Aaron Hernandez: Documentary Analysis

If Aaron Hernandez’s case was tried in the inquisitorial system, the process of acquiring information for the dossier, which is the backbone for the case, would have “everything to do with the investigation [and it is] recorded there and it is the basis for any committal, trial, appeal”. This would avoid circumstantial evidence, which is not always accurate. Also this would have allowed for a fair and just trial to occur. However, the case was under tried under the adversarial system, where it was seen that the case was less organized from the beginning. This was due to the fact the prosecutors used text messages to infer what happened after Odin Lloyd was picked up.

The history and details surrounding the crimes committed by Aaron Hernandez will also be discussed. Keywords: charges, testimony, crimes, jurors, research Aaron

There are several psychological theories that have been applied to criminal activity. These theories are believed to impact moral growth and personality ailments in relation to crime. White-collar crimes and strain theory which is a social structure theory as well as hackers and learning theories which is a social process theory are discussed. Social structure theory states that poor individuals are the ones that commit crimes over middle and rich individuals. Criminals who do not have an equal opportunity are strained and will more likely to be involved in crime states the strain theory.

He killed two people in Atlanta as self-defense. Ray came out and told everyone that he killed the two people even though he pleaded guilty of all of his charges so the NFL fined him $250,000 for the murder (“Baltimore’s Ray Lewis tackles murder charges and climbs back to the top a year later”). Ray took time out of the Super Bowl celebration to pray for the people that he killed he said, “The man upstairs, he does not put you through the tragedy without bringing the crown, if you are chasing his heart” (“Ray Lewis Shines as Baltimore Ravens Claim 34-7 Victory Over the New York Giants Super Bowl XXXV”). That was a lot of money to be fined as a football player in the late 1900s. People thought he would never be as good again (“Baltimore’s Ray Lewis tackles murder changes and climbs back to the top a year later”).

Introduction Throughout the movie “Boyz in the Hood” I observed various criminology theories. A lot of the theories correlate with racism, high poverty, gangs, and living in a poor environment. The three adolescent black males being raised in South Central Los Angeles. Their daily lives show a vast amount of relative deprivation. They lived in a less fortunate social environment, that didn’t offer better opportunities; sadly it was a deep battle of ignorance amongst their own culture.

Aaron Hernandez was charged in a murder case on June 17th, 2013. It is said that Aaron Hernandez and three of his friends were involved in the homicide of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi professional football player from Boston, was found shot to death in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. There is background information that might link Hernandez to the death of Odin Lloyd. On July 14th, 2013, Hernandez and Lloyd went to a club in Boston, called Rumor.

There are many theories that exist for criminal perspective, all giving different explanations on why criminals choose to make the choices they do. I have decided to choose the rational choice theory and give an analysis of its major arguments. The rational choice theory rests on the assumption that people, when faced with a choice, choose the preferred course of action for them (p.43). Inside the text Crime and Human Nature by James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein, this theory is “considered weak because it states nothing more than that whatever people choose to do, they choose it because they prefer it and without further clarification it is a tautology” (p.43).

The Argument An eighteenth-century theory is examined by H. L. A. Hart where he explains his stance on the significance of the psychology of action that creates crime. The theory seeks to explain how human action solely muscular contraction is. Austin tells society the misguidance of using words such as, hitting, shooting or killing because they do not accurately depict singular actions as opposed to what they really are, which are various muscular contractions. Hart believes the mere desire to move one’s muscles has little to no impact on the intention of behavior. Hart explains there are two elements to Austin’s theory.

In June of 2013 Aaron Hernandez, formerly of the New England Patriots, was taken into custody after he had been charged with the murder of his friend Odin Lloyd. This case has been front-page news for nearly two years now and it has finally come to a conclusion. On Wednesday, April 15th, 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Three criminological theories that could explain why Hernandez committed this crime are the Rational Choice, Containment, and Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory. The first theory that could provide an explanation behind why Aaron Hernandez committed this murder is the Rational Choice Theory.

The main contribution of the theory, though, is the realization of the possible relationship between criminal behavior or inclinations towards it and flaw in the childhood’s relationships or experience that are related or not to the parents (Sammons, n.d.) The behavioral theory, on the other hand, first explained by Gabriel Tarde, is being utilized in a way that focuses on the behavior modeling and social learning (Psychological theories of crime, n.d.). A major common characteristic of criminals is that they are more likely to be insane, exhibit poor social behavior and be unintelligent. The behavioral theory defines that individuals learn from each other and eventually imitate one another. In particular, relevant to the criminology field is the social learning theory (Psychological theories of crime, n.d.)

In Verdeyen’s article it states that, “According to Walters, if we are to understand criminal behavior, we must understand the eight primary patterns of thinking that typify and enable the lifestyle criminal to operate”. The eight primary patterns that will help us to understand criminal behavior are: mollification, the cutting of feelings, sense of entitlement, the need for power over others, sentimentality, superoptimism, cognitive indolence, and discontinuity. These primary patterns relate to their belief system and behavior because a criminals belief system is there to support his actions and in doing all the things listed above it justifies, in the criminals mind, what s/he has done. 4. Antisocial behavior relates to criminality because it intertwines and coincides with each other.

Normally when you read something similar to these articles, it forces the audience to place a sense of judgment that could be influential on their intake of the content. The first and second article portrays the view of Aaron Hernandez as neutral despite the evidence against him. The author presents the information in such a logos manner that overtakes your judgment on Hernandez. For example, in the first article it states claims from the prosecutor that, “Lloyd was last seen with Hernandez and Hernandez’s two associates, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, around 2:30 a.m. in a rented silver Nissan where surveillance videos from security cameras at an industrial park showed an Altima heading toward a secluded area at 3:22a.m. ”(Candiotti, Dolan, Ferrigno and Rozsa 2014).

Two schools of thoughts that explain deviant behavior are neoclassical criminology and classical criminology. Neoclassical “focused on just deserts and rational choice”(Schmalleger),

Ben, I agree that there is obvious complexity involved in the motivating factors involved in how crimes are committed. Your supportive information involved in macrosociological and microsociological theories is well presented. I too enjoyed learning about the statistical data, or rather the big picture received from macrosociological theories (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Then on the other end of the spectrum, microsociological theory focusing on the person-to-person interpretations and what impact they may have on criminal activities also have strong beneficial ideas and data.

Criminologists have long been studying why criminals do what they do and why they commit crime. The developmental theory is one of the many theories floating around and was first brought up Sheldon and Glauak, who are considered the founders of this theory (Siegel, 2012). Criminologists Sampson and Laub later brought up the theory back in 1990 after a thirty-year hiatus, to reanalyze the data first collected by the founders of the theory to determine it’s validity. Under the developmental theory fall under three main concepts and viewpoints; life course, latent traits and trajectories, which all tie into the idea of social implications can play a role in criminal behavior.