CCJS 461 Project 1 Essay - 2007 Words

CCJS 461 7380 Psychology of Criminal Behavior Operant Conditioning in the Criminal Justice System July 12, 2015 Psychology plays a very important role in the field of criminal justice. It is needed to help assess individuals who commit crimes, as well as, help to be a predictor of criminal behavior. Utilizing theories such behaviorism and operant conditioning, individual behavior is able to be assessed by the response to learning what actions result in rewards and what actions result in punishment. As a result of how individuals respond to rewards and punishment, learned behaviors have the possibility to be deterred or corrected. Behaviorism Behaviorism is a very important foundational theory in psychology.†¦show more content†¦Operant conditioning applies to many areas in both everyday life and in the criminal justice system. If you are late to work every day to work or you don’t complete work that is assigned to you than you can be demoted, have a decrease in pay or possibly lose your job. All of these are consequences to behaviors that have been displayed over time. Applying operant conditioning to the criminal justice provides very useful information. It helps in the development of laws and regulations as well as determines reasons why individuals commit crimes. This theory can also, after study, possibly be a predictive of individuals who commit crimes and also provide ideas on how to deter criminal behavior. Criminal Statutes Criminal statutes are enacted by federal and local governments in order to deter criminal behaviors and activities in order to protect citizens. Laws and statutes were developed in order to ensure that citizens act in an appropriate manner or face the consequences of their actions. They also reflect expectations of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors that have been set for local, state, and federal governments. Operant conditioning applies to the enactment of criminal statutes in many ways. Society has been studied to determine what acceptable and unacceptable behaviors are. As a result of these studies and the enactment of statutes, they have identified those actions by citizens that are not desirable or dangerousShow MoreRelatedOperant Conditioning in the Criminal Ju Essay2660 Words   |  11 Pagesï » ¿ Operant Conditioning in the Criminal Justice System Z. M. Keys Psychology of Criminal Behavior CCJS 461 17 October 2014 The only way to tell whether a given event is reinforcing to a given organism under given conditions is to make a direct test. We observe the frequency of a selected response, then make an event contingent upon it and observe any change in frequency. If there is a change, we classify the event as reinforcing to the organism under the existing conditions