Scenario: James T. Johnson is a 24-year-old construction worker who lives at home with his mother. During the week, he goes to work on time, does his work, and comes home. Occasionally, he will go out with a group of coworkers on a Friday evening. He has one other secret. He burglarizes homes and garages in the neighboring communities, selling what he steals via the internet or at pawn shops two counties over.
This past weekend, he was arrested during a burglary when he entered a home where the home owner was present. His mother had to mortgage her home to bail him out of jail. While driving him home, she started to berate him, stating that he has ended up “just like his father, a criminal” and that she will probably end up dying early due to the stress of having a criminal son.
James was angry and blurted out that it was her fault, that this was the only life he knew because his father never taught him anything worthwhile. He said that his mother and father fought all the time, and the main subject of their fights was his constant drinking.
What James did not know was that his father came from a physically and emotionally abusive family. Though he constantly drank and fought with James’ mother, he tried not to direct this abuse at James. The result of his attempts to shield James was to ignore James almost entirely. His attempt not to abuse James led to his neglect of James. While James was a pre-teen and teen, his parents rarely knew what James was doing or who he was with. As such, James learned how to “fly below the radar” and avoid getting in trouble, while getting away with many antics that could have had him labeled as a juvenile delinquent.
Be sure to reference all sources using APA style.
CJUS343
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1302B
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03
P5IP
P5IP
2
CJUS343-1302B-
03 P5IP
Colorado Technical University
Instructor: Professor Smith
Connie Hutson
20 June 2013
CJUS343-1302B-03 P5IP
Colorado Technical University
Instructor: Professor Smith
Connie Hutson
20 June 2013
Crime is a social issue that affects the community. This is a critical reason why many psychologists and sociologists have presented many perspectives or theories to address the issue. Scientists, to explain the most deviant characteristics among criminals, have presented several theories. Both biological theories and social theories try to explain the cause of criminal traits in an individual. Several theories have alleged that childhood traumatic experiences and post childhood traumatic experiences cause some people to react abnormally to certain actions in life. This is evident in the case of James, who was exposed to a distressing livelihood when he was growing up. This attributed to the violent life that his father exposed his mother to, while he had to witness it, repeatedly.
The outstanding psychological theory that explains the behavior depicted by James is the psychological theory of deviance. The theory explains criminal behaviors based on the following concepts: code of conduct, traumatic experiences and the social environment that affect an individual. The first concept is code of conduct. The theory alleges that individuals are more susceptible to crime, because of the code of conduct that the people are exposed to when growing up. James had a parent who was exceptionally violent, resulting to his criminal traits. The second concept is traumatic experiences. Traumatic experiences play a vital role in shaping an individual to become violent and adapt to criminal behaviors. This is unmistakable because of the abnormal reaction to challenges in life. Lastly, the social environment plays a crucial role in shaping an individual to be a criminal (Herman, 1995). This is evident from the labeling that the society plays on people who are associated with crime. The society has to ensure that it accommodates the reformed criminals, instead of labeling them. A good case is James’s mother making him believe his father was extremely violent by labeling his father as a violent person.
The exceptional sociological theory that explains the behavior depicted by James is the control theory. The theory affirms that several bonds play a significant role in modeling the life of a child to crime. When these bonds are weak or broken, the child is vulnerable to engaging in criminal activities. The theory is structured on the following notions: attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. First, attachment is the bond that exists between parents and a child. A failure of one parent to be attached to the child lets the child deviate in his or her moral character. Second, commitment by parents in terms of providing fundamental wants to the child ensures that he or she does not engage in ill behaviors. Involvement is another concept in the theory that makes certain that a child does not deviate from the normal standards of the society. Belief is the last concept, which complements the other notions in making certain that an individual grows up to be a normal person. A family with no belief subjects a child to adapt to any belief, which may be contrary to the norms of human society (Leigh, 2004).
According to both theories, James’ father plays a significant role in making James to be susceptible to criminal traits. First, he exposes James to a traumatic childhood as a violent father, who beats up his mother. James’ father depicts a behavior that is contrary to behaviors depicted in normal families. It is also evident that James’ father has no attachment to his son. This is evident when he decides to pull away from his son, James in order to protect him from his own violent traits. Fundamentally, the result is silence on all issues affecting James. It is essentially crucial that all parents have an attachment to their children, to ensure that they nurture and guide the children according to well-established societal norms.
Finally, it is also noticeable that James’ father had no commitment or involvement with his son. Commitment and attachment play a pivotal role of nurturing trust and a parental bond between a child and a parent. The trust and bond created between a parent and child guarantees that the child is able to speak out about all the challenges and problems that he or she faces. This is contrary to the case of James. He completely does not have any attachment to his father, as the father is not committed to his child. The lack of attachment and commitment by James’ father deviated James to engage in activities that are converse to the conventional norm in our society.
Both of the two theories can have a negative impact in the future life of generations. Based on the psychological theory of deviance, it is apparent that when a generation is brought up in a life that is traumatic and surrounded by a society, which is ready to criticize the ills committed by that generation, they will grow to be criminals. The case is even worse, especially if the generation is a low class generation. Low class generations are characterized with living in dilapidated conditions, high number of school dropouts, living in urban areas that are heavily congested, and the presence of many youth gangs. These conditions play a role in making certain that the youths embrace crime as a social mean to make a living (Herman, 1995).
On the second sociological theory of control, it is obvious that a generation that is brought up without being attached to parents, parents not getting committed or involved in their development and growing process the generation, will grow up to be a generation full of individuals with criminal traits. This is attributed to the lack of parental guidance on the vital social norms that ensure people grow up to become responsible and law abiding citizens. In addition, parents have to make certain that they provide an excellent environment for their children. The environment has to be free from abusive relationships and violence. Commitment of the parents is needed to provide for the essential needs of all their children (Leigh, 2004). James’ life turns out to be characterized with criminal traits, all because of the failure of his parents to take care of their responsibilities in guiding and addressing the needs of James.
References
Herman, N. J. (1995). Deviance: a symbolic interactionist approach. New York: General Hall.
Retrieved
20 June 2013
from
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38386375/Explaining-Social-
Deviance
Leigh, J. R. (2004). Control theory. London: Institution of Electrical Engineers. Retrieved 20
June 2013 from
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL3264652M/Essentials_of_nonlinear_
control theory
CJUS343
–
1302B
–
03 P5IP
CJUS343
–
1302B
–
03 P5IP
Colorado Technical University
Instructor: Professor Smith
Connie Hutson
20 June 2013
CJUS343-1302B-03 P5IP
CJUS343-1302B-03 P5IP
Colorado Technical University
Instructor: Professor Smith
Connie Hutson
20 June 2013
