Nature Vs Nurture

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Juvenile delinquency is characterized as illegal behavior committed by a minor that is under a statutory age limit, usually eighteen. For years there has been a nature versus nurture debate trying to explain behavioral characteristics of humans. I believe strongly in the nurture influences over the nature influences regarding juvenile behavior. In the nature versus nurture debate, nature refers to genetic and hereditary factors that influence who we are. Nurture refers to all the environmental factors that influence who we are. These environmental variables include, but are not limited to, our upbringing and early childhood experiences, personal relationships, and social and cultural surroundings. In my opinion, humans are just mere products…show more content…
The Behavioral Theory and the Social Learning Theory are theories that suggest that individuals learn by observing how people react to their behavior. The Social Learning Theory stems from behaviorism. B.F. Skinner wrote a book called Verbal Behavior that focused on how behavior is a response to particular stimuli. Albert Bandura counteracted this explanation of behaviorism with the Social Learning Theory. Bandura conducted an experiment called the Bobo Doll experiment. In this experiment, Bandura had children observe an adult playing with toys aggressively. The adult would hit, yell, knock down and jump on the Bobo doll. The children were then allowed to play with themselves. The results of Bandura’s experiment indicated that over half of the children modeled the actions of the adult and engaged in the same aggressive play with the Bobo doll. This became known as Bandura’s Social Learning…show more content…
Actions that are rewarded are copied and actions that are punished are avoided. Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement is the key here. A very common example of this would be a parent/toddler dynamic. A parent may use a reward system to potty train her toddler. For example, when the toddler uses the potty the parent will reward that child with a prize or praise. Therefore, the toddler will continue to use the potty to recreate that effect. Negative reinforcement has the same effect on behavior. For example, if a student is late to school that individual may be given detention. The school officials use negative reinforcement in the hopes that the possibility of detention will encourage the student to be on time everyday. So how do these theories tie into juvenile delinquency? Using the Social Learning Theory, a juvenile will watch, either in person or through the media, someone carrying out an act. That same juvenile will use the Rational Choice Theory to weigh the benefits and the costs of that action and make a decision based on what is most beneficial to him/her. Then, that individual will carry out the act through behaviorism. If the juvenile gets the benefits or rewards he/she wants, that individual will most likely do it again. The theories all tie in together when learning, making, and carrying out a
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