Crime as a Part of Mankind - Case Study Example

Case Study Name of Student: Name of Course: Name of Instructor: Date of Submission: Case Study Abstract Crime has always been part of mankind. A criminal activity is regarded to as an act which goes contrary to the values and beliefs which are currently upheld by a society. The inherent cause of crime has always been a cause of much fuss among the scholars and criminology experts. As a result of this, there are various theories which have been developed to try and explain the cause of crime. The theories are manly divided into two psychological and sociology theories. The following essay will give a deep insight into psychological theories via the analysis of a case study on Susan Smith; whose case elicited a lot of attention in the early and mid-1990s (Friedman, Horwitz & Resnick, 2005). The introduction will introduce the case study and also state the thesis statement. After this, the offence committed by Susan Smith will be defined in the second section. The third section will analyze the history of the offender with respect to the psychological theories. The theories that will be analyzed include the behavioral, personal theorists, cognitive and biological theories. The conclusion will give a summary of the main details that are discussed in this paper. Introduction Crime has always been part of the society. It is regarded a tendency to engage in activities which go contrary to the values upheld in a society. For this reason, crime has been a major social concern around the world (Tehrani, 2007) As a result of this, several countries and national authorities have come up with legislations which enforce law and order in addition to institutions which are meant to punish offenders. However, the main dilemma in crime has been to identify why crime occurs. As a result of this, there scholars and criminology professionals have come up with several theories in a bid to identify why crime occurs. One class of such theories is psychological crime theories (Ministry of Justice, 2009). The proponents of these theories stipulate that criminal indulge in crime unconsciously. For these reason; this class of theories puts forward several theories which are believed to influence the psychology of a criminal. The following paper presents a case study on Susan Smith, an American who was convicted of having murdered her two children and sentenced to a life imprisonment term. The case study will make analyze Susan’s case with respect to several psychological crime theories. Definition of the Offence Susan Leign Vaughan Smith was convicted of having murdered her two sons, Alex and Michael. Before the case had been investigated by the police, Susan has earlier claimed that she had been carjacked by a black man who had driven off with her car together with her children. She had filed a report with the police and what followed this was nationwide appeal for anyone who had seen the children or was with the children to return to the parents. In fact, the parents; Susan Smith and Mrs. Smith had made pubic pleas on national television for the safe return of their children (Quigley, 2012). However, the constant reports that Susan made with the police varied from each other by a great extent. In addition to this, the polygraph test was inconclusive. These two factors made the police suspicions about the story given to them by Sarah. Nine days later after Susan had filed a case with the police, she confessed of having killed her children. She had tide the boys on the car seats and let the car into a lake; thereby drowning the children to death. Susan was convicted of a double murder and sentenced to a life imprisonment. Susan then came to be regarded as America’s most hated mother. Apart from murdering her children, Susan Smith had sparked off racism in the region by claiming that she had been hijacked by a black man (Turnipseed, 2000). Her story seemed to go n line with the common stereotype that black people were criminals. These created problems in the society. History of the Offender Looking at the history of Susan Smith, there is a tendency to brand her as a victim of circumstances. Susan lived a miserable childhood and was also leading through tough times in her life at the time of the offence. All in all, she murdered her two sons; hence attaining the status of a murderer (Montaldo, 2012). The following section will give an account of her life after which it will analyze the crime with respect to psychological crime theories. Susan Smith was born on 26th September 1971 in Union, South Carolina. Susan was not brought up in an ideal family. Her parents broke up when she was 7 year old. Shortly after the divorce, her father committed suicide. After several weeks affair the divorce, her mother remarried and they resettled to the stepfather’s home. During Susan’s trials, it was identified that her stepfather had molested her sexually constantly (Montaldo, 2012). It was even revealed that the two had become intimate with each other on a contextual basis after Susan had turned eighteen years. Even though Susan reported the incident in her younger years, no step was taken to punish her step in law; hence, the sexual molestation continued. While still in high school, Susan was involved in sexual affairs with three men, two of whom were married. She got pregnant and had a successful abortion (Montaldo, 2012). The two married men left her and this was the reason behind her attempted suicide in 1988. Over the course of the treatment, Susan admitted to have tried committing suicide at the age of thirteen. In 1991, Susan got married to Mr. David Smith who was her coworker. They moved into David’s great grandparent house (Montaldo, 2012). Over the time of her marriage with Smith, Smith’s father attempted suicide that was as a result of unmanaged grief after the loss of his son. Smith’s mother left his father for another city. The couple was blessed with their first child, the late Michael in 1991 and by March 1992, they were already separated due to several marital problems. The two reunited after Susan got pregnant with their second born Alex but separated three weeks after his birth. Susan started dating rich men and came across Tom Findlay, a son of Conso’s owner who was a senor bachelor. Susan killed her sons so as to get her in a better state of advancing her relationship with Tom (Montaldo, 2012). Behavioral Criminology Theories Behavioral theory of crime theory that stipulates that a person is not born a criminal but learns to become one through experiences of life (Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2010). This theory stresses that the environment on which an individual is brought up has a substantial effect on his or he behaviors. If one is brought up in an environment which is characterized by criminal activities, he or she tends to acquire the same characteristics. The main causes of behavioral modeling, which is the setting of behaviors from the environment, are the family, the society/ experiences and the media. Under behavioral conditioning, there are three basic learning processes. The first process is classical conditioning. Under this learning process, an individual’s behavior rises from reaction to a specific stimulus (Holland, 2008). Under this process, an individual is due to react to a specific stimulus in a specific way. Linking this process to the Susan Smith’s case, it can be acknowledged that she had developed a tendency of responding to stresses of life with criminal activities. Firstly, she was sexually molested as a child by her stepfather. After reporting this crime, she was subjected to criticism by her family and her stepfather continued his activities after he was reprimanded only to continue with his acts. On this aspect, it can be seen that she was used to injustices. Secondly, her stepfather was not punished for his acts. This is an act of impunity that fuels criminal behavior. Lastly, she had tried committing suicide several times from a tender age of 13 years up to her time in prison. In addition to this, she had seen her father and father in law commit suicide in response to solving stresses of life. This conditioned her to react to life’s stresses by attempts to commit suicide. The second learning process is operant conditioning. On this learning process, an individual is motivated to engage in a criminal activity by an anticipation of a reward (Holland, 2008). Looking as Susan’s case, it can be acknowledged that she was yearning for love and was prepared to do anything to go for it. She was deprived off childhood love owning to the passing on of her father and an unstable marriage. For this reason, she was ready to do anything to achieve love and wealth from Tom; even to the extent of murdering her children. The last learning process is social learning. On this learning process, an individual’s behaviors are shaped by the society. Just as it is the case with the two learning processes discussed above, the society in which Susan lived in her younger years did not care so much about her, leave alone life. For this reason, she constantly saw it fit to end life when she was needed to. Cognitive Criminology Theories Cognitive criminology theory is concerned with the actual processing of information in the brain of an individual (Fitch, Normore & Werner, 2011). Ideally, crime is associated with faulty processing; hence leading to the making of bad decisions. Linking this to Susan Smith’s case, it can be acknowledged that the information processing ability of the offender was faulty. Her motive was to get rid of the children so as to be able to place her at the best position of getting love affair. She could have opted for several alternatives to do this, for instance handing over the children’s custody to Smith or a relative or even giving them up for adoption. However, she chose to murder them; a sign of a fatuity cognitive ability. In her defense, Susan claimed that she was not in her right state of mind, a factor which made the jury order a mental examination on her (McLellan, 2006) (Egan, 2010). The tendency to make decisions which lead to criminal activities can be explained from the development of morals principle which in turn affect the cognitive ability of an individual. The principle stipulates that there are three levels of moral development. The first level is the preconvention morality level (Peterson, 1987). In this stage, an individual avoids punishment hence bases his or her judgments on the need to avoiding getting punished. At this stage, an individual is also concerned with him or herself and also others (Peterson, 1987). The second level is the conventional morality where an individual desires to get decision approval from others in addition to having concern for law and order. The last level is the post conventional morality level where an individual is concerned about the larger community and also has ethical principles and personal conscience (Peterson, 1987).. This is the normal morals development cycle which in turn has a substantial effect on the decision making of an individual. Looking at the vase at hand, it can be appreciated that the life which Susan lived in her younger years was not independent of vices hence her moral development was not normal; hence the tendency to make wrong decisions which often led to crime. Biological Criminology Theories Biological criminology theories purport that the tendency to engage in criminal activities is genetically. On this point, the proponents of this theory state that crime genes, just like some behaviors are genetically transmitted from one generation to another (Ells, 2005). Other properties which may make crime biological is instances of biochemical imbalances. Such imbalances may be as a result of dieting, intake of vitamins and intake of vitamins. Impairments of the brains and neurological defects acquired by a child may also contribute to criminal behaviors (Ells, 2005). Linking this theory with Susan’s case, it can be acknowledged that she was brought up in a family which had low regard for life. Her biological father committed suicide and her mother did not protect her from her father in law. This is an illustration that there was something which was genetically wrong with her parents, a fact which contributed to her tendency to make wrong decisions which led to crime. Personality Criminology Theories The personality criminology theory is focused on the personal traits of an individual. This theory is focused on the personal traits of an individual. It is closely related to theory. The theory seeks to link tendency to engage with crime with the personal traits of an individual (Fitch, Normore & Werner, 2011). The theory purports that there are various personal traits of individual which can be linked directly with a high chance of engaging in crime. Linking it with Susan’s case, it can be acknowledged that she had low value for life; if the suicide attempts and abortion case is anything to go by. Therefore, her chances of engaging in crimes which would lead to end of life were high. The case study above has identified that crime is a result of psychological processes which occur n an individual. Other theories suggest that crime is as a result of trait modeling from the society. Whichever the case, no theory can be able to explain the cause of crime without the other. Therefore, it must be acknowledged that crime is both a social and psychological thing; hence the need to evaluate both perspectives when dealing with it. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be acknowledged from this case study that psychological factors have a great influence on crime. The case study was on Susan Smith, a mother who murdered her two sons by strapping them in her car and letting the car slip into the water, hence drowning them to death. The paper started by introducing the case study in focus. The paper then defined and explained the offence after which the history of the offender was given. The case study was able to analyze the case from the perspective of four psychological theories. The first theory is the behavioral theory whereby it has been seen that an individual engages in crime due to development of specific behaviors which are as a result of the environment. The second theory which has been analyzed is the cognitive theory which stipulates that the tendency to engage in crime is a result of ill processing of information in the mind of the offender. The third theory is the biological theory which stipulates that specific biological factors such as genetical makeup influence the behaviors of an individual. On this, the theory states that such characteristics as crime can be passed down from one generation to the other genetically. The last theory which has been used to analyze Susan’s case is the personal traits theory. This theory specifies that the personal traits of an individual have a great influence on his or her tendency to engage in criminal activities. From this case study, it can be acknowledged that the root cause of crime is something which is prone to a lot of discussions. Therefore, the only way to go about the issues is by coming up with possibilities that are commonly referred to as theories. The psychological theories are such theories and the paper has showed that they are effective in identifying the cause of crime. References Blanco, J., (2012). Susan Smith, Murderpedia, Retrieved on 5th October 2013 from < http://murderpedia.org/female.S/s/smith-susan.htm > Fitch, B., Normore, A., & Werner, D., (2011), Chapter 9 Theories of Criminal Justice: The Influence of Value Attributions on Correctional Education, in Anthony H. Normore, Brian D. Fitch (ed.) Leadership in Education, Corrections and Law Enforcement: A Commitment to Ethics, Equity and Excellence (Advances in Educational Administration, Volume 12), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.161-184 Dechant, A., (2009). The Psychology of Criminal Behaviour: Theories from Past to Present, Coastline Journal [Online] Retrieved on 5th October 2013 from < http://coastlinejournal.org/2009/04/13/the-psychology-of-criminal-behaviour-theories-from-past-to-present/> Egan, N., (2010). The Susan Smith Murders 15 years Later ‘It Haunts Me Every Day’, People, Retrieved on 5th October 2013 from < http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20358219,00.html > Ells, L., (2005). A Theory Explaining Biological Correlates of Criminality, European Journal of Criminology, 2 (3);287-315 Friedman, S., Horwitz, S., & Resnick, P.,(2005). Child Murder by Mothers: A Critical Analysis of the Current State of Knowledge and a Research Agenda, The American Journal of Psychiatry, 162 (9); 1578- 1587 Holland, P., (2008). Cognitive versus Stimulus Response Theories of Learning, Learning Behaviour, 36(3); 227-241 Ministry of Justice, (2009). Theories of the Cause of Crime, Strategic Policy Belief. [Online] Retrieved on 5th October 2013 from < http://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector/drivers-of-crime/documents/spb-theories-on-the-causes-of-crime > McLellan, F., (2006). Mental health and justice: the case of Andrea Yates, The Lancet, 368 (1951); 10951- 1954 Montaldo, C., (2012). Susan Smith- Profile of a Child Killer, Retrieved on 5th October 2013 from < http://crime.about.com/od/murder/a/susan_smith.htm > Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, (2010). Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews Volume 5, Chapter 2: Retrieved on 5th October 2013 from < http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volume5/chapter02_psychological_theories.aspx> Pergament, R., (2011). Susan Smith: Child Murderer of Victim? Retrieved on 5th October 2013 from < http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/smith/index_1.html > Peterson, S., (1987). Moral Development and Critiques of Anarchism, The Journal of Libetarian Studies, VII(2); 237- 245 Tehrani, R., (2007). The Costs of Crime: Unemployment and Poverty, International Journal of Social Economics, 16 (12); 34-44 Turnipseed, T., (2000). Continuing Saga of Sex, Murder & Racism: Susan Smith is Still Scheming in Prison, Common Dreams, Retrieved on 5th October 2013 from < http://www.commondreams.org/views/091400-101.htm > Quigley,R., (2012). Toddler-killing mother Susan Smith 'tries to kill herself in prison, has a lesbian lover... and has a wealthy male suitor waiting for her on the outside', Daily Mail Online < http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202906/Baby-killing-mom-Susan-Smith-tried-kill-prison--big-lesbian-lover-wealthy-male-suitor-waiting-outside.html> Read More