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photo credit: albertbandura.com
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Developed
in the late 1970’s by Albert Bandura, Social Learning Theory, based on the
premise of behavioral learning, is a great theory to explain the phenomenon of
serial murder. The theory bases its
assumptions on the principal that if we as people do not learn from each other,
by example, we would never learn or accomplish anything. The theory asserts that behavior is a thing
that we learn through our experiences and the system of rewards or punishments
that come with our particular lifestyles.
We ultimately are a product of our environment and lifestyles, because
it is through these interactions with others, that we form our own
individuality.
Babies begin learning at
birth, if not before. When they reach
conscious awareness, which happens around 12 months, babies can see and
understand most human emotions and begin developing social skills as toddlers (Kids’
Development, 2010). From this point,
toddlers are constantly learning behavior throughout the rest of their
developmental years, until roughly the age of 18, modeling their behavior upon
the behavior they see their idols, mentors, and family members emulating.
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The
Social Learning Theory asserts that if the behavior learned from these idols,
mentors, and family members through the process of behavior modeling, is of a
violent nature, a person will model their behavior
on that violence. This is in order to receive praise or reward
from the teacher, or to act like the media figure they follow, in order to seem
more like them, or to receive the perceived reward they see in the media
representation (Siegel, 2010).
Bandura’s
BoBo Doll Experiment is proof that the theory does hold merit (Isom, 1998). Other examples of observed behavior include
idolizing violent media figures, watching your father physically or mentally
abusing your mother repeatedly, or mentoring under a person who establishes
that violent behavior is good. The
theory also asserts that because human behavior, derived from a reward and
punishment standpoint of social corroboration, that violence spawns more
violence. In
the case of serial killers,
most of them have come from abusive dysfunctional homes. For the purposes of this paper, we will look
at one serial killer, Richard Ramirez, and the psychological journey that
molded him from a likeable child into one of America’s most notorious serial
killers.
Social
Learning- The theory
In the late 1970’s
Albert Bandura developed the Social Learning  |
photo credit: trainingjournal.com
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Theory, which supports that
aggression, learned from watching other people as they receive rewards for
aggressive behavior (Siegel, 2010). The
actions that are taken by human beings are derived from knowledge gained from
experiences in their own lives. Behavior
is maintained when rewarded, and negated when chastisement occurs, aggression
is viewed as learned reactions to situations experienced in life, and that
people are not born violent, but gain violent tendencies
through the direct viewing
of violence, or by viewing violence in the mass media. The main contributing factors to crime
causation include an environment laden with violence, mass media, and negative
family interaction. Because babies learn
at an early age to interpret emotions (Kids’ Development, 2010), violence and
negative behavior, also observed and understood at an early age can be the
beginning of the making of a criminal (Isom, 1998.). In applying social learning, there are four
processes that are involved, which begin in the early stages of life. These processes are: attention- gaining focus of learner by sensory function, past
corroboration, or levels of arousal. Retention- learner retrieves representative
coding for actions, which provide interest to them. Motivation- is the self-bolstering of
motivation or sensational motivation through vicarious means. The last is Motor Reproduction- learner
physically reproduces the learned actions.
The person is more likely to adapt the behavior of the teacher, if the
activity, or the teacher, is admired by the learner. Examples of this include the little girl who
walks around in her mother’s high-heeled shoes, the little boy who is
fascinated with tools because their father is a handyman, and the new employee
learning their job by training with their boss.
(Siegel, 2008)
Social
Learning- The Experiment
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| photo credit: psychstudy.com |
It is through our social and familial
interactions that our individuality forms, and serves as an explanation for why,
not everyone who grows up in a negative environment turns to crime later in
life. Bandura and his BoBo Doll
Experiment provide some solid proof to the Social Learning Theory. This is particularly a good theory to explain
most serial murderers, since almost the entire American version of these
criminals has grown up in dysfunctional homes, with abuse, neglect, or
criminality within their families. The experiment
begins with children observing videos of adults hitting, kicking, punching, and
pummeling a plastic BoBo doll with a mallet without receiving punishment for
this behavior. After watching the video,
Bandura placed the children in a room with toys that would have been age
appropriate for attractiveness, and told not to touch the toys. When the children had become frustrated
because of the restrictions on the toys, they were then lead to another room,
with BoBo dolls like the ones in the video.
The children frustrated because of the previous room, began imitating
the aggression that they witnessed in the video by the adults. In another controlled group, after viewing
the video, the children watched a different segment, which shows the adults
receiving reprimands for the aggressive behavior. This group did not repeat the aggressive
behavior witnessed on the video, when put in the room with the BoBo dolls even
after being placed in the room with the toys they could not play with. (Isom, 1998)
Social
Learning Theory Applied to Serial Killer Richard Ramirez
Bandura’s
Social Learning Theory applies to serial murderers because of the principals of
the theory that state: children learn aggressive behavior through observing
family, role models, or the mass media, parents that abuse their spouses teach
their children to be abusers, and criminals with criminal family members learn
criminality (Siegel, 2008). In this
paper, we will discuss one particular serial murderer. How Richard Ramirez’s, life relates to Social
Learning Theory becomes evident upon discussing his life as a child, his
developmental years, and the tenets of his adult life. We will explore how this likeable boy grew up
to become one of America’s most prolific serial murderer.
The
last child born into a family of immigrant, hard working, religious parents,
Richard made his way into our world on February 29, 1960. He has three older brothers, and one older
sister. To make ends meet, and to have a
better life for their family, Julian and Mercedes Ramirez often worked long
hours keeping them away from the home. Julian,
Ramirez’s, father had a very bad temper.
Because his parents were rarely, home Richard, left in the care of his
older siblings idolized his brothers. His
brothers’ favorite pastime unfortunately happens to be burglarizing
neighborhood homes. Richard, following
their example, learns the trade and performs tasks such as looking out while
they entered the houses. Richard also
has a lot of contact with his cousin Mike, a disturbed Vietnam veteran, whom
Richard idolizes above everyone else. (Bruno,
2010) |
sent to me by Richard Ramirez
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Cousin Mike spent hours with
Richard, discussing how he violently raped women in Vietnam. They spent time riding around in Mike’s car
smoking pot, or in his garage where he kept pictures of the disturbing deeds
that he committed while in the military in Vietnam. The topic of discussion was always about sex
and violence. Richard’s first thoughts
about sex were developing during these conversations. Mike had changed so much because of his
experiences in Vietnam, that upon his return, he and his wife seldom got along,
and the couple argues frequently. One
day when Richard was 11, they got into an argument, and Mike shot her in the
face right in front of Richard and his own two kids. Later, Richard’s father took him back to the
scene to collect some personal items, and the blood evidence was still present. (Bruno, 2010)
When
Richard was 17, his mother, who was fed up with his marijuana use, rock music,
and getting in trouble with his brothers, kicked him out of the house. At 18, disillusioned and atheistic, he left
his hometown of El Paso Texas, for California where he would later be arrested
for burglary crimes. While in jail, he
learned about Satanism from his cellmate. He figured that instead of worshiping God who
did not condone his actions, he should be worshiping Satan who most certainly
condoned his actions and thoughts. His
first murder was actually intended to be a burglary. Jennie Vincow was the
victim. When Richard entered her
apartment, and found nothing worth stealing, he got angry and decided to take
the most valuable thing she had- her life. This was in June of 1984. The following year in 1985 he went on to
murder 12 more people by strangulation, stabbing, shooting them, slashing their
throats, or simply beating them to death.
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He aspired to be the best serial killer there ever was, thinking that it
would earn him an elevated spot in hell at Lucifer's side, however he was
caught before he could fulfill that fantasy.
When he was caught, he was charged with 63 crimes – thirteen murder
charges, and the rest comprised of attempted murder charges, rape charges, and
sexual assault charges. (Murdersdatabase,
n.d.)
In
relating Social Learning Theory to Ramirez, one must look at his history. Richard grew up with a father known to have a
violent temper. His role model was a
disturbed Vietnam veteran, who spent his time raping and killing women during
his military career and went on to murder his wife. Clearly, he learned general violence from his
father, and learned sexual violence from his cousin. Pairing these behaviors with the breaking and
entering experience he retained from his brothers, the “Nightstalker” that he became,
begins to emerge. Abandoned by his
mother, when told to leave, Richard ends up in California. During his years in jail while living in
California, he learned about Satanism, which was the final stage of Richard’s
learning experience. The Nightstalker
was born. When faced with the choice
with Mrs.Vincow, he chose to act out his fantasies seeded so long ago by Mike,
who was in essence, Richard’s mentor.
Conclusion
Albert
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, emphasizes that we as human beings learn from
each other, and that we learn the most by larger than life public figures, and
those who are closest to us such as family and friends. Infants begin interpreting and learning
behavior around the age of twelve months (Kids’ Development, 2010), and often
idolize their parents. Because we are
all products of our environment and lifestyles, and humans are impressionable
from birth until adulthood (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2005), we model
ourselves on those we admire most. If
our environment and lifestyle condone violence and negativity, the notion that
violence spawns violence promoted within this theory that a person would learn
to be violent. Bandura proves this with
his BoBo doll experiment, and the way children learn aggression. (Isom, 1998).
Most American serial killers have come from neglecting or abusing
dysfunctional family environments. When
looking at the history of serial murderer Richard Ramirez, the Social Learning
Process pattern is clear and easy to pick out.
The Social Learning Theory is the best criminological theory to explain
why Ramirez became one of America’s most notorious serial killers.
References
Bruno, A. (2010) The Night Stalker:
Serial Killer Richard Ramirez. Tru TV.
Retrieved from: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/
notorious/ramirez/terror_1.html
Federal Bureau of
Investigation. (2005). Serial Murder:
Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators. Retrieved from: http://www.fbi.gov/publications/serial_murder.pdf
Isom, M.D. (1998).
Social Learning Theory. Retrieved from http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/bandura.htm
Kids’ Development. (2010). What Babies See. Retrieved From http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/BabiesVision.html
Murdersdatabase,
(n.d.) Richard Ramirez. Retrieved from:
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ruth.buddell/ramirez.htm
Siegel,
L. J. (2008). Criminology: The Core. Third Edition. Belmont, Ca. Cengage Learning
Siegel,
L.J. (2010). Criminology: Theories,
Patterns, and Typologies. Tenth
Edition. Belmont:
Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
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