Monster Self Control Theory Essay

Violence cannot be clearly defined due to the multiple causes of it, but violence can be understood. Everyone experiences acts of violence in their life, either as the victim or the assailant. While normally violent acts are sporadic and caused by rage there are those who are comfortable and more likely to commit violence. One example of a person like this is Kody Scott, also known as “Monster” as a gangster. Monster wrote an autobiography about his life titled, Monster, in which he grew up involved with the Crips, a gang involved in long gang wars in Los Angeles, California. There are theories that suggest as to why people develop the ability to behave violently. Such as being exposed to violence early in childhood, or just being inherently violent. Monster's life is a perfect opportunity to examine one who has been in the deepest depths of violence on both sides and analyze him through these theories. The two theories that explain Monster's propensity towards violence the best are the cycle of violence theory and the self control theory. These two theories are separate ideas that develop during the same time frame of life, thus they feed off one another to promote violence.

Monster joined his “set”, which is how the Crips are split up and named based on location, when he was eleven. Still a child, he was thrown into a world of complete madness and thoughtless violence where people were murdered for just being on a street they were not welcomed. This is how Monster fits into the cycle of violence theory. The cycle of violence theory suggests that children that are exposed to violence at a young age are more likely to be violent when they are older ( Violence: The Enduring Problem 48). This is a direct result that if a child reg...

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...me. Certainly I had little respect for life when practically all my life I had seen people assaulted, maimed, and blown away at very young ages, and no one seemed to care” (Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member 102). Monster reflects on his life after he is mortally wounded in a hospital, and in his thoughts he confirms what the two theories state. Violence was everywhere, and the people he knew were apathetic, thus he became apathetic to violence. This instance in the hospital is the first time we get a look at Monster reflecting on why he is what he is. As a victim he realizes he is desensitized to violence. At this point in his life however, he does not change his ways and continues to participate in gang activities. In Kody Scott's life situation it was less of a creation of a monster, and more of a destiny of a child doomed to be become a monster.