Social Process and Social Development Theory Paper

Social process theories view irregular and unlawful behaviors as a developing tool cultivated through societal interaction. Social development theories view deviant and criminal behaviors as part of a maturational process. The process involves numerous viewpoints including biological, psychological, and social that all occur simultaneously as the individual progresses through life. The social process and social development theories can be subdivided into these subgroups: Social learning, differential association theory, social reaction theory and neutralization theory. The social learning theory has it that people can learn by seeing others, through the example set by others. Imitating the environment and the people in it leads to the formation of a person behavior.

The individuality someone cultivates influenced by the learning they acquire (Carayannis, 2009). Social processes are the ways in which individuals and groups interact, adjust and readjust and establish relationships and pattern of behavior which are again modified through social interactions. There are various of forms of social interaction such as cooperation, conflict, competition and accommodation etc. According to Maclver, “Social process is the way the relations of the members of a group, once brought together, acquire a distinctive character”. With young people social process works through a process of developing relationships based on mutual trust and respect by engaging in their interest and participation, on a voluntary basis, in activities, experiences or issues, which are rooted in their personal experience. The social process and social development theories maintain that crimes are influenced by people’s interactions with the environment they are in, societal institutions and also procedures in that society (Siegel, 2011).

Negative influences and interactions make criminologists believe that crimes reflect the people contributing to the development of the individual. Positive influence affects success with the boundaries of the law. On the other hand, otherwise, forces make the individual to believe they cannot succeed in the conventional way leading to criminal ways. In conclusion, it’s evident that the social process and the social development premise that everyone has the potential to be a criminal can be held as true. All that matters is an environment to provide the conditions necessary for behavior formation.