Results of the study offer mixed support for social learning theory's hypothesized causal process leading from reinforcement to definitions and eventually to criminal behavior. In an attempt to explain deviant or criminal behavior, social learning theory argues that individuals learn to anticipate rewards and punishments for criminal behaviors within intimate associations where these behaviors have been directly or vicariously reinforced or punished previously. Critics have expressed concerns regarding measurement strategies or techniques often used in social learning research. Responding to these concerns, hypothesized causal relationships among reinforcement, general definitions, and self-reported crime (theft and marijuana use) were tested using a multilevel modeling approach with longitudinal data from the first five waves of the National Youth Survey (NYS), as well as with indirect parent and friend reinforcement measures incorporating both the assumed products of reinforcement (expected consequences of behavior) and the efficacy of reinforcement (expected influence of the reinforcement source). Tables, figures, references, and appendixes