Ray's Story: Successful Stepfather, Abusive Home, and Burglary.

In this scenario, Ray was a well-groomed, knowledgeable, and active student in school. But Ray's family was miserable because his parents were fighting all the time. Ray had a stepfather who was successful, but he always rejected Ray. The father was abusive and ever mistreated Ray's mother. Ray was later dismissed by the stepfather and witnessed his mother being assaulted for years. The boy engaged in home burglary together with the help of friends. Ray reported that he felt powerful when conducting such acts of house-breaking.

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A specific theoretical approach to the criminal behaviors displayed case 1

The Traitor Theory of Crime

This "the Process of Violentization" is a crime theory was developed by Lonnie Athens (Mark, 2011). According to Athens, when children are growing, they can be influenced by their parents or peers, which could result in criminal or violent behaviors (Mark, 2011). According to Athens, people become violent in different phases. The first step is called brutalization and in this state, individuals usually violent acts through observing others. For instance, when people see cases of assault, they can also engage in such actions. The second stage in belligerency, the criminal will reinforce a negative attitude, and one will reinforce this behavior every until he or she is emotionally attached. The third stage is violent performances in which the subject will now engage in violent acts to hurt others. At this stage, the subject begins to feel comfortable, and most of the time, the individual will resort into violence so that he/ she can feel in control of others. The last stage is the virulence phase in which the individual will use force to gain power, instill fear, and humiliate others. At this stage, the subject feels that he is in controls and definitely, the individual has created a violent self-image.

When we review Ray's case, it is evident that he becomes violent because of his upbringing and rejection by the parents. Ray has adopted violent behaviors by observing his stepfather who was a very intense man. As he grew, Ray was furious because of rejection, and that is why he chooses to engage in crime. He reinforces these harmful acts without any emotional attachments. Moreover, Ray is executing his criminal acts in a very relaxed manner. We can see how Ray has become a dangerous person and how he always feels happy by humiliating others because he has developed a violent self-image of himself. Ray has followed all the phases described by Athen in his Traitor Theory of crime. Indeed, "The Process of Violentization" Theory can help us understand why Ray chooses to engage in crime at an early age (Mark, 2011).

Determine if the crime or crimes presented would be categorized as expressive or instrumental

According to Deflem (2006), an expressive offense has no purpose, and the subject only intends to accomplish his goals. If the mission is to kill someone, the subject will only expect to do so and complete the crime after completing his task. On the other hand, instrumental crime is when people use other means to get specific good or services because they cannot do so on their own. An excellent example is when an individual chooses to commit a crime to buy a car or a beautiful house. In this case, the offense is done as a means or a stepping stone to do something else.

Ray's scenario can be categorized as an expressive crime. Ray has an intention to commit a crime only because he wants to revenge. He is not breaking houses because he wants to get a lot of money. Ray is engaging in crime because he wants to have self-esteem and get revenge against violent people. , and he was also rejected by his parents, and that is why he commits a crime to vengeance all the wrongdoings he faced during his childhood.

Developmental risk factors and correlates of criminal behavior influence criminal behavior

Indeed, Ray started to engage in crime when he was young. He used to live with his parent who later rejected him, and that is why he was frustrated. Ray lived with an abusive father who assaulted his mother and it is was very hard for him to cope with this kind of life. From this case, we can argue that parental and family risk factors influenced Ray. One of the most significant factors that influenced Ray to engage in crime is poor parenting and child mistreatment. From the case, we can see that an abusive stepfather raised Ray and this is a case of poor parenting. In addition to this, Ray was rejected by his biological father and that is why he engaged in crime because of frustrations. Ray was affected psychologically, and the personality influence was severe. The mental torture and psychological effect that Ray faced could explain why he was frustrated and choose to commit a crime. Indeed, sociology has been able to link criminal behaviors with social and personality influences, which is evident in Ray's scenario (Souare and Lloyd, 2011).

Is this person a criminal or not?

Scenario 1 talks about Ray and the case was clearly shown that the subject genuinely engaged in crime. Without doubt, Ray participated in behavior patterns that are characterized by a violation of the social norms and values. Ray acted as a criminal because he worked together with his friends to break houses and steal properties. Ray knew what he was doing, and there is no excuse for doing the wrong things he did to the victims. Sadly, Ray wanted to revenge for this poor upbringing, and that is why he would even masturbate after committing a crime. He felt that by engaging the crime, Ray felt good after committing crime because it gave him self esteem and self-confidence to deal with other challenges of life. We can conclude that Ray is a criminal who is guilty and he should face the full force of law.

Case 3. A Child Murderer

Luke appeared like any other healthy child at the age of 12 years. He, however, faced bullying at school because of his looks and the way he spoke. At the age of 12 years, Luke was a little behind in class because he had ADHD and therefore, he had challenges trying to fit with the young children. He did not have friends to associate with, and that is why he felt lonely all the time. Luke had a rough background after the death of his grandfather and molestation of his sister by his stepfather. Considering that Luke had never met his biological father, he had low self-esteem and anger while growing up. One day when Luke was walking in the woods, he smashed a boy with a stone and sodomized him with a stick. He eventually admitted that he had killed the boy while they were playing in the woods.

The Sociological Theories of crime

Our society, the social structure, and biological conditions can influence criminal behaviors (Souare and Lloyd, 2011). Life tragedies, for instance, have a lifelong effect on individuals and they can affect an individual to commit a crime. Our environment and our background have a significant impact on human behaviors and sociologists always look at these issues carefully to understand why people commit the crime. According to sociological theories of crime, no one is born with predisposing factors that make him/ her commit a crime. The social experiences and other social factors cause people to engage in crime because it is believed that criminal behavior is one way humans try to adapt to their environment. It is also thought that neurological impairment can influence illegal behavior among individuals.

The Social Disorganization Theory

This is one of the theories that can be applied in the scenario. This theory was developed by Shaw and McKay, who wanted to understand why juveniles commit crimes in society. Shaw and McKay discovered that the rate of crimes was prevalent in specific areas compared to others. According to this theory, there is a tendency to commit the crime in certain regions irrespective of the ethnic composition of the population. Therefore, McKay and Shaw developed the Social Disorganization Theory which concluded that crimes occur in certain areas or neighborhood. They argued that crime is a function of the community (Kubrin, 2009).

According to Shaw and McKay, several processes can bring about disorganization in society. The family process is one of the elements that contribute to social disorganization. The way children are raised or brought up could have a significant effect on young people. For instance, if a child is raised in a rough condition, there is likely hood of one becoming unstable. This is very evident in the case of Luke who was raised by violent parents. In addition to domestic violence, Luke witnessed his young sister being raped by the stepfather who is traumatizing. According to Shaw and McKay, social structures such as school and family have a considerable effect on the behavior of a child. We can see that Luke was bullied when he was in school, which affected his behavior, attitude, and self-esteem. According to Kubrin (2009), social disorganization can be triggered by the family process, which affects young adults the most. Poor family management practices can bring about poor health and lack of adequate development. The Social Disorganization Theory says the best way to prevent children from been criminals is providing excellent care, parental guidance, and monitoring the children to grow positive behaviors. Shaw and McKay suggest that it is equally important to raise children in a specific neighborhood to help them become ethical and responsible adults (Park, 2011).

Determine if the crime presented would be categorized as expressive or instrumental

Luke's offense can be classified as passionate. From the case study, it is clear that Luke killed the young boy for no apparent reason. When the two first met, Luke was interested in playing with his friend and showing him some of the kittens he had seen in the forest. There is no one point where Luke was harassed or insulted by the young boy. The best guess is that Luke was disturbed psychologically because of the background such as bullying and harassment as well as poor upbringing (Alves and Wilson, 2019).

Developmental risk factors and correlates of criminal behavior influence criminal behavior

Luke has a pretty healthy life until he was 12 years of age. However, he was harassed in school because of his disability and looks. Some of his friends in school overlooked him, and they did not give him the respect he deserves, which is the reason why he became aggressive. To make it worse, Luke was rejected at home. He did not grow knowing his biological father. He was raised by a stepfather who was very abusive because he raped Luke's sister, which affected the mental development of the young boy. The family process and poor school orientation are two factors that have triggered Luke to become aggressive and therefore, become a criminal.

Is this person a criminal?

Luke has indeed committed murder and the fact that the young boy admitted to having killed his friend says that he is guilty of the offense. Luke should be charged in the juvenile court for the office of killing another person. Luke is 12 years old and therefore, he is a minor, and he will be charged with the same offense as an adult. Crimes such as drugs abuse, rape, assault, murder, and robbery are, and everyone should be charged for such crimes whether old or young.

Case 4. A Ponzi Scheme

In this case, we are introduced to a businessman in New York who is very successful and choose to invest with other stakeholders. The businessman from New York talked to several investors and asked them to invest in his new business venture. However, because of the recession, investors were afraid of fraudsters and other challenges. The business was determined to be a scam, and some of the investors made losses. After years of investing, some of the stakeholders committed suicide because they had a lar...