Outline and evaluate the Social Learning Theory of aggression.

The social learning theory was proposed by Bandura and Walters (1963), it suggests that children can learn aggression through observation and imitation of other people. Aggression is learnt primarily through observing a role model and this is someone who they are thought to identify with. Observing the role model teaches the child the different forms aggression can take and how it is directed at others. It is proposed that children learn through vicarious reinforcement, this means the consequences of aggressive behaviour are learnt by watching others being rewarded or punished. If the behaviour is rewarded, for example a bully gains popularity for being aggressing, then this positive reinforcement will make it more likely for the child to engage in such acts. If it is punished then the likelihood of reproduction will diminish. Hence it can be said that the child forms a mental representation of the aggressive behaviour in terms of expectancies of future outcomes, if an opportunity arises in the future, the behaviour will be displayed if the rewards are greater than the punishment.
Research to support this theory comes from Banduras Bobo Doll study. In this experiment boys and girls aged between three and five were split into two conditions. In one condition the children observed an adult aggressively interacting with an inflatable Bobo Doll, in the second condition there was no aggression shown towards the doll. Results highlighted that children in the aggressive condition reproduced a high level of physical and verbal aggression that resembled the doll. However, the children in the non-aggressive condition showed no aggression at all. Therefore this provides direct support for the theory as there was high control over the variables.  Nonetheless, critics argue that the Bobo Doll study was conducted in a lab hence there is low ecological validity. A study by Phillips et al found that daily homicide rates in the USA were significantly higher after watching a boxing match. This suggests that the observers were imitating the aggressive behaviour that they had seen of the boxer as it was reinforced positively; the reward of winning outweighed the punishment. Hence direct support is provided for SLT in real life situations.One major criticism of SLT is that it is a simplistic explanation of aggression. Research has suggested that testosterone is the primary cause of aggression, and there are other genetic contributions involved. Hence SLT is therefore reductionist as it doesn’t not consider biological factors influencing aggression, rather it places too much emphasis on the behavioural approach.