Adam Lanza turned into a mass murderer in one day. Would have it been possible to stop the senseless killing of 27 innocent individuals? While no theory can fully explain or predict what lead some individuals to commit murder, they do provide a general basis for the reasons. Two theories in particular demonstrate the warning signs that Adam Lanza was demonstrating years before his horrendous crime.
The first theory that can be applied to Adam Lanza is the social bonding theory. The social bonding theory was developed in the 1960s by the criminologist Travis Hirschi. It is best summarized as, “Hirschi's social control theory proposes that delinquents fail to form or maintain a bond to society consisting of attachment, commitment, involvement,
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and belief” (Griswold, Roberts, & Wiatrowski, 1981, p. 525). What Hirschi is suggesting is that individuals are more likely to commit crime when their bonds to society are underdeveloped. As previously stated, these bonds consist of 4 criteria: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Attachment refers to the individual’s bond with significant others, especially their emotional ties with these individuals. Commitment refers to the rational bond which is investment in society, in other words, it makes an individual think about what they have to lose. Involvement refers to how much time or participation was put into socially acceptable activities. Lastly, belief refers to whether the individual agrees with the values and goals set by society. Based on these criteria, it is clear that Adam Lanza’s bond to conventional society was weak in the aspects of attachment and involvement.
From a very young age, Adam Lanza struggled in connecting with his peers. This resulted in him completely isolating himself from others. Years before the school shooting, Adam Lanza had cut all connections with his father, who had left after divorcing Adam’s mother. Additionally, a few months before the massacre, Adam additionally stopped all face to face interactions with the one person with whom he interacted, his mother. Adam Lanza spent his last months in complete isolation in his …show more content…
room. This clearly demonstrates that Adam was lacking one of the criteria for social bonds, that being attachment. He had absolutely no bonds with significant others but rather kept to himself. As a result of leaving school and locking himself in his room, Adam disconnected himself from others and was unable to develop an attachment to others. The other criteria of social bond that was not met by Adam was the involvement bond. As a child, most involvement in society comes through school, whether it is involvement in the classroom or in after school activities. Due to mental disabilities, Adam was removed from traditional schooling and placed into homebound schooling. This resulted in Adam being unable to participate in these activities and was therefore removed from any sort of participation. This essentially left Adam with no bonds to traditional society. To make matters worse, once at home, Adam spent all of his time in his room. By isolating himself, Adam lacked some sort of involvement in any conventional activities. The combined weakened bonds of attachment and involvement demonstrate how the social bond theory shows the link between broken bonds and criminality in the case of Adam Lanza While the social bond theory may explain Adam Lanza’s actions, it is important to note that it does not do so perfectly. A problem with the social bond theory is that it lacks depth. It does not tell us why an individual has an underdeveloped bond. In the case of Adam, one can see that his involvement and attachment bonds were weak, but based solely on this theory, the reason is unknown. Clear evidence is not provided as to why bonds don’t fully develop. Along with this idea, this theory does not tell us how to develop bonds. For Adam’s case, how could he have made his bonds stronger? The social bond theory lacks the reason to why bonds are underdeveloped and the instructions on how to create strong bonds. Overall, the theory can be applied to Adam’s actions, but it can’t tell us what could have been done to prevent the outcome. The second theory that can be applied to Adam Lanza is the general strain theory by Robert Agnew. General strain theory infers that certain strains, such as incapacity to achieve goals, can lead to the individual turning to crime. As Mazerolle and Paternoster (1994) state, “...GST is the psychological state of ‘negative affect’, which includes disappointment, frustration, and most importantly, anger” (p. 237). In other words, this theory implies that strains lead to negative emotions which require some sort of coping mechanism. Depending on the individual, coping can take the form of criminal acts. In addition, Agnew specifically mentions that chronic strains are more likely to turn into criminal behavior because they are particularly hard to cope with. In his lifetime, Adam experienced strains that lead to the anger so clearly evident in his actions. One strain in particular, was caused by his diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome which affects an individual’s ability to interact or connect with others in an emotional manner. While it can’t be completely proven, this disability may have intervened with Adam’s goals which would result in anger. Adam’s continuous struggle with Asperger’s can be categorized as a chronic strain, for he dealt with them for the majority of his life. As an outcome of this, Adam was more likely to cope in a criminal manner, which he evidently did. Likewise, we can see the manifestation of these strains in the manner in which Adam committed crimes. As noted by Bonanno and Levenson (2014), “The Chronic Strain at home appears to be reflected in the fact that some school shooters kill their parents or other members of their family prior to the shooting” (p. 3). This was the case in Adam’s shooting spree, in which before the school shooting, he murdered his mother. His mother could have also been a source of strain for Adam, for she wanted to be involved in Adam’s life, but Adam had the sole goal of being alone in his room. Adam coped in the only way that he knew, which was with violence. Although, the theory gives us an insight on Adam’s strains, it also lacks the depth that would more thoroughly explain his actions. One of the biggest problems in strain theory is that the mechanisms for criminal coping are not clearly explained. For example, if there are other ways of coping why would someone cope in a criminal manner? Along the same lines, everyone has negative emotions, why do only some people engage in crime, especially to such an extreme degree as homicide? The link in this theory is poorly explained. Agnew was unable to explain the link, but he did propose conditioning factors such as lack of social support. While this may be relevant to Adam due to his Asperger's and non-acceptance at school, this isn’t the case for everyone. Agnew’s general strain theory does not provide reasons as to why coping can take such a drastic measure. To fully explain this, one would need to use other theories to fill in the blank. In this paper, the social bonding theory and the general strain theory were applied to the Adam Lanza case.
Upon further examination, it is evident that Adam lacked both the attachment and the involvement bonds to traditional society. In addition, Adam suffered a chronic strain that would explain him coping in a criminal manner. However, even with two theories, there are still questions left unanswered. No one theory fully explains what leads a person to commit suicide. Instead, multiple theories need to be combined as was the case in Adam Lanza’s case. No theory gives the complete answer, in the end only one fact in this homicide case in completely true: 27 innocent individuals lost their lives because of Adam
Lanza. Adam Lanza turned into a mass murderer in one day. Would have it been possible to stop the senseless killing of 27 innocent individuals? While no theory can fully explain or predict what lead some individuals to commit murder, they do provide a general basis for the reasons. Two theories in particular demonstrate the warning signs that Adam Lanza was demonstrating years before his horrendous crime. The first theory that can be applied to Adam Lanza is the social bonding theory. The social bonding theory was developed in the 1960s by the criminologist Travis Hirschi. It is best summarized as, “Hirschi's social control theory proposes that delinquents fail to form or maintain a bond to society consisting of attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief” (Griswold, Roberts, & Wiatrowski, 1981, p. 525). What Hirschi is suggesting is that individuals are more likely to commit crime when their bonds to society are underdeveloped. As previously stated, these bonds consist of 4 criteria: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Attachment refers to the individual’s bond with significant others, especially their emotional ties with these individuals. Commitment refers to the rational bond which is investment in society, in other words, it makes an individual think about what they have to lose. Involvement refers to how much time or participation was put into socially acceptable activities. Lastly, belief refers to whether the individual agrees with the values and goals set by society. Based on these criteria, it is clear that Adam Lanza’s bond to conventional society was weak in the aspects of attachment and involvement. From a very young age, Adam Lanza struggled in connecting with his peers. This resulted in him completely isolating himself from others. Years before the school shooting, Adam Lanza had cut all connections with his father, who had left after divorcing Adam’s mother. Additionally, a few months before the massacre, Adam additionally stopped all face to face interactions with the one person with whom he interacted, his mother. Adam Lanza spent his last months in complete isolation in his room. This clearly demonstrates that Adam was lacking one of the criteria for social bonds, that being attachment. He had absolutely no bonds with significant others but rather kept to himself. As a result of leaving school and locking himself in his room, Adam disconnected himself from others and was unable to develop an attachment to others. The other criteria of social bond that was not met by Adam was the involvement bond. As a child, most involvement in society comes through school, whether it is involvement in the classroom or in after school activities. Due to mental disabilities, Adam was removed from traditional schooling and placed into homebound schooling. This resulted in Adam being unable to participate in these activities and was therefore removed from any sort of participation. This essentially left Adam with no bonds to traditional society. To make matters worse, once at home, Adam spent all of his time in his room. By isolating himself, Adam lacked some sort of involvement in any conventional activities. The combined weakened bonds of attachment and involvement demonstrate how the social bond theory shows the link between broken bonds and criminality in the case of Adam Lanza While the social bond theory may explain Adam Lanza’s actions, it is important to note that it does not do so perfectly. A problem with the social bond theory is that it lacks depth. It does not tell us why an individual has an underdeveloped bond. In the case of Adam, one can see that his involvement and attachment bonds were weak, but based solely on this theory, the reason is unknown. Clear evidence is not provided as to why bonds don’t fully develop. Along with this idea, this theory does not tell us how to develop bonds. For Adam’s case, how could he have made his bonds stronger? The social bond theory lacks the reason to why bonds are underdeveloped and the instructions on how to create strong bonds. Overall, the theory can be applied to Adam’s actions, but it can’t tell us what could have been done to prevent the outcome.
In the Frontline documentary Raising Adam Lanza, reporters Alaine Griffin and Josh Kovner from “The Hartford Courant” investigate the possibilities that prompted Adam Lanza to commit the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza didn’t leave behind a trail. Lanza didn’t leave a diary, wasn’t socially involved (had no friends), and destroyed his computer that many believe have the answers as to what induced his character to murder 20 children, six adults, and his own mother.
He also theorized that Adam shot his mother four times for each of them; himself, his mother, his father, and his brother. After the tragedy, the school was torn down and many gun-control debates heated up and schools greatly improved their security to prevent any more potential attacks. To this day, the motive of Adam Lanza, is still unknown, but the effects are still felt in the world today. When looking into the reasons that would cause a twenty year old young man to commit such a horrific act, the mental health of the shooter is nearly always the first thing to look at. Adam Lanza was indeed found to have suffered from multiple mental disorders, however there is no direct connection between Lanza's mental health and his decision to commit mass murder.
Not all humans experience these life altering events in the same way. A combination of psychiatric and psychologic theories can be applied to the life of David Berkowitz form his violent experiences as a young adult to his neglect from mother figure throughout childhood. It can be said that a combination of these factors experienced throughout his life, led the Son of Sam killer to lash out his frustration on innocent victims in order to receive relief from a buildup of years of aggressive violent thoughts and
An analysis of the most famous murderers and serial killers in the Chicago area shows varying degrees of psychopathy or mental illnesses, which ultimately contribute to homicidal conduct. Analysis also shows that the paths of serial killers have a tendency to converge.... ... middle of paper ... ...
“Mommy, I’m okay, but all my friends are dead..” Just imagine your first grader uttering those words to you. 700 students were present that day most of the parents whose children attended Sandy Hook Elementary got that phone call on December 14th, , although twenty parents didn’t get good news, neither did Nacy Lanza. She wasn’t so lucky when it came to her child, 20 year old Adma Lanza. ...
Almost every major social, biological, psychological, behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought of as potentially contributing to the behavior of serial killers (Levin, 2008). The time period and amount of killings fluctuate depending on the individual committing the crime. Usually, the murders happen in different geographical areas. A mass murder has a separate definition than a serial killer, because a serial killer has a “cooling off” period, where mass murders kill several individuals in a single event. Each of a serial killer’s killings temporarily gratifies whatever provokes the killer’s actions, and each subsequent killing terminates a separate sequence of behaviors.
Introduction: On the spectrum of criminal activity, serial killers are rather rare. Rarer still is a serial killer like Ted Bundy. Bundy confessed to killing 28 women in the 1970s in ghastly fashion and some believe he may have killed far more. It is hard to imagine what could cause any person to cross the mental boundary into such macabre behavior as Bundy perpetrated. Nevertheless, it is important to try to understand that behavior because only though such an understanding would society be able to identify and deter mass murderers in order to save lives.
This paper explores three criminological theories as to why Jeffrey Dahmer committed his crimes. Although these approaches vary in terms of defining the cause of crime, one thing is certain, there is no single cause of crime; the crime is rooted in a diversity of causes and takes a variety of forms depending on the situation in which the crimes occur. However, the published articles vary in their definitions and uses of Criminological Theory. Rawlins (2005) suggest that the criminal phenomenon is too complex to be explained by a single theory. Other theories suggest differently and; therefore, have varying explanations. This paper examines the Psychological, Biochemical, and Social Process theories to slightly explain Jeffrey Dahmer’s actions.
Serial killers have many frightening facets. The most frightening thing about them is that experts still do not know what makes a human become a serial killer. Many experts believe serial killers become what they are because they have a genetic disposition or brain abnormality while other experts believe that a serial killer is created by childhood abuse; and some other experts believe that it is a combination of both brain abnormalities and abusive childhood experiences that creates a serial killer. A murderer is considered a serial killer when they “murder three or more persons in at least three separate events with a “cooling off period” between kills” (Mitchell and Aamodt 40). When defining a serial killer, their background, genes, and brain are not mentioned; perhaps one day those aspects of the serial killer can be included.
Biological crime theory describes that an individual is born with the desire to commit a certain crime. Evolutionary factors influence an individual’s involvement in criminal behavior. “Biological theories focus on aspects of the physical body, such as inherited genes, evolutionary factors, brain structures, or the role of hormones in influencing behavior” (Marsh, I, 2006, 3). Murderers that are innate to kill are born with factors such as mental illnesses that are the driving force as to why one may kill. Because of the biological crime theory, some individuals, though rare, are able to plead insanity. This is because the actions of the individual are said to be beyond their control (Ministry of Justice, 2006, 3).
' God, I've never done anything. Help me, help me, help me! God, why is this happening? Help Me!'; Robert Violante screamed as the Son of Sam's .44 caliber bullet tore through his temple (Mitchell p.15). At this moment Robert Violante must have asking himself why this was happening, what could cause someone to do something so atrocious? This paper examines issues related to the definition and study of serial murder. It probes the minds of some of the world's most infamous killers all the while asking the question WHY. It examines methodological issues such as problems with the FBI's so called serial murder profiling system: the fact that the serial killer stereotypes does not necessarily stand true. This paper argues that the killer is not the only one to blame for his/her actions. Together we will probe the minds of killers such as Charles Manson and John Wayne Gacy. I ask you, 'Are they Murderers or Victims?'; I personally have come to the conclusion that they are both murderers and victims.
There have been many serial killer cases that have attracted the attention of not only the media but of mental health experts as well. Many experts from a variety of different fields have come together to answer one question: Why did they do it? It is believed that most, if not all, serial killers have a mental illness, motives, and/or trauma during their lives that made them start killing. Serial killers are not only the effect of nurture but also nature. The environment of their country, the United States is our focus, can cause the number of serial killers to increase especially if the country itself is unstable.
Mass Murderers and Serial Killers are nothing new to today’s society. These vicious killers are all violent, brutal monsters and have an abnormal urge to kill. What gives people these urges to kill? What motivates them to keep killing? Do these killers get satisfaction from killing? Is there a difference between mass murderers and serial killers or are they the same. How do they choose their victims and what are some of their characteristics? These questions and many more are reasons why I was eager to write my paper on mass murderers and serial killers. However, the most interesting and sought after questions are the ones that have always been controversial. One example is; what goes on inside the mind of a killer? In this paper I will try to develop a better understanding of these driven killers and their motives.
Suicide is a sad story many people are reluctant to approach. But when somebody nearest to them kills themselves, they feel the compelling guilt of trying to understand the motive behind the death. It is a complex and rather devastating subject. Many who kill themselves can never come back to tell us what happened and why it did. Suicide takes an emotional toll on it's survivors and wreck havoc in the wake of the surrounding victims. What causes suicide is a probing series of many theories, and yet not one definitive answer. The prevention of suicide is also difficult to pinpoint, but only because the intent is unknown. The importance of researching the motives of the suicidal is essential to modern humanity as a whole, because in the era we live in, suicide rates are climbing faster than ever. Understanding the driving force behind suicide is what can help the field of social science to save the conscience mind of many people from self-destruction - and save their lives, and the emotions of their loved ones.
In conclusion, Social Bond Theory has been around for many years and has stood the test of time. The four bonds, attachment, involvement, commitment and belief are all held by individuals and play a major part in determining criminality. While it does not describe deviance perfectly, it does match what is believed to be the basic human view of why people become criminals. The view of Social Bond Theory is that all humans are basically evil and that deviance is a natural process. It is just a matter of how weak or strong these bonds are that either promotes, or deters deviance.