Karla Homolka is a prime example of a person who has committed a violent crime. The story of who Karla Homolka is and what she had done is very well known, not just in Canada but all over North America. After hearing the story of what her and Paul Bernardo did many people would wonder why, why and how could two people commit such violent acts. There are many theories that criminologists could use to try and explain the reasoning behind the actions of Karla Homolka, one would like to believe that there are reasons and not just that she was an evil person.
Karla Homolka born on May 4, 1970 and grew up in Port Credit, Ontario. Growing up Homolka was raised in a middle class family with two working parents in a loving environment. All throughout school she was a good student who got good grades and went on to become a vet technician
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after graduation. When Homolka was 17 she met Paul Bernardo and that is when things quickly went downhill. Together the two of them, Homolka 17 and Bernardo, 23 went on to kidnap, rape and kill young teenage girls. The first was Homolka very own 15 year old sister who which she said was a gift to her boyfriend Bernardo. After using an animal that Homolka had gotten from the vet clinic she worked at, they drugged her younger sister and proceeded to perform sexual acts. What the two did not realize is that they had given the young girl a drug that is fatal to humans and subsequently she had died. One theory that seems to fit what Karla did would be the feminist theory.
Many people could argue that what the reasoning behind Karla's actions was due to the fact that Paul Bernardo had her under his control. She could have been so terrified of what he would do to her that she felt prisoner to his wants and needs. Feminist Theory states that women are a commodity worth possessing like land or money, therefore Bernardo could have viewed Homolka as such. That Karla herself is actually a victim in all of it and that she is not to blame, which may seem like an extreme but coupled with the beliefs of the feminist theory it could fit. Karla if viewed as a victim would not be responsible for her actions that she had done while with Bernardo. There is evidence that Bernardo had beaten Homolka when she did not do as he said, which would only further perpetuate the idea that she was in a relationship that was so volatile she felt the need to commit such horrendous acts. Karla's acts were just a product of the patriotically environment that she was living in. The big question is whether or not Karla is the victim or not of the crimes she
committed Another could argue that Karla's actions where a product of Choice Theory, meaning that she knew what she was doing was wrong, illegal, immoral, etc. yet she still proceeded with it anyways after weighing the risks and rewards. Karla knew what she was doing, was aware that it was wrong, this being supported by the fact she grew up in a stable household that had morals, but she still did it anyways. Perhaps she honestly believed that she would not get caught, so the temptation of performing these acts with Bernardo were too good to pass up. The General Deterrence Theory, a sub category of Choice Theory, states that if people fear being apprehended and punished they will not risk breaking the law. If we were to say that Karla did commit this acts because of Choice Theory, than we would be saying that the punishment for her acts was not severe enough for her to not commit them. What does it say about Karla if she committed these acts because of Choice Theory? does that imply that people are inherently evil and lack all moral values, enough so to murder someone? Is Karla Homolka a person who was born "evil"? Trait Theory could suggest that she was. When it comes to Trait Theory it suggests that those people who commit crimes have done so for reasons beyond their doing. It says that they commit crimes due to factors such as genetics, diet and brain structure. If this was the case for Karla that would mean that she would have to have something wrong with her biologically or biochemically, but something like this would most likely show up before the age of 17 when she began to commit illegal acts. There has been no indication on any of the research that I have done to suggest that she had any problems, she was said to be a healthy well adjusted child and teenager, nothing seemed to be wrong at all until she met Bernardo. Could her problems have been in hiding and it was only a matter of time before they surfaced? was it the type of person that Bernardo was that brought out something in Karla that had been lying dormant since she was born? There has been nothing to suggest that Karla had anything mental disability at all either, that she was a smart, bright person who did very well all throughout school. Overall I don't believe that the Trait Theory fits for what Karla Homolka had done.
Karla was totally in love with Paul and would do anything to make him happy. Paul and Karla engaged in very forceful sexual intercourse as this would keep Paul satisfied. He once asked Karla what she would think if he was a rapist and she said that she would think that it was cool… Paul was impressed and he started to rape women. He developed a pattern of grabbing women when they were getting off of the bus, r...
As I was completing this assignment, I was watching the infamous Netflix documentary entitled Making a Murderer. The documentary follows the story of Steven Avery, who is currently in prison for the death of a woman, Teresa Halbach, in 2005. Steven Avery has been denying any involvement in the murder of Teresa Halbach for the past eleven years. In the middle of the reading, the documentary was exploring and analyzing Steven Avery’s deviant behavior as a young man (Making). As I observed what was being discussed about Steven Avery, I was able to build the connection between how society, and the community from which he came from, perceived Steven Avery and what Kai Erikson discussed in the first couple pages of the book with regards to deviance and its relation with regards to society.
Classical and contemporary theory helps to explain gendered crime patterns. The feminist school of criminology argue criminology and criminal theory is very masculine, all studies into criminal behaviour, have been developed from male statistics and tested on males. Very little research is conducted into female criminality, this may be because women who commit crime are more likely to be seen as evil or mentally ill rather than criminal, this is because women are labe...
The Niitsitapi (also called Blackfoot Indians), reside in the Great Plains of Montana as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan located in Canada. Only one of the Niitsitapi tribes are named Siksika, also known as Blackfoot.
During the 1970’s to the early 1990’s there had emerged two new approaches to the study of crime and deviance. The discipline of criminology had expanded further introducing right and left realism, both believe in different areas and came together in order to try and get a better understanding on crime and prevention. There were many theorists that had influenced the realism approaches such as; Jock Young (Left Wing) and James Wilson (Right Wing).
Hickey, Eric W. Serial Murderers and Their Victims. Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1991. Print.
Lorena Hickok was an American journalist who had a very close relationship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1933, Hickok went on a two-month tour of the American South, where she was horrified by the poverty, lack of nutrition, and lack of education that she encountered.
Victimology is the scientific study of the physical, emotional, and financial harm people suffer from illegal activities. A common struggle Victimologists face is determining who the victim is. In general, crimes don 't have an “ideal victim”. The term ideal victims refer to someone who receives the most sympathy from society (Christie, 2016). An example of this would be a hardworking, honest man who on his way to work, had his wallet taken by force. Most people in society would have sympathy for him. He spent his life making an honest living to earn what he has and was a victim of a robbery. Victimologists study the interactions victims have with criminals, society, and the criminal justice system (Karmen, 2015). According to (Karmen, 2015)
The matter of serial murderers for many, many years have been dealt with by law enforcement officials. (Hickey, 2005, 6). However, the evolutionary concept of serial homicide is difficult to reconstruct with any degree of specification. The study of serial homicide, in particular of their victims is not fully elaborated in academic work. Although no one can agree with one single identifiable cause or factor that leads to the development of serial murderers, a partial answer can lie in the development of the individual from birth to adulthood, as there are a multitude of factors contributing to their development. As such, knowing the how, the why of serial murderers’ victim selection
Some of the perpetrators are the caregivers to spouses who are chronically ill. Another involves marriage, lovers who have lived together for many years. The main question, which remains unanswered is “why can some wake up one morning and decide to take away another person’s life”. According to Chermack & Taylor (1995), most of the perpetrators are usually mentally ill and challenged with extreme psychological problems. They may be suffering from strong stress and depressive disorder that affects their perception and feelings towards life. Although these people face blame for their undesirable actions, it is beneficial to make an effort to understand their problem (Kaukinen, 2002). Solving their alarming problem would significantly reduce the crime rates in the society and encourage the realization of a better environment.
Because of the use of numerous readings we were able to discuss and have a meaningful understanding of interpersonal violence including intimate partner violence, stranger violence and child abuse. This paper showed the differences in male/female offenders and victims and showed different crimes. These studies proved that things change throughout the years; such as who the offender and victim are, what makes them offenders of victims and the places and crimes committed.
Due to a strong cultural bias, society often disinvolves or denies the very existence of a female serial killer. Whereas the male serial killer has been regularly lionized by his outrageous exploits, the female serial killer is typically ignored, viewed as an anomaly (Kelleher p.xi)
Conflict criminology strives to locate the root cause of crime and tries to analyze how status and class inequality influences the justice system. The study of crime causation by radical criminologist increased between 1980s and 1990s as this led to the emergence of many radical theories such as Marxist criminology, feminist criminology, structural criminology, critical criminology, left realist criminology and peacemaking criminology (Rigakos, 1999). In spite of critical criminology encompassing many broad theories, some common themes are shared by radical research. The basic themes show how macro-level economic structures and crime are related, effects of power differentials, and political aspects in defining criminal acts.
They argue that the typical serial murderer travels around, usually state to state, searching for victims to rape, torture, and murder. Very few murders are driven by delusions and are not medically or legally sick. Serial murderers are usually psychopaths who lack internal control and has an excessive need to control and dominate others. Serial murderers know right from wrong but simply do not care. Their target usually involved innocent strangers who have certain physical features or may just be accessible. The authors study the motivation of mass murders and note difficulties police officers encounter in capturing them. (Levin & Fox,
85 year old Anna Bracket living alone in a condominium complex opened her door letting into her home to girls ages 14 & 15 who stabbed her 28 times because they wanted to steal her car. The reason I used a little bit of this article is because usually our first thought is “why” a kid would commits such a horrific act and “what” drove them to do it.