The Social Learning theory attests that much of who we are is predicated on our environments

and who we are around (Deming & Johnson, 2021). More specifically, this theory emphasizing
that environmental and cognitive factors intermingle to influence what we learn and how we
behave, our attitudes and emotional reactions as we observe and model those who are closest to
us (Deming & Johnson, 2021). As children we use our culture and our parents as are first
examples of who we are, what we should do and accept. Unfortunately, there are children like
James Smith whose upbringing is less than glamorous and to still take on the elements of the
social learning theory as to where he learned through observation and thus reaction.

While it is hard to determine whether James’s situation could have been prevented, there are
ways in which the court system could have a system such a troubled adolescent. According to the
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, there have been numerous studies that
demonstrate the connection between child abuse and neglect in subsequent later
violent/delinquent behavior by the child (Seddighi et al, 2021). Also, the organization gathered
from a study that for adolescents like James who have experienced multiple forms of violence
like the sexual and physical violence that he has endured, they are more than twice as likely than
other children to engage in committing a violent offense through self-reporting (Seddighi et al,
2021). This is particularly important to know because the court system and other resources need
to be made aware that their intervention is crucial.

Much of the abuse that James experienced happen at his first and primary home with his father,
his main abuser. To prevent James from experience so much abuse, the courts should have
addressed his father and his father his behavior more aggressively. Yes, James his father had to
complete a case plan to have James back in his home however there were seemingly no other
consequences for his dad ‘s behavior. Additionally, the court should have intervened in requiring
James his father to attend individual and group therapy long-term, in addition to regular
evaluation of his progress. As a former case manager, I understand that the case plans given to
parents are usually just tasks for them to complete, but the courts need to implement a more
viable option to evaluate true change. Furthermore, the courts should’ve intervened by having
each child in the system have a specified and easily accessible advocate. Court appointed special
advocate programs are far and few in between with only about 25 programs in the nation
(Seddighi et al, 2021). This means that kids like James slipped through the cracks and don’t have
someone advocating for and listening to the child.

Reference
Deming, P., & Johnson, L. (2021). An application of Bandura’s social learning theory: A new
approach to deafblind support groups.
Seddighi, H., Salmani, I., Javadi, M. H., & Seddighi, S. (2021). Child abuse in natural disasters
and conflicts: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(1), 176-185.
Since 2012, the increase in mass school shootings has taken an unbelievable surge in incident
numbers and has become an epidemic at minimum (Lee, 2020). While school administrators
across the nation are scrambling to find ways to prevent future shootings and prepare students for
the possibility of a local incident, little conversation has been had about the surviving victims
and what we as a federal, state, and local level can do to assist them. While the shootings
themselves may have lasted minutes, the psychological impact of these tragic events will last a
lifetime.
A study completed by a European psychiatry article reported that in the case of 474 students,
50% of the students exposed to the school should experiences PTSD (Fiorillo & Frangou, 2020).
Such a traumatic event may leave surviving students with bouts of paranoia, daily anxiety-
especially when around others or in closed spaces, and event survivors’ guilt - not understanding
why they lived and their friends did not, questioning their mortality or even suicidal thoughts
(Bartlett & Steber, 2019). In assessing surviving students for PTSD, some behavioral indicators
that we should be cognizant of are irritability and emotional outbursts, negative reactions win
discussing school or any events related to the traumatic incident, sleeping problems or
nightmares. Some symptoms would be looking for during the assessment would be whether the
child has trouble concentrating, whether they’re easily frightened or startled, and have they been
engaging in self destructive behaviors since the traumatic experience (Bartlett & Steber, 2019).
In a study for local exposure to school shootings in the youth anti-depressant use, the study
found that anti-depressant prescription use increased by 21% in 44 school districts in Texas that
had experience school shootings (Kerig et al, 2018). According to the National Child Traumatic
Stress Network, some important factors to consider during the evaluation process for children
who may suffer from PTSD would have they experienced a singular or multiple experiences, if
the experience was direct or vicarious, does the child come from a stable upbringing, is the child
involved in social activities/ has that changed (Briggs et al, 2021).
Some factors that would increase the children’s risk of developing PTSD would be children who
have experienced interpersonal violence such as physical abuse, sexual assault, or rape by
caregivers or someone they were romantically involved with (Briggs et al, 2021). Additionally,
statistics show that events that have involves an extreme degree of life-threatening incidence also
makes children more susceptible to PTSD. Children who are poor, displaced or have experienced
a higher number of traumatic events have an increased chance of developing PTSD as well.
Factors that might act as a buffer against the development of PTSD is social support from both
parents and extended family and friends. Additionally, familial economic status, and experience
with therapeutic opportunities also makes the difference.
References
Bartlett, J. D., & Steber, K. (2019). How to implement trauma-informed care to build resilience
to childhood trauma. trauma, 9(10).
Fiorillo, A., & Frangou, S. (2020). European psychiatry 2020: moving forward. European
Psychiatry, 63(1).
Kerig, P. K., Fedorowicz, A. E., Brown, C. A., & Warren, M. (2018). Assessment and
intervention for PTSD in children exposed to violence. In Children exposed to domestic
violence: Current issues in research, intervention, prevention, and policy development (pp. 161-
184). Routledge.
Lee, S. Z. (2020). School mass shootings in America. In Handbook of Research on Mass
Shootings and Multiple Victim Violence (pp. 75-84). IGI Global.