Unit 3 Types Of Vicarious Punishment

Psychology Revision |Unit 3

Criminal Approach

Social Learning Theory
Description – Theory agrees with the view of classical and operant conditioning, but also says that we can learn by observing others, if their behaviour is punished or rewarded. When you observe someone acting in a certain way, and then decide to imitate them, it is known as vicarious learning. There are 3 different types of vicarious learning: Vicarious Reinforcement, Vicarious Punishment, and Vicarious Extinction. Vicarious reinforcement is when you observe someone being rewarded for such behaviour, so you act in the same way. Vicarious punishment is when you observe someone being punished for a particular behaviour, so you don’t behave that way. Vicarious extinction
Children observe role models, which can be an older sibling, a parent, or someone in the media. Children observe the role model’s behaviour, and if it produces a favourable consequence, for example a reward, or fame and fortune, etc, the child will more than likely imitate such behaviour. A person would have to pay attention to a type of behaviour, retain the information (remember what you paid attention to), reproduce the information/image, and then be motivated to imitate it. With regards to criminal behaviour, a child could see their parent steal something from a shop and not get caught, and then when they go to school, they decide it’s ok to steal sweets from the shop. A person could also see their favourite actor acting like a gang member, and then feel it’s right to carry a weapon around, thinking it would gain them the same level of respect as the gangster character. People can also imitate others whom are not a role model, if we see the consequences of their actions as being favourable; for example, seeing kids
Prisoners have to reflect and introspect. Anger management tends to be done on a one-on-one basis, however in prisons it’s done as group sessions. First the trigger is identified, also known as cognitive preparation. This is where you find the physical telltale sign that occurs just before an angry outburst, e.g. shaking, sweating, tightness of the chest. This makes the prisoner aware of when they are about to have an outburst. The second part is skill acquisition, or relaxation. This is where the prisoner learns a relaxation technique to be used when they become aware of the trigger. These can be such things as breathing or counting down from ten. In prisons, a countdown method is usually used or social skills training; social skills such as gestures that will calm down a situation. The third part is to try it out and practise. It is first practised in a safe environment, through role play in group sessions. Once they feel comfortable, they can use it in daily life within the prison. The prisoner can then go back to the therapy session and reflect on its effectiveness. If it doesn’t work, a different skill acquisition needs to be developed. After the anger management course has been completed, the prisoner’s thought pattern to a situation would be calm and