The social learning theory of crime argues that some people learn to commit crimes through the same process through which others learn to conform. The theory assumes that people, at birth, have neither a motivation to commit crime nor to conform. The theory then asks: Why does an individual commit crimes? The answer to this question stresses the process of learning, which involves the interaction between thought or cognition, behavior, and environment. Social learning theory is rooted in the work of the Chicago School theorists of the early twentieth century. It draws on symbolic interactionism as found in the works of Chicago School theorists such as George Herbert Mead. Symbolic interactionism is a social psychological theory that is based on the idea that all human behavior can be understood as the result of a process of communication. It argues that people communicate through the use of symbols and base their actions on the meaning of those symbols for them. Symbolic interactionists argue that meaning for symbols is learned in interaction with others, thus meaning is social in origin. Two theorists who build on this base are key to understanding social learning theories of crime: Edwin Sutherland and Ronald Akers.