Abstract
“Randomly selected household samples of adults in major cities in Russia, Ukraine, and Greece are used to assess social learning theory. The prime variables of the theory–prior criminal reinforcement, which is directly measured, and cognitive, crime-favorable, “definitions”--are strongly related with each other and both predict self projections of criminal behavior well. However, some results challenge specific aspects of the theory. In particular, contrary to the implications of the theory, much of the effect of prior reinforcement on criminal probability appears to be direct instead of indirect through cognitive definitions. Moreover, the theory seems to work better in Russia and Ukraine than in Greece and, in some conditions, the variables appear to perform better in accounting for theft than violence. Finally, some types of cognitive definitions may be more potent than other types. Thus, even though the results confirm that sociologists and criminologists are justified in embracing learning as a key process in explaining human behavior, the findings, nevertheless, suggest a need for refinement in specific theoretical formulations about social learning.”

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