One approach which can offer a possible explanation for criminal behaviour is the learning approach. One theory from the learning approach is the social learning theory which was developed by Bandura. The social learning theory states that for social learning to take place, an individual goes through four key stages- these are attention, retention, reproduction and reinforcement. Social learning occurs when one individual observes and imitates another person (the model). For example, a young girl may watch an older girl pinch another child and try to copy her. Social learning may occur early in life, however the resulting behaviours may not be exhibited until much later- for example, a young boy may see his father hit his mother but may not reproduce this until he is much older.
One aspect of the social environment which can have a huge impact on a child behaviour is the media- for example, television programmes and video games. When characters in the media- for example, characters on television, in films or on video games- use violence, they are modeling aggressive behaviour. By watching the film, the tv program or by playing the video game, the children are paying attention. If the violence shown is distinctive then this is likely to cause retention of the information. The children may be impressed or inspired by the violence used and this will motivate them to reproduce it. This is particularly true if the character on screen is rewarded for their violent actions- this is vicarious reinforcement.
Bandura (1961) conducted a study- ‘transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive role models’- which aimed to investigate whether aggression could be acquired through modeling. He found that children who were exposed to violent behaviour imitated the exact behaviour of the role model and were significantly more aggressive than children who did not receive aggressive modelling. This shows that role models do have an impact on the behaviour of children and suggests that violent behaviour will be imitated.
There are many real life cases where the influence of violence in the media has had profound affects. An example of this is the murder of James Bulger. Venables and Thompson were two ten year old boys who abducted, tortured and murdered James Bulger. He was kicked and stamped on, had bricks thrown at him and batteries placed in his mouth, was covered in blue paint and eventually brutally killed by an iron bar which was dropped on his head. It was pointed out in court that the two ten year old boys had been watching violent films such as Childs Play Three, and that the boys imitated a scene in this where a victim was covered in blue paint. This shows that violence displayed in the media influenced the actions of Venables and Thompson.
Another case which drew attention to the impact of violence in the media is the Columbine incident. The two young men that committed this act of violence were said to have played numerous hours of violent video games. Their exposure to violence is said to have been the cause since the children involved in Columbine came from secure home environments with active parental influence. As with Michael Carneal, from Kentucky, who in 1997 shot and killed three of his classmates. He too was also said to have been a video game fanatic. Michael Breen an attorney in the case against Michael Carneal stated in court; “Michael Carneal clipped off nine shots in a 10-second period. Eight of those shots were hits. Three were head and neck shots and were kills. That is way beyond the military standard for expert marksmanship. This was a kid who had never fired a pistol in his life, but because of his obsession with computer games he had turned himself into an expert marksman.”
Eron et al (1972) measured the levels of violence in TV programmes watched by seven to eight year old children and measured their aggressiveness. They found a positive correlation- the more violence watched by the child, the higher the level of aggression. This was stronger in boys than in girls. In 1986, Eron and Huesmann found that the more violence the boys had watched on television as a child, the more likely they were to be violent criminals as adults.
A brain mechanism that may link violent computer games with aggression has been discovered by researchers in the US. The work goes some way towards demonstrating a causal link between the two – rather than a simple association.
Bruce Bartholow et al have found that people who play violent video games show diminished brain responses to images of real-life violence, such as gun attacks, but not to other emotionally disturbing pictures, such as those of dead animals, or sick children. And the reduction in response is correlated with aggressive behaviour.
The brain activity they measured, called the P300 response, is a characteristic signal seen in an EEG (electroencephalogram) recording of brain waves as we register an image. The P300 reflects an evaluation of the emotional content of an image says Bartholow, being larger if people are surprised or disturbed by an image, or if something is novel. The team recruited 39 experienced gamers, and used questionnaires to assess the amount of violent games they played. They then showed them real-life images, mostly of neutral scenes, but interspersed with violent or negative (but non-violent) scenes, while recording EEGs.
In subjects with the most experience of violent games, the P300 response to the violent images was smaller and delayed. “People who play a lot of violent video games didn’t see them as much different from neutral,” says Bartholow. They become desensitised. However, their responses are still normal for the non-violent negative scenes.This may not be surprising – video games have been used to desensitise soldiers to scenes of war. But when the players were subsequently given the opportunity to “punish” a fake opponent in another game, those with the greatest reduction in P300 brain responses meted out the most severe punishments. Even when the team controlled for the subjects’ natural hostility, assessed by standard questionnaires, the violent games experience and P300 response were still strongly correlated with aggressiveness. “As far as I’m aware, this is the first study to show that exposure to violent games has effects on the brain that predict aggressive behaviour,” says Bartholow. “These brain studies corroborate the many behavioural and cognitive studies showing that violent video games lead to increases in aggression.”- Craig Anderson.
Operant conditioning may also be applicable to media violence. When a character on screen (particularly on video games) is violent towards another character, they may get a reward. If a child imitates this violent behaviour towards another child, they may also get a reward- for example, they make take another child’s sweets. This is positive reinforcement, as the child begins to associate the imitated violence with a reward and the aggressive behaviours exhibited may increase in frequency.