9.8 A New Approach to Learning Theory

In many ways, evaluating how the state contributes to the differential social and structural organisation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities takes seriously extensions of SLT that include a consideration of social structures (e.g., Akers, 1998). We do not mean to suggest that we should only understand how learning theories operate within Indigenous communities. A potential weakness of social learning theories is the assumption of the universality of mechanisms attached to learning. Research shows that the socialisation experiences of men/women, racialised/non-racialised young/old people are different. A critical adaptation of learning theory may help identify additional mechanisms of learning, develop a framework to understand how such mechanisms are mediated by colonial structural factors, and ultimately contribute to a deeper understanding of social influences. To move learning theories forward, we echo this statement made by Cunneen and Tauri (2017): “We believe that building ‘from the ground up’ a criminology that privileges the Indigenous perspective and requires a meaningful analysis of colonialism as an explanatory factor in Indigenous peoples’ experiences of settler colonial justice, is a theoretical and practical necessity” (p. 153).