will be hostile toward a range of people. Across situations, this person is likely to be more hostile to others than someone who is low in hostility. However, our ability predict how hostile this person would be to Jane, for example, is limited, because there may be other factors that determine whether this individual will treat Jane in a hostile way during a particular encounter (e.g., person likes Jane, or situational factors inhibit an expression of hostility). On the other hand, if we know that this person hates Jane, we can predict with a high level of accuracy that this person will be hostile toward Jane. But, we will not be able to predict whether this person will treat other people in a hostile way.

A strength of Rotter’s social learning theory is that it explicitly blends specific and general constructs, offering the benefits of each. In social learning theory, all general constructs have a specific counterpart. For every situationally specific expectancy there is a cross-situational generalized expectancy. Social learning theory blends generality and specificity to enable psychologists to measure variables and to make a large number of accurate predictions from these variables.

“Locus of Control.” For many people, their only exposure to the ideas of Julian B. Rotter is his concept of generalized expectancies for control of reinforcement, more commonly known as locus of control. Locus of control refers to people’s very general, cross-situational beliefs about what determines whether or not they get reinforced in life. People can be classified along a continuum from very internal to very external.

People with a strong internal locus of control believe that the responsibility for whether or not they get reinforced ultimately lies with themselves. Internals believe that success or failure is due to their own efforts. In contrast, externals believe that the reinforcers in life are controlled by luck, chance, or powerful others. Therefore, they see little impact of their own efforts on the amount of reinforcement they receive.

Rotter has written extensively on problems with people’s interpretations of the locus of control concept. First, he has warned people that locus of control is not a typology. It is not an either/or proposition. Second, because locus of control is a generalized expectancy it will predict people’s behavior across situations. However, there may be some specific situations where people, for example, who are generally external behave like internals. That is because their learning history has shown them that they have control over the reinforcement they receive in certain situations, although overall they perceive little control over what happens to them. Again, one can see the importance of conceiving of personality as the interaction of the person and the environment.

Psychopathology and Treatment. Rotter is very opposed to the medical model conception of mental disorders as being diseases or illnesses. Rather, he conceives of psychological problems as maladaptive behavior brought about by faulty or inadequate learning experiences. For Rotter, the symptoms of pathology, like all behavior, are learned. Therefore, treatment should be considered a learning situation where adaptive behaviors and cognitions are taught, and the therapist-client relationship is viewed as being similar to a teacher-student relationship. Much of current cognitive-behavioral treatment has its roots in Rotter’s social learning theory, although these debts often go unacknowledged.

According to Rotter, pathology can develop due to difficulties at any point in his predictive formula. Behavior can be maladaptive, because the individual never learned more adaptive behaviors. In this case, the therapist would make direct suggestions about new behaviors to try and would use techniques such as role-playing to develop more effective coping skills.

Expectancies can lead to pathology when they are irrationally low. If people have low expectancies, they do not believe their behaviors will be reinforced. Consequently, they put little effort into their behaviors. If they don’t try to succeed, they are likely to fail. And when they fail, it confirms their low expectancies. This process of decreasing expectancies is a common occurrence in pathology known as a vicious cycle. When clients have low expectancies, therapists attempt to increase clients’ confidence by using their therapeutic influence to help clients (a) gain insight into the irrationality of their expectancies, and/or (b) attempt behaviors they have been avoiding out of fear of failure. In general, social learning therapists always attempt to raise their clients’ expectancies for reinforcement.

Lastly, reinforcement value problems can lead to pathology. Reinforcers are the goals we seek in life. If people set unrealistically high and unobtainable goals for themselves (i.e., have too high minimal goals), they are likely to experience frequent failure. This failure can lead to the development of the vicious cycle described above. In this situation, therapists would help clients to lower their minimal goals, developing reasonable, achievable standards for themselves. Flexibility in setting minimal goals is one sign of good mental health. It is better to strive, step by step, to achieve a series of goals than it is to set one distant, lofty goal for oneself.

Importance to the Field of Psychology

A recent article has cited Julian B. Rotter as one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Rotter was 18th in frequency of citations in journal articles and 64th in overall eminence.

*Haggbloom, S. J. et al. (2002). The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Review of General Psychology, 6, 139-152.

Contemporary Research in Social Learning Theory

Personality research is still being done using Rotter’s highly flexible framework. Catanzaro and Mearns have used social learning theory to define generalized expectancies for negative mood regulation (NMR). NMR expectancies represent beliefs people have about their ability to control the unpleasant moods they experience. In keeping with Rotter’s theory, these expectancies predict how people cope with a variety of upsetting events, as well as the outcomes of that coping in terms of mood and health. Click here to go to the NMR Research Page.

Selected Bibliography

Rotter has numerous publications spanning over seven decades. This section will highlight his most important contributions to the literature. Interested parties should consult these works for a more in-depth description of the concepts introduced on this web page.

* Rotter, J. B. (1942). Level of aspiration as a method of studying personality. II. Development and evaluation of a controlled method. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 31, 410-422.

* Rotter, J. B., & Rafferty, J. E. (1950). The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank manual: College form. New York: Psychological Corp.

* Rotter, J. B. (1954). Social learning and clinical psychology. New York: Prentice-Hall. link to book photo

* Rotter, J. B. (1960). Some implications of a social learning theory for the prediction of goal directed behavior from testing procedures. Psychological Review, 67, 301-316.

* Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80. (Whole No. 609). link to book photo

* Rotter, J. B. (1970). Some implications of a social learning theory for the practice of psychotherapy. In D. Levis (Ed.), Learning approaches to therapeutic behavior change. Chicago: Aldine Press.

* Rotter, J. B. (1971). Generalized expectancies for interpersonal trust. American Psychologist, 26, 443-452.

* Rotter, J. B. (1971). On the evaluation of methods of intervening in other people’s lives. Clinical Psychologist, 24, 1.

* Rotter, J. B., Chance, J. E., & Phares, E. J. (1972). Applications of a social learning theory of personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. link to book photo

* Rotter, J. B. (1975). Some problems and misconceptions related to the construct of internal versus external control of reinforcement. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 56-67.

* Rotter, J. B. (1978). Generalized expectancies for problem solving and psychotherapy. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 2, 1-10.

* Rotter, J. B. (1980). Interpersonal trust, trustworthiness and gullibility. American Psychologist, 26, 1-7.

* Rotter, J. B. (1981). The psychological situation in social learning theory. In D. Magnusson (Ed.), Toward a psychology of situations: An interactional perspective. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

* Rotter, J. B. (1982). The development and applications of social learning theory. New York: Praeger. link to book photo

* Rotter, J. B. (1989). Internal versus external control of reinforcement: A case history of a variable. American Psychologist, 45, 489-493.

* Rotter, J. B., Lah, M. I., & Rafferty, J. E. (1992). Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank Second Edition manual. New York: Psychological Corporation. link to book photo