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Psychological theories behind why criminal acts occur
General strain theory essay
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Susan Smith was sentenced to life in prison for committing the “Unthinkable Crime” of murdering her two children, Michael Daniel and Alexander Tyler. She lied to the police and later confessed to pushing her car into the John D. Lake on October 25, 1994 and drowned her two children. Smith often suffered from depressed and after a confession, Smith had told cops she was suicidal after a break up with a boyfriend. In the trial, it came out that her stepfather Beverly Russell sexually assaulted Susan Smith. Smith has the main attributes of the General Strain Theory: Depression, suicide attempts and being sexually abused.
The General Strain Theory goes into more depth, compared to other feminist theories, about three psychological strain sources. This feminist theory argues that various types of negative relations and interactions with others (strains) lead to negative emotions
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(1992). Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency.
Criminology, 30, 47-88.
American Justice : The Susan Smith Story - A Mothers Confession. (n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcVoQ7pzHaE
Higgins, G., Piquero, N., & Piquero, A. (2010). General Strain Theory, Peer Rejection, and Delinquency/Crime. Youth & Society, 43(4), 1272-1297. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
Rachel, P. (n.d.). Susan Smith: Child Murderer or Victim. Retrieved September 13, 2014, from http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/smith/bibli_11.html
Rekers, G. (1996). The Unthinkable Crime Why Did Susan Kill Her Own Babies? In Susan Smith: Victim or murderer. Lakewood, CO.: Glenbridge Pub.
Susan Smith | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2014, from http://murderpedia.org/female.S/s/smith-susan.htm
Watts, S., & McNulty, T. (2013). Childhood Abuse and Criminal Behavior: Testing a General Strain Theory Model. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 3024-3040. Retrieved September 13,
On the night of August 31st 1986, Angelique Lavallee a battered 21 year-old woman in an unstable common law relationship was charged with murder. She shot her spouse, Kevin Rust in the back of the head while he was leaving the bedroom. Angelique was in fear for her life after being taunted with the gun and was threaten to be killed. Hence, she felt that she had to kill him or be killed by him. The psychiatrist Dr. Shane, did an assessment and concluded that she was being terrorized by her partner. Dr. Shane concluded that Angelique was physically, sexually, emotionally and verbally abused. As a result, in the psychiatrist’s opinion, the killing was a final desperate act by a woman who seriously believed she would be killed that night. This in turn identify her as a
The Web. 28 Feb 2014 Christopher, Liam. “Mother ‘vindicated’ after girl’s murder suspect held.” Daily Post. 18 Aug. 2006: 19:. Proquest Newsstand.
When viewed from a strictly medical, psychological aspect, Andrea Yates medical history indicates that after the birth of her first child, she began to suffer from various forms of depression and suicide attempts. If one only examines the paper trail and doesn’t think beyond what the medical history does or does not indicate, then perhaps, Andrea would be innocent by reason of mental insanity as the 2006 acquittal suggest. However, when viewed form a legal aspect there are several inconstancies that challenge if this former nurse was insane or if she in fact premeditated the murder of her children as well as her acquittal.
Susan Leigh Vaughan Smith was born September 26, 1971 in Union, South Carolina to Linda and Harry Vaughan. She was born the third child in the Vaughan family, with two older brothers. Linda Vaughan divorced Harry when Susan turned 7, and five weeks later Harry committed suicide at 37 (Montaldo). Within weeks of Linda and Harry’s divorce, Linda got remarried to Beverly (Bev) Russell, a local successful businessman. Linda and the children moved from their home into Bev’s, a larger house located in an exclusive subdivision in Union, South Carolina. Susan grew to be a well-liked teenager, and even became president of her Junior Civitan Club and Friendliest Female in her senior year (Montaldo). Everyone liked her, and she put on a great show at school. But after the last bell rang, she had to look forward to seeing Bev at home, something she feared above anything else. Bev had taken to molesting Susan when she turned sixteen, and it was not long afterward that she sought help with the local Department of Social Services (Wiki). The Department of Social services did little to help Susan, only making Bev attend a few counseling sessions (Wiki). When he returned home, he chastised Susan heavily for “airing their dirty laundry in public” and continued with the molestation (Montaldo). I believe thi...
In a study conducted by Hickey, he discovered that out of thirty-four female serial killers, almost one in two had a male accomplice committing murders with them (Holmes et al., 1991). He also revealed that 97% were white and the average age the women started committing murders was thirty-three (Holmes et al., 1991). Women serial killers differ from men in that most women kill for material gain, such as money or insurance benefits, and they usually commit murder with pills or poison. Stephen Holmes, Ronald Holmes, and Eric Hickey developed a typology for female serial killers similar to the one developed by Holmes and Holmes, discussed earlier. They begin with visionary serial killers, who are compelled by some force, such as God, or spirits, to commit murders. The second type is the comfort killer, who usually kills acquaintances and does so for a material gain, money or real estate (Holmes et al., 1991). The third category is hedonistic female serial killers, which is similar to the earlier typology in that the offender connects murder with sexual gratification. This is the least represented category for female offenders, but evidence for this type of killer can be seen in the case of Carol Bundy (Holmes et al., 1991). Bundy allegedly helped her husband kidnap, murder, and decapitate the
Rachel Fryer, 33, was arrested on February 11, 2014 when she admitted to burying her 2 year old daughter, Tariji, in Putnam County. Fryer claims that the child was deceased when she placed her body into a suitcase and had a friend drive her to Putnam County to bury her. Was Tariji’s death an accident or murder? I believe the evidence in the case will show that Rachel Fryer murdered her daughter and possibly, her son years earlier. What would cause a mother to abuse and murder her children? Rachel Fryer was a mother of seven children, with another baby on the way. The day to day stresses of life is not easy for a family of four; so it must be very difficult being a single mother of seven, with no income besides student loans and food stamps. To add to the stress one of the children had medical needs that needed to be attended to.
2011. “Serial Killers and Mass Murderers.” American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9:
Theories have often been developed to explain how delinquents violate social norms and still manage to maintain positive self images of themselves. Neutralization theory, developed by Gresham Sykes and David Matza in 1957 set out to do just this. Critics, however, have claims that the theory, on it’s own, is not a sufficient explanation for adolescent’s participation in crime in delinquency. It has also been claimed by critics that neutralization theory is best viewed as a components of larger theory of crime and can be incorporated into other theories such as social bond theory.
Mitchell, Heather, and Michael G. Aamodt. "The incidence of child abuse in serial killers." Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology 20.1 (2005): 40-47.
Wolff, Sula and Alexander McCall Smith. Children who kill: They can and should be reclaimed.
Certain aspects in life are not heard of until one truly lives through another persons traumatic experiences. The podcast called “The Ugly Duckling Murderess” by a True Historian is a positive podcast considering it shows people the horrid experiences that some people have, demonstrating what can happen to them. This podcast is about a female named Sabella Nitti that murdered her husband named Frank Nitti. Frank was found dead by his 7-year-old daughter on July 29th, 1922; his body found in the catchbase around the river near his house. Evidence was found to tie Sabella into the murder after a massive investigation of the murder. Frank and his wife had two sons and a daughter. The one son named Charlie was a part of the crime; he helped drag
This could explain the effect of strains on crime by taken this theory into account. Once strain causes bonds to weaken amongst conventional groups and institutions such as family, school, and peer networks will open up doors to delinquent behaviors, because by being in these social roles causes the person to regulate by role expectations.
The recent Andrea Yates murder trial brought a firestorm of controversy as the issue of postpartum depression (PPD) became a debated topic throughout the country. Did Andrea truly suffer from psychosis as she drowned her five children in the bathtub or was such defense a scheme to avoid the death sentence? Prosecutors suggested the spousal-revenge theory as a motive for the killings. Could she have committed murder to get back at a possessive and domineering husband? (1).
Strain theories of criminal behaviour have been amongst the most important and influential in the field of criminology. Taking a societal approach, strain theories have sought to explain deficiencies in social structure that lead individuals to commit crime (Williams and McShane 2010). Strain theories operate under the premise that there is a societal consensus of values, beliefs, and goals with legitimate methods for achieving success. When individuals are denied access to legitimate methods for achieving success, the result is anomie or social strain. This often leads an individual to resort to deviant or criminal means to obtain the level of success that they are socialized to pursue. This is the basic premise of strain theory. This paper will explore the evolution of strain theories by first examining their intellectual foundations which laid the foundation for Robert Merton’s theories of anomie and strain. Merton’s strain theory will be discussed in detail including the modes of adaptation that people use when faced with societal strain. Finally, the paper will conclude with the strengths and weaknesses of Merton’s strain theory and an examination of the criminological theories and social policies it has influenced.
As studied in developmental criminology, these theories incorporate all the causative factors leading to criminal behavior in human beings in various stages of their lives. The study mainly focuses on the reasons prompting deviant behavior, thus presenting the need to understand the principles of this criminology branch. Psychologists’ insight into human behavior dictates that both external and internal factors influence people 's actions. Therefore, the primary developmental theories can be categorized under social, biological, and psychological reasons for deviance. The main sociological theories in the study include the strain principle, social learning, and social control concepts. The biological ones include life-course and latent trait