Patterson, Gerald R.: Social Learning, the Family, and Crime

Emily J. Salisbury

Gerald R. Patterson is known for his ground-breaking work formulating both a theory of antisocial development in children— coercion theory —and practical family interventions and parent training techniques for reducing child and adolescent aggression. His research has resulted in the publication of more than 225 articles, book chapters, and books dating back to 1953, and has had an immeasurable influence on explaining the etiology of juvenile delinquency from a social psychological perspective. In 1977, he co-founded the Oregon Social Learning Center (OSLC) in Eugene, Oregon, where he continues to research and publish as a Senior Scientist. Patterson's coercion theory assigns a primary etiological role to inadequate parental skills in explaining juvenile delinquency. Coercion theory is a social learning perspective, though it is considered a second-generation extension of Albert Bandura's social learning theory. To clarify, Bandura emphasized the role of the initial learning of aggression through imitation, reinforcement, and punishment contingencies, ...

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