Setting the Social Learning Approach: direct and indirect effects of the social structure on antisocial behavior in Spanish students

• In Event: Applications of learning and neutralization perspectives

Abstract

This paper explores the interaction between social structure and social learning processes, which can either increase or decrease the likelihood of young people engaging in antisocial behaviors. This integration plays a role in heightening the social costs associated with violence and the activities that violate social norms. The study is grounded in the Social Structure and Social Learning (SSSL) approach proposed by Ronald Akers (1998) which suggests that the learning of conforming or deviant behavior serves as an intervening process between social structure and individual acts.
We analyzed data from the 2013–2014 ESO, Bachillerato, and Vocational Training students in the Spanish cities of Madrid (N=1497) and Albacete (N=1834) who participated in the third round of the International Self-Reporting Study on Delinquency (ISRD). To investigate these data, Structural Equation Models (SEM) of the "Antisocial Behavior Index" were fitted. "Social Structure" and "Social Learning," two sets of elements, were introduced to the SEM index as external and intervening variables, respectively.
This study's initial findings support our hypothesis. The model that included the latent variables "Social Structure” and "Social Learning" confirmed the idea that exposure to risk factors acts as a mediating element between the practice of antisocial behavior and structural variables. The research highlights the importance of focusing on various complementary aspects of the variables influencing criminal or antisocial conduct.

Authors

• Valéria Cristina de Oliveira, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)

• Raquel Bartolomé Gutiérrez, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha

• Esther Fernandez Molina, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha