ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the long-standing theoretical debate over the relative validity of explanations based on environmental influences versus explanations based on factors internal to the individual. In a study of legal socialization, we tested competing hypotheses from social learning theory and legal development theory. 1 Our purpose was to predict changes in legal reasoning, attitudes toward rules and their enforcement, and rule-violating behaviors over time. By testing competing hypotheses we were able to determine which theory was the better predictor of these legal socialization effects (Cohn and White 1986, 1990).
