ABSTRACT
Social learning theorists take the view that human behavior is the result of learning from others who already possess aspects, or "scripts," of such behaviors including what to value, what motives are appropriate, and how to behave. Social learning theories share the assumption that humans start out as social blanks who learn behavior as well as justifications, rationalizations, and reasons for engaging in a given activity - criminal or law - abiding. Consequently, these theories are considered sociological insofar as they go beyond the stimulus-response type of learning associated with psychological behaviorism. By contrast, neutralization theory takes a more active view of humans; it states that humans are not passive social actors or blank slates to be filled in with good or bad knowledge about how to behave but creative agents who can interpret their word and have a will to act. Nor does neutralization theory draw a stark contrast between conventional society and delinquent subcultures as source of knowledge.
