The similarities in the lives of this father and son are uncanny. I will look at the murders committed by both Butch and Willie. They both committed two murders. I will look at the correlation between the two men and the murders they committed. I will touch on their lives and their treatment at home. In addition, how that eventually affected them and the eventual murders they both committed. Their mother has sent them both away. They were both sent to the same juvenile detention centers at different times. This affected both men differently. The psychologists gave them the same diagnosis at different times, but no one realized this at the time. It is astonishing that there was no connection made between the two men. There was bound to be tragedy in their lives given the history in this family. Butch and Willie both committed heinous crimes, but for different reasons. I will look at why I think they killed and what sentences I believe they should have gotten for killing. When Butch was nine years old, his mother sent him away with a quarter and told him never to come back. He rode the subway for days, until he was picked up by the police and taken to court. This was in August 1950, he was sent to the Children’s Center. It would be the beginning of a lifetime of institutions for Butch. Butch had to learn at a young age to defend himself. To be the toughest kid in the institution. He had to strike first or he would get hurt. He was all he had. His mother did not want him. He learned early “that a willingness to fight was essential to survival.” (1) Butch became hard to handle at the Children’s Center. He was then sent to Wiltwyck, another institution for boys. “Wiltwick had become nationally renowned school, officiall... ... middle of paper ... ...ner, more respected person on the streets. All it did was make him an uncaring, ruthless killer in the end. The sentences that I have set forth for these two men are just. Butch was showing he could make something of himself. Willie would never be the man his father was. Works Sited 1 - Butterfield, All God’s Children, 1995, pg 92 2 - Butterfield, 1995 pg 93 3 - Butterfield, 1995 pg 87 4 - Butterfield, 1995 pg 89 5 - James Alan Fox, Jack Levin, Kenna Quinet, The Will to kill. Making Sense of Senseless Murder, 2008. pg 31 6 - Butterfield, 1995 pg 114 7 - http://www.nationalyouth.com/conductdisorder.html 8 - Butterfield, 1995 pg 149 9 - Butterfield, 1995 pg 210 10 - Butterfield, 1995 pg 211 11- Butterfield pg, 1995 211 12 - http://www.abanet.org/publiced/features/DYJfull.pdf pg 10
Throughout the American South, of many Negro’s childhood, the system of segregation determined the patterns of life. Blacks attended separate schools from whites, were barred from pools and parks where whites swam and played, from cafes and hotels where whites ate and slept. On sidewalks, they were expected to step aside for whites. It took a brave person to challenge this system, when those that did suffered a white storm of rancour. Affronting this hatred, with assistance from the Federal Government, were nine courageous school children, permitted into the 1957/8 school year at Little Rock Central High. The unofficial leader of this band of students was Ernest Green.
The Book “Fist Stick Knife Gun” by Geoffrey Canada is a biographical account of his childhood in the south Bronx. He and his 4 brothers were raised by only their mother. She would survive on no more than ten dollars a week. He moved several times as a child until finally landing on union avenue, the place were many of his life lessons were learned and at times applied. He learned about the ranking process of kids on union Ave. and how the only way to improve your status was to use your fists to fight your way up the chain. Looking back Geoffrey Canada notices the major shift in attitudes concerning the rules of the streets. What once was harmless fist fighting has now turned over to guns. His opinions can be seen in his title “Fist Stick Knife Gun”.
Kody Scott was born into the gang life weither he liked it or not. Born on 1963 in South Central Los Angeles Kody?s life would be affected by the growing number of gangs inevitably. Kody knew he had a choice to be made, be a gang member or be a pedestrian. He viewed pedestrians as spineless nerds who were always victims of someone?s ridicule or physical violence, who never responded to an affront of any type. He himself had a taste of pedestrian life in grade school were he was picked on and had his lunch money taken from him. ?Early on I saw and felt both sides of the game being played where I lived. It was during my time in elementary school that I chose to never be a victim again, if I could help it?(Shakur 100). Being in a gang gave Kody a feeling of security in a city of violence. ?I felt very different, older, more attached than any of...
As a young boy Barnes was “introverted and shy” (p. 8). He wasn’t able to fight like the other young boys his age, and quickly became a punching bag for bullies. The after school brawls became so severe that Barnes’ mother asked his principal to allow him to leave school fifteen minutes early everyday. After viewing the extent of Barnes’ bruises, the principal had no choice but to comply. On the other hand, once the other children learned that Barnes could draw they no longer laughed and made fun of him, “They just watched [him draw] in silent awe” (p. 8).
These two men, both coming from different backgrounds, joined together and carried out a terrible choice that rendered consequences far worse than they imagined. Living under abuse, Perry Smith never obtained the necessary integrity to be able to pause and consider how his actions might affect other people. He matured into a man who acts before he thinks, all due to the suffering he endured as a child. Exposed to a violent father who did not instill basic teachings of life, Smith knew nothing but anger and misconduct as a means of responding to the world. He knew no other life. Without exposure to proper behavior or responsible conduct, he turned into a monster capable of killing an entire family without a blink of remorse. In the heat of the moment, Perry Smith slaughtered the Clutter family and barely stopped to take a breath. What could drive a man to do this in such cold blood? The answer lies within his upbringing, and how his childhood experiences shaped him to become the murderer of a small family in Holcomb, Kansas. ¨The hypothesis of unconscious motivation explains why the murderers perceived innocuous and relatively unknown victims as provocative and thereby suitable targets for aggression.¨ (Capote 191). ¨But it is Dr. Statten´s contention that only the first murder matters psychologically, and that when
Two people with two completely different characteristics have something alike. Both Dally and Johnny are mentally tough because of their parents. Johnny and Dally’s parents both do not care for them and could care less about them. For example, during Dally’s childhood he went to jail, been in a gang, and has been in many fights and his dad still would not care for him even if he won the lottery. Dally also talks about his dad's disgrace towards him in the car with Johnny and Ponyboy, “‘ Shoot, my dad don’t give a hang whether I’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in a gutter...’”(88). Dally could easily live without his dad and he does for the most part. Dally just hangs around with his friends and stays at their place. Similarly, Johnny's parents use him like a rag doll to blow off steam, “his father always beating him up”(14). The gang knows what happenes in Johnny’s house. Once Ponyboy was witnessing, “Johnny take a whipping with a two-by-four from his old man”(33). Ponyboy talks about how loud and mean Johnny's mom is and,“you can...
The lives of everyone in the town of Springfield Oregon changed on May 21st of 1998. A quiet boy named Kip Kinkel became known as “The Killer at Thurston High” after killing both of his parents, murdering two classmates, and severely injuring 24 others. There are many factors in the 15 year old boy’s life that led up to the horrific events that occurred on that day. The same factors that influenced the tragedy in occurring could have very easily insured that it never happened to begin with.
When Deborah was only sixteen she became pregnant with her first child by Cheetah and boy she liked when she was younger. Cheetah and Deborah got married and then had their second child. Deborah became very unhappy in the marriage because Cheetah started drinking and doing drugs. He started abusing Deborah. Cheetah pushed Deborah so much she almost killed him if it wasn’t for Bobbette. Deborah’s brothers Sonny and Lawrence were doing well except for Joe. Joe was another case. Joe went to the military, and the family was hoping that would do him good; but he came out worse than when he went in. Joe was threatened and beaten up by a boy named Ivy. Joe was in so much rage he went and stabbed him and killed him. Joe eventually turned himself in to the law, was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced fifteen years in prison.
Nelson parents were just like any other parents but the fact that they were two busy working to sustain a life made it easily for their sons to become exposed to the crime in Chicago. At the same time the city of Chicago is to blame for not providing a safe place individuals to grow and not become exposed to the life of crime. At the same time Nelson didn’t have the opportunity to learn the values of life since his parents weren’t around as much and when he was sent to a boys home at the age of thirteen didn’t help him in learning what is right and wrong.
David Berkowitz, otherwise known as the “Son of Sam”, was notorious for his crimes committed between 1976 and 1977 that ended the lives of six innocent victims and wounded several others in New York (“David Berkowitz Biography”, n.d.). At first, police did not make a connection between the murders because there was nothing unusual about them; all the victims were shot with a 40 caliber gun, not fairly unusual during this time or place especially since the killings were over an extended period of time. Police finally made the connection when Berkowitz began to live behind notes that were meant to tantalize authorities since they had yet to catch him (“David Berkowitz| Son of Sam Killer,” 2015). Often times, the psychological structure of a human
On an October afternoon in 1954, a 12-year-old Clay attended an annual convention of the Louisville Service Club at the Columbia Auditorium with a friend. He arrived at the black merchant bazaar upon a new $60 red and white Schwinn. However, after Clay and his friend indulged themselves with free popcorn and ice cream they left the auditorium to find that their bicycles had been stolen. A tearful Clay was directed to the basement of the auditorium where a policeman was manning the boxing gym. Joe Martin listened to young Cassius boast about a statewide hunt for his precious bike and heard the threats he was making to the thief if he was ever caught. After a while, Martin asked of Clay, "Well, do you know how to fight?" Clay quipped back, "No, but I'd fight anyway." Martin's best advice to the hot-tempered preteen was to come back around the gym and learn to fight. "Why don't you learn something about fighting," Martin suggested, "before you go and make any hasty challenges?" (2)
Due to the unfair sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine, despite the fact that the two are the same drug, just in different forms, the government endorsed a law to reduce the sentencing of those who were convicted of crack related offenses. Repealing past wrong doings seemed to be a hurdle initially for lawmakers, but ultimately inmates finally received some of the justice that they deserved. The disparity in sentencing was seen by many as to be a racial war, considering the fact that blacks typically used crack, and whites used powder cocaine. Even though they are in essence the same drug, just broken down into different forms.
This term paper is on one of the most controversy discussion known as Capital Punishment. This is a topic in which the writer believes does not have a positive effect on decreasing crime in the world. For almost three years now, the writer has grown a passion for criminal behavior in some of the notoriety of a few crime cases that resulted in Capital Punishment and Wrongful Executions. One of my personal favorite crime cases in history is the Scottsboro Boys. This case represents an incident where five innocent African American men nearly faced execution after being accused and convicted of raping two white females on the back of a train back in 1931. This case is one of many reasons I am against capital punishment because it can lead to wrongful deaths of innocent men and women without justified evidences and witnesses. The writer is also
Claude Brown writes precisely of these detrimental effects as he writes an autobiography about his experience growing up in Harlem. In the book, Sonny (Claude’s kid nickname) joins a gang called the “buccaneers” when he is eleven. His friends run the streets stealing, skipping school, and rebelling against their parents. It all seems like harmless fun to Sonny until he is arrested and sent to the Wiltwyck boy’s home, a reform school.
However, there was nothing heroic of his actions, and there wasn’t any redemption in the way he took action. Was Willy a hero? No. He benefited his family with life insurance money, but there comes a cost with such, which was never talking to or doing life with Willie again. Does Willy realize he was the source of this outcome? No. Willy did not find a moment of agnarognisis, he does not take any given opportunity to provide for his family, and he lacks any sense of nobility. In his own mind, he was doing the only thing he could do, and he thought he was being noble in killing himself to provide money for his family, however these actions don’t help in the long run. Did Willy’s life benefit the world? No. This is shown in the fact that nearly nobody shows up to Willy’s funeral service. Willy now has nothing to build upon, because he is not living anymore; He cannot rebuild his relationship with family or friends, because he is not living anymore; And because he is not living anymore, he cannot figure out why his life resulted this way. Willy was a hero to himself, and a salesman to the world; yet tragic in