A Comparison Of Bonnie And Clyde

Over the years, there have been countless theories developed with the aim of defining and predicting why criminals behave the way they do. Some theories are less common than others, but many have evolved and are currently used in many criminal studies. Contemporary criminologists combine relevant aspects of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their understanding of criminal behavior. The United States has had an abundant number of notorious criminals that have been assimilated into our pop culture. Two of the most notorious, as some would argue, are the infamous crime duo of Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow, commonly referred to simply as, Bonnie and Clyde (cite). Many criminologists, and

the average citizen alike, have long wandered about what factors would have drove the couple to commit such heinous acts on many different occasions. Though the answer to their questions will never truly be revealed, people can still speculate and draw their own personal conclusions. Rational choice theory, social learning theory, and strain theory, are all modern criminological theories, and each can be applied to Bonnie & Clyde.
Before Bonnie & Clyde can be evaluated through the lens of a criminological theory, it is critical to understand their backgrounds and the events that took place before they became the criminals they are remembered as. The biography I chose, American Outlaws: The Lives and Legacies of Bonnie & Clyde, goes into great depth describing the lives and crimes of the famous outlaws while simultaneously humanizes them both and examines their atypical relationship. Although the pair ultimately met a similar demise as most of their criminal counterparts of the era, their story captivated people in a different way. Bonnie Parker was born in Rowena, Texas in October of 1910 (cite). Her father worked as a bricklayer whereas her mother was employed as a seamstress, Bonnie’s father passed away when she was only 4 years old. When she was a sophomore in high school, Bonnie dropped out and married Roy Thornton shorty before her 16th birthday. Though they were never legally separated, their marriage was short-lived and marked by Roy’s frequent encounters with the police. After her marriage to Thornton failed, Bonnie moved in with her mother and began working as a server in Dallas in 1929 (cite). Diary entries that she made early that year reveal that she felt lonely, impatient with life in the big city of Dallas, and her love for photography.
Clyde Barrow was born into a poor farm family in Ellis County, Texas in 1909, just southeast of Dallas. Clyde was the fifth child of seven brothers and sisters. His family migrated into Dallas in the early 1920s during a wave of resettlement from the impoverished local farms to the city slum referred to as West Dallas (cite). In the first months after the Barrows’ arrival, the family lived beneath the wagon they rode in on. The first time Clyde was ever arrested was in 1926, after running from police when they confronted him about a rental car that he did not return on time. Though Clyde maintained steady paychecks for a few years, successive arrests ultimately resulted in his incarceration at Eastham Prison Farm in April of 1930 (cite). While confined to Eastham, Clyde used a lead pipe to end Ed Crowder’s life, a man who had sexually assaulted him repeatedly in the prison. This was the first time Clyde had ever murdered someone, and he was able to avoid being convicted for it by convincing another inmate who was already serving a life sentence to take the blame instead. In order to be excused from hard labor in the fields while serving his sentence, Clyde also convinced a fellow inmate to remove two of Clyde’s toes with an axe. Little did he know, he would be granted a release six days later thanks to a petition filed by his mother (cite). When Clyde finally left Eastham, he returned to the outside world as a hardened and bitter criminal, and those who were close to him claim that he was never the same. Many criminologists that have studied Bonnie & Clyde believe that their crimes had less to do with fame or fortune, and much more to do with Clyde’s personal vendetta that he developed against the Texas prison system while serving time.
After Clyde was released from Eastham in 1932, he assembled a rotating core group of associates, and the gang was born.

The gang traveled all across the Midwest during the Great Depression, robbing people and killing when confronted or cornered. Bonnie & Clyde may be most remembered for the dozen-or-so bank robberies that they orchestrated, however, they both preferred robbing small stores or gas stations out in the country. Although the accurate number may never be revealed, the gang is believed to have killed no less than nine police officers plus several civilians. The gang’s exploits captured the attention of the American public during a time known as the “Public Enemy Era” (1931 – 1935), an era that categorizes many individuals from that period as criminal and extremely damaging to our society (cite). Bonnie & Clyde’s spree of crime finally came to a resounding halt on May 23, 1984. The couple was ambushed and killed by a posse of law officers in broad daylight on a rural road in Bienville Parish, Louisiana

(cite).
Rational Choice theory is an example of a criminological theory that we have studied in class this semester that could easily be applied in the case of Bonnie & Clyde.

Rational Choice theory is founded in Classical theory, and its claim is that there are three “actors” that serve as the models for criminal behavior. The three actors are the rational, the predestined, and the victimized. The rational actor chooses to commit crimes, but can be prevented from doing so if there are stringent punishments that follow. The predestined actor is unable to control their criminal urges and are encouraged by their environment to commit crimes. The third actor is the victimized, who is a victim of an unequal society, but this hypothetical society can be reformed with new legislation. It could be argued that Bonnie & Clyde can represent any or all of these actors depending on your own perspective. They appear very rational in many ways, even though society and their environments both also likely played roles in their criminality. The couple got a mutual rush whenever they broke the law. Yes, they were poor and enjoyed the spoils of bank robbing, but they both sought a personal pleasure out of crime. Bonnie & Clyde had free will when they acted on their impulses and desires, and ultimately they were notorious outlaws because they wanted to

be.
Another criminological theory that could be used to describe Bonnie & Clyde could be, social learning theory. Social learning theory posits that people learn by watching others, via observation, imitation, and modeling. Before, Bonnie met Clyde and began her life of crime, she had already been married to a man who had been convicted of murder. It is reasonable to suppose that perhaps Bonnie’s intimate relationships with her husband, and later on Clyde, both played a role in her own involvement with crime. Similarly with Clyde, he was definitely influenced by his fellow inmates during his stay at Eastham. Had he never been sexually abused in prison, who knows if he ever would have been motivated to seek out revenge.
Strain theory is just another criminological theory that could potentially reflect Bonnie & Clyde. The concept of strain theory is that social structures within society may put pressure on citizens to commit crime. Both Bonnie & Clyde came from poor families that never had much and grew up in the middle of the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, it was nearly impossible for the average man or woman to achieve wealth and success. The criminal route offered an opportunity to people in the “Public Enemy Era” to empower themselves and feel prominent. Strain theory suggests that crime is the direct result of a society that lacks legitimate avenues for success for the common man. Though none of these theories are conclusive, they do offer some clues as to how criminals and normal people are different, as well as, the same.