Social Process and Social Development Theory 1

RUNNING HEAD: SOCIAL PROCESS AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Social Process and Social Development Theory
Steven Griffiths
CJA314
Paula Rutkowski
21 MAY 2012










Social Process and Social Development Theory 2

Social Process and Development and Pelican Bay

There are many theories as to why the human mind can commit to causing so much pain and
suffering in this world. There are just as many theories as to why one person can murder another person in
cold blood, or steal from those who would take care of them. This type of behavior is only seen at the top
of the evolutionary food chart with us: Humans.
Enter Pelican Bay State Prison, built in the summer of 1989, it opened its doors to 10259 of the
countrys most destructive criminals, drug runners, murderers, rapists, gang bangers, there was no
shortage of who was housed there. The video war zone covers the riots, criminal enterprises, and
control factors from behind the secure walls. The video also makes mention of the fact that because they
are behind bars doesnt exactly mean that their reach is limited to Over the years it has out grown even its
own legacy of murder and power. Lets back up to before the walls were raised, and its cells were filled
with the worst of the worst. Lets go back to the beginning, the why. Social process theory views
criminality as a function of people's interactions with various organizations, institutions, and processes in
society; people in all walks of life have the potential to become criminals if they maintain destructive
social relationships. Arthur (1999), " This learning process culminates in a higher level of mental effort
to extract the essence and common principles or ideas from societys organized physical experiences,
social interactions and accumulated information and to synthesize them as conceptual knowledge. This
abstract conceptual knowledge has the greatest capacity for generalization and application in other fields,
times and places. The conceptual mind is the highest, most conscious human faculty. Conceptual
knowledge is the organization of ideas by the power of mind. That conceptual knowledge becomes most
powerful when it is organized into a system. Theory is a systematic organization of knowledge (para. ).
The Social Process Theory as a whole is divided into three distinct branches: social learning theory
stresses that individuals learn how to commit crimes; social control theory which analyzes the overall
failure of society to be able to control criminal tendencies; and labeling theory which reinforces the
negative labels that produce criminal careers. The branch of social learning suggests that individuals
Social Process and Social Development Theory 3

learn their criminal behavior much in the same way they learn conventional behavior. In o other wpords:
if you are raised around crime you learn crime, whereas if you are raised around college graduates you
yourself will become a college graduate. The differential association theory suggests that criminality is a
negative result from a person perceiving an overwhelming amount of definitions in favor of being a
criminal over conventional values. (Siegel 2000) Social reaction or labeling theory holds that criminality
is promoted by becoming negatively labeled by significant others. Research on labeling theory, however,
has not supported its major premises and critics have charged the theory lacks credibility as a description
of crime causation. Social process theories have greatly influenced social policies and have controlled
both treatment orientations and community action policies. If all of the inmates housed at Pelican Bay
State Prison were raised in a white color neighborhood, would they still be criminals or would they be
functioning members of society? Or is it simply that we make a conscious effort to be criminals and to
disobey the law? Is that not part of being human, is being given a choice not one of the greatest gifts we
have? You cannot simply say that because you have grown up around criminals that you suddenly became
one, or can you? Criminal behavior is a function of a socialization process. This included the socio-
psychological interaction by the offender with institutions and social organizations. This theory suggests
that offenders turn to crime as a result of peer group pressure, family problems, poor school performance,
legal entanglements and other situations that gradually steer them to criminal behaviors. This theory says
that anyone can become a criminal. The main support of this theory stems from the effect of the family on
youths who engage in delinquent or violent behaviors. Researcher think there is a linkage between
childhood experiences of violence and behavioral problems. I these experiences, children can be victims
or eyewitnesses. According to Wolfe, children who witness family violence are more likely to display
diminished social competence and behavioral problems than those who do not. Pelican Bay is sort of like
a big university for criminals. They don't come here to rehabilitate themselves. They come here to hone
their criminal skills and the criminals that come in, when they leave, most of them are a lot better skilled
when they leave than when they came in.

Social Process and Social Development Theory 4

Gang leaders have turned this prison into a command center. From behind bars, they run illegal drug trade
in California, control thousands of street gang members, and even order killings. In April 1999, Nuestra
Familia gang leaders executed a hit on a former gang member in San Jose, 400 miles away. After the
killing, they decided the hired gun had done a sloppy job. So they had him murdered as well, and they did
it all from inside Pelican Bay. A Social Learning Approach (1973); Criminal behavior is learned through
the interaction with others, in intimate groups. Behavior is learned through societal definitions of norms.
Deviance results when an individual is exposed to more positive definitions toward deviance- acceptable.
Deviance varies by frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. All mechanisms of learning are involved
in deviant behavior; it is not limited to imitation.

References
Arthur, G. (1999). Social Development Theory. Retrieved from
http://www.icpd.org/development_theory/SocialDevTheory.htm
Siegel, L. (2000). Social Process Theories. Retrieved from
https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=185186
Aker, R. L. (1973). Deviant Behavior: A Social Learning Approach. Wadsworth Publishing Company,
Inc. Belmont, CA.