Masculinity and Gun Violence - Article Example

Name: College: Course: Tutor: Date: Masculinity and gun violence Gun crimes among males reveal a possible link between masculinity and gun violence. Male offenders engage in gun crimes as a means of validating their masculinity. Males may engage in gun violence due to the frustration of failing to achieve some financial success. Male criminal behavior may be attributable to unfavorable conditions within a society such as unemployment, deteriorating infrastructure, school dropout rates and single parent households. Males who commit gun crimes against women do so as a way of enhancing their domination over women. Introduction Incidences such as the Sandy Hook shooting are on the rise and may continue to be because of the availability of guns in a culture that facilitates their tragic use. More significant is that males are often the ones perpetrating gun crimes. Society has socialized them to define their male identity through violence. Their upbringing has taught them to expect privilege and power. Such expectations have sometimes failed to become a reality, leading to feelings of frustration and anger that explode into shooting tragedies. In some instances, as in the case of the Sandy Hook incident, young white males are mentally ill or unstable. This aggravates the risk of a gun crime taking place. Evidently, gun control and mental health treatments are potential approaches of addressing gun violence among males. However, it is also clear that these solutions have not been entirely effective because gun violence is still prevalent. Obviously, there is a need to explore other perspectives. A close examination of the gun crimes among males reveals a possible link between masculinity and gun violence. American masculinity appears to define itself through violence of which guns are a significant part, given that most of the mass killings involve guns. This report will explore this connection with the aim of understanding the potential contribution of gender to rising cases of gun violence. Case study discussion On 14 December 2012, there was a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. This incident is but one of the recent cases of gun crimes involving young, white males. Adam Lanza, a 20-year-old male, was responsible for the murder of six teachers and twenty students. He also shot his mother before proceeding to the institution to shoot his other victims. Lanza used his one of his mother’s guns, an assault rifle to commit the crime. He also shot himself using a handgun before police officers could apprehend him. Investigators believed that Lanza had an obsession for mass killings, which is the reason he executed the murders at Sandy Hook. They also argue that Lanza perceived children as easy to kill. According to Hutch, “Investigators have now revealed that Adam Lanza was obsessed with killing as many people as possible, which is why he staged the shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school — he saw kids as an easy target.” ( hollywoodlife.com). He was a mentally unstable adolescent with an obsession for violence that he had learnt from watching video games. Discussion of three criminological theories that address the issue Masculinities theory Masculinity refers to traits and behaviors that society expects from the male gender. According to Hamber, “Masculinity is defined as the widespread social norms and expectations of what it means to be a man, or the multiple ways of ‘doing male.” (8). Masculinities theory attempts to explain criminal behavior among males by linking gender (masculinity) with crime. One view is that socialization makes boys to internalize masculinity during adolescence (Kraenert 1). Social upbringing teaches boys to be tough and rough, predisposing them to delinquent behavior. Consequently, boys tend to engage in delinquent conduct more than girls do. The differential opportunity model of Cloward and Ohin attempts to explain masculinity’s contribution to male criminal behavior. According to Hood-Williams, “The theory suggests that young gang members acquire lawful and unlawful behaviors by observing the older members. Young males develop masculine attributes such as dominance and toughness that are essential to asserting their masculinity” (43). Thus, men who exhibit masculine gender attributes are likely to be violent than males without such propensities (Thompson 272). A different view suggests that males who lack power from sources such as family background, political or social connections, income, material goods or educational achievement tend to exhibit compulsive masculinity that translates into violent behavior (Toby 20). Criminal behavior can also serve as an admissible outlet for realizing masculinity. According to Krienert, “For example, if a person does not have a steady, reliable job, a stable family life, or other traditional indicators of successful masculinity, violent behavior may be considered an acceptable way to convey the “toughness” that is linked with masculine traits.”(1). Krienert adds that, according to Messerschmidt hypothesis of masculinity, other forms of accomplishing masculinity include marriage, success in academic work, as well as, occupational achievement. Working full-time in paid employment is a desirable way of realizing masculinity because it allows a man to have a stable job, bring home a regular income and fulfill his masculine role of a provider. The implication is that, when there is stifling or absence of outlets of masculinity violent behavior is likely to occur. Thus, if a man lacks a job or performs poorly at it, he is unable to fulfill the provider role for his family. Consequently, he has to seek alternative ways of validating his masculinity. One of the alternatives that most men will adopt is criminal behavior. Marxist Feminist theory From a Marxist perspective, feminist theory posits that men subordinate women. They also hinder women from engaging in public affairs. Proponents of this view, Herman and Julia Schwendinger, attribute the domination of women by men to the unequal economic structure of society. They argue that this inequality determines social relations, including gender relations. They suggest that gendered labor division is due to stratification of labor into social classes. This means that women suffer domination twofold, by capital and men. According to Daly and Chesney-Lind, “Marxist and socialist feminist believe that men’s nature cannot be described in universalistic or biologically-based terms but is a product of history and culture, and is related to other systems of domination such as classism, racism and imperialism.” (521). In explaining crime, Marxist feminists suggest that violence against women is high in capitalist societies because they encourage unequal relations between women and men. Consequently, these unequal relations foster violence. Class theories Several class theories attempt to explain criminal behavior. The social disorganization model suggests that crime is the outcome of unfavorable conditions within a society. These include unemployment, deteriorating infrastructure, school dropout rates and single parent households. According to Kingston, Huizinga and Elliott, “Social disorganization theory indicates how structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods, characterized by high levels of poverty, single-parent households, racial and ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility are likely to have higher rates of juvenile delinquency” (53). Strain theory posits that people engage in crime out of the frustration they feel at being unable to access financial success. According to Agnew, “The classic strain theories of Merton, Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin argue that the cultural system encourages everyone to pursue the ideal goals of monetary success and/or middle-class status. Lower-class individuals, however, are often prevented from achieving such goals.” (51). While few people under financial strain may engage in crime, the frustration that results from such pressure may increase the likelihood of participation in criminal behavior. The cultural deviance model explains that people who do not fit in the mainstream culture may form subcultures with their own values and norms. Some of these subcultures tolerate and encourage deviant or criminal behavior. According to Ikuomola, “Young and other writers working within the area of cultural criminology maintain that the values and seductions of deviance are celebrated within popular, mainstream culture; consequently acting them out may be particularly appealing to those individuals and subcultures operating at the margins of society.” (10). Subcultures result from disorganized neighborhoods that have experienced isolation from the dominant culture or groups. In cases where the dominant culture or group is one race/ethnic community, the minorities feel alienated and may form their own subcultures. Part of their subculture may involve criminal behavior. The social conflict model posits that social classes may experience conflict due to capitalism, which generates competition for scarce resources such as power and wealth. This conflict leads to crime as the disadvantaged groups strive to acquire what they think is their rightful share of resources (Thompson 273). Conclusion This paper has argued that gun crimes among young white males reveal a possible link between masculinity and gun violence. From the above discussion, it is possible to identify some contributions of gender to crime, in this case, gun violence involving young males. From the point of view of the masculinities theory, it is likely that male offenders engage in gun crimes as a means of realizing masculinity. Thus, gun violence appears as a way of validating one’s gender, in this case, male. Gun crimes involving males may also be due to their inability to access other outlets such as academic and occupational achievement. Such outlets may be unavailable due to unfavorable social conditions including unemployment, deteriorating infrastructure, school dropout rates and single parent households. For instance, male students who are unable to cope with school work may experience frustration, which they seek to release through criminal activity. In light of the strain theory, males may engage in gun violence due to the frustration of failing to achieve financial success. From the perspective of the cultural deviance model, gun crimes among male offenders may also be attributable to a subculture that permits deviant behavior. In light of the social conflict model, white males may use gun violence to claim their share of scarce resources such as power and wealth. From a Marxist feminist perspective, modes of production are exploitative, leading to the creation of class societies. This has contributed to the increase in gender inequality and violence against women. The implication is that males who commit gun crimes against women do so as a way of enhancing their domination over women. Understanding the various contributions of gender to rising cases of gun violence may help in developing appropriate solutions for this problem. Works Cited Agnew, Robert. Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency, Criminology, 30.1(1992):47-87. Web. 11 April 2013. http://courses.missouristate.edu/karlkunkel/soc540/agnew.pdf Daly, Kathleen and Meda Chesney-Lind. Feminism and Criminology, Justice Quarterly, 5.4(1988), 497-538. Web. 11 April 2013. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/rjqy/1988/.../art00004 Hamber, Brandon. Masculinity and Transitional Justice: An Exploratory Essay, South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, 3.1(2010): 375-390. Web. 11 April 2013 http://eprints.ulster.ac.uk/13060/1/Masculinity_and_Transitional_Justice_Peace_Prints.pdf Hood-Williams, John. Gender, masculinities and crime: From structures to psyches, Theoretical Criminology, 5.1(2001): 37-60. Print. Hutch, Eleanore. “Sandy Hook Killer: Saw School Children As Easiest To Kill”. hollywoodlife.com. March 18, 2013. HollywoodLife. Web. 11 April 2013 http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/03/18/adam-lanza-motive-sandy-hook-elementary-school-glory-killer-video-gamer/ Ikuomola, Adediran Daniel. Poverty, Road Culture and Deviance among Areaboys in Lagos Central Neighbourhood, International Journal of Prevention and Treatment, 1.1(2012): 1-10. Web. 11 April 2013 http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.ijpt.20120101.01.html Kingston, Beverly, David Huizinga and Delbert S. Elliott. A Test of Social Disorganization Theory in High-Risk Urban Neighborhoods, Youth Society, 41.1(2009): 53-79. Web. 11 April 2013 http://www.uk.sagepub.com/tibbetts/study/articles/SectionVI/Kingston.pdf Thompson, Edward. 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