IDENTIFICATION THEORY AND ITS ROLE IN COPYCAT CRIMES

Abstract

The reasons for the copycat crimes at the moment are a “white spot” in criminology. Theories explaining the origins of human behaviour can help in filling it out. Skinner’s and Bandura’s behavioristic theories explain the copycat process with the action of operant conditioning and the learning of aggression, respectively. Confronting the escape process from freedom is one of the reasons why a person can go against social norms and laws. These theories conclude in the cognitive theory of identification, which currently most extensively explains the mechanism of imitation, as well as is taking into concideration the influence of the media, an important actor in the mechanism of copycat crimes, on a person and vice versa.