Empirical Status of Social Learning Theory: A Meta-Analysis

• NCJ Number: 232709
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 27 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2010 Pages: 765-802
• Author(s): Travis C. Pratt; Francis T. Cullen; Christine S. Sellers; L. Thomas Winfree, Jr.; Tamara D. Madensen; Leah E. Daigle; Noelle E. Fearn; Jacinta M. Gau
• Date Published: December 2010
• Length: 38 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article presents the results of a meta-analytic assessment of the empirical status of social learning theory.

Abstract

Social learning theory has remained one of the core criminological paradigms over the last four decades. Although a large body of scholarship has emerged testing various propositions specified by the theory, the empirical status of the theory in its entirety is still unknown. Accordingly, in the present study, the authors subject this body of empirical literature to a meta-analysis to assess its empirical status. Results reveal considerable variation in the magnitude and stability of effect sizes for variables specified by social learning theory across different methodological specifications. In particular, relationships of crime/deviance to measures of differential association and definitions (or antisocial attitudes) are quite strong, yet those for differential reinforcement and modeling/imitation are modest at best. Furthermore, effect sizes for differential association, definitions, and differential reinforcement all differed significantly according to variations in model specification and research designs across studies. The implications for the continued vitality of social learning in criminology are discussed. Tables and references (Published Abstract)