The Limitations of social Learning theory in Explaining Aggressive Behavior

The main focus of the social learning theory revolves around the idea of people imitating others within the social context, leading to contextualization of the same. However, research indicates that other factors such as genetic conditions, and more especially genetic conditions such as psychiatric disorders influence aggressive behavior in children. Research question Are there areas explaining aggressive behavior that the social learning theory ignored? The objective of the study The social learning theory is cited as one of the essential components in explaining human behavior. However, this theory neglects other factors that play a critical role in explaining human behavior. This research focuses on the identifiable gaps and captures different contexts that explain the aspect of aggressive behavior. The research aims to interrogate the effect of parenting style on children behavior.

And to this end, a sample size consisting of 14 male employees and 6 women serving as housewives would be employed. The selection criteria would comprise of households with more than two children. Collection of data The study employed interviews to interrogate the area of research through application of unstructured interviews that would help understand how parenting style affects the behavior of children. The interview duration ranged between 15-30 minutes, and the open-ended question was advanced to 14 male parents and 6 female housewives. The gaps in employing Bandura’s Social Learning Theory in explaining aggressive behavior According to Bandura’s social learning theory, youths learn from older adults through imitating different aspects behavior (Bandura Huston). This explanation failed to capture the role of genetic conditions in explaining maladaptive, antisocial and aggressive behaviors.

The role of genetic factors in explaining aggression in adolescents There has been a growing body of research concerning the etiology of aggressive behavior in young people (Gagne et al. The researcher established that, as predisposed by the variance of externalizing aggressive behavior, genetic factors were a contributing factor. According to this study, parental disengagement was predisposed children to genetic risk factors thus culminating into externalizing behaviors. In cases of strong testosterone hormone levels, aggression is said to remain high, and as much as such connections are lower in humans than animals, such influence is of essence in explaining aggression in human beings. The researchers advanced a study to test the testosterone levels of 240 male participants belonging to 12 fraternities and from two universities (Dabbs, Hargrove, & Heusel, 2016).

They were able to establish a positive relationship between fraternities with high levels of testosterone on average and the level of unruliness. The fraternities with low testosterone levels on average on the other side, exhibited academic success, were friendly, well-behaved and socially responsible. Banks & Dubbs, (2016) established that prisoners and juvenile delinquents with high testosterone levels are more likely to act violently (Banks & Dabbs, 2016). The differences in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala brain regions among individuals are predictive of why some people would be more aggressive than others. Parenting style and aggression in children Different researchers have made contributions in this area and have advanced a large body of data towards explaining how parenting style influences the level of aggressiveness in children and adolescents.

According to Beardlee et al. (1996), families made up, of a family history of depression was a predictor of antisocial behaviors in children. Burt et al. The information obtained justifies that, social learning theory is not adequate in explain aggressive behavior and ignoring other aspects such as genetic influence and parental style would limit the approaches that different players in the research concerning aggression posit. A diversified approach would see solutions to aggression come to play. For instance, exploring parenting style would help the government and other stakeholders put forth adequate programs to take care of aggressive children as well as advising parents on the importance of good parenting styles. The criminal justice would be better placed to understand the origin of the behavior of culprits and come up with appropriate solutions to counter the possibility of recidivism.