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Social Learning Theory, Self-Reported Delinquency, and Youth Gangs

A New Twist on a General Theory of Crime and Delinquency

New Mexico State University

TERESA VIGIL BÄCKSTRÖM

New Mexico State University

G. LARRY MAYS

New Mexico State University

Social learning theory has been applied to a wide variety of criminal, delinquent, and deviant behavior. The current study examines the utility of applying selected elements of the theory to the examination of youth gangs. The subjects consist of a stratified random sample of male and female 9th-grade public school students living in a southwestern state. Following the logic of Akers' variant of social learning theory, we ask the following question: To what extent are attitudes toward gangs and gang activity, social reinforcers and punishers, and differential associations linked to self-reported gang involvement and gang-related delinquency? We found that the social learning perspective provided considerable insights into gang membership. Our analysis of group-context offending was related to both social learning theory and gang membership. Other forms of self-reported delinquency, however, while linked to social learning theory, were unrelated to gang membership. These findings portend significant theoretical and policy implications for future studies of youth gangs.

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