There are several Psychological theories that could contribute a path to delinquency. They include psychodynamic theory, the attachment theory, the moral development theory and the behavioral theory just to name a few. In researching information on Eric Smith, I believe he had several underlying issues that contributed to his violent senseless crime against a helpless little boy. I feel the lack of moral development was a huge factor that caused this youth to explode. Eric Smith was 13 years old, in 1993, when he murdered Derrick Robie, a 4-year-old little boy. Eric reportedly strangled and sodomized Derrick with a small stick. He also dropped large rocks on Derrick 's head. Eric was reported to have been bullied for his looks and had been …show more content…
Even the prosecuting attorney for his case stated, “I don’t doubt for a second, never have doubted, that had he not been caught, Eric Smith would have killed again,” (When Children Kill By: Diane Kratz Feb 11, 2013 Aside) According to Phil Chalmers, a teen violence and youth culture expert, there are usually specific reasons why teens kill. They include being bullied at school, depression, lack of guidance or discipline and even mental illness are just to name a few. (Inside The Mind Of a Teen Killer; 2009 Nelson, Phil Chalmers). Eric Smith appeared to have many of those …show more content…
Some appear to have just been born this way, others had contributing factors that may have triggered something inside that caused them to react in such a violent, hideous manner. There are some children born that have no conscience, yet they do not kill. I feel that Eric, being 13, knew he was harming or killing Derrick, however, and did not seem to be bothered by his actions. Having been incarcerated at such a young age, I must wonder if he received any type of help or counseling from the judicial system to help him transition back into society with life management skills needed. Is there hope for Eric to become a productive member of society, or will he kill again? That is a frightening thought that we may never know the answer
They did commit the same crime, but they had different reasons why. Eric was full of hate. He only actually liked a handful of people. He had a very rough childhood, and didnt have that many friends throughout school.
However, it was a different story when it came to Eric Harris. Eric was the leader of the heist including when Eric, Dylan, and their friend Zach got together and ran “operations”. One other thing about Eric is that he had made it seem as if he was turning his life around after his acts of crime. His parents were fazed by his apologies and this gave Eric the chance to start planning out the attack on Columbine, during this time he was on prescription anti-depressants. The Columbine killers were two psychopath teenagers filled with rage and anger toward the
Smith, a 13 year old at the time, murdered four year old Derrick Joseph Robie on August 2, 1993. He then confesses to his crime and is charged with second-degree murder and is tried as an adult. He pleads not guilty and his official defense case was to be suffering from a mental disease that would make him lash out. He is later found guilty and charged with an adult second degree murder charge, and sentenced to a maximum of nine years to life. The first, to be held with a juvenile facility until 21 and then transferred to an adult prison.
This paper is going to talk about Dahmer’s crimes in more detail, the overview of the developmental theory, and how the developmental theory can explain Dahmer’s childhood to create the monster he was. Jeffery Lionel Dahmer was an American serial kill and sex offender. Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 in West Allis, Wisconsin. He was born to father Lionel Dahmer and mother Joyce Dahmer. Between the years of 1978 and 1991, Dahmer
It was just a normal day in Littleton, Columbine. Until it wasn’t. On April 20, 1999, one of the nation’s deadliest shootings would occur in Colorado, leaving many devastated. The two behind this massacre are Eric Harris, age 18, and Dylan Klebold, age 17. Both boys were considered social outcasts at school, both hated school, hated jocks, and loved computers and video games.
In chapter 7 the main topics that were discussed were thinking, language and intelligence. The aspect of cognition is defined as the mental activities involved in acquiring, retaining and using knowledge. Thinking involves be to manipulate internal, mental representation of information to be able to draw inferences and conclusions. With thinking there are two kinds of mental representation present which are, mental images and concepts. There are also types of concepts that are used with thinking.
These days’ children are causing more harm than good in their communities, and it isn’t their fault. In the Time Magazine article, “Children without Pity” by Nancy Traver, Traver provides examples of corrupted children performing acts that healthy kids wouldn’t do. Their misguided past has affected their present causing them to react in violent behavior. For this reason, I believe that children should not be tried as adults. Kids have only seen and grown up around violence, so violence is what they result to.
In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins, she tells the story of a teenager who murdered a wife and her husband. It happened in 1990 in suburban chicago. The teen shot her and her first child still in the womb. The teen claimed that he just wanted to shoot
This theory clearly rules out the effect of inherited or innate factors, and the last is the cognitive theory, which is based on how the perception of an individual is manifested into affecting his or her potential and capability to commit a crime. (Psychological theories of crime) Relating these theories to the case under study, it’s clear that the behaviour can be traced most times to faulty relationships in the family during the first years of
Between 1947-1951 he began robbing graves of middle aged women who reminded him of his mother. Taking their body parts. Though he never sexually abused the corpses, his compulsions for dead human flesh classifies him as a necrophiliac. Ed’s upbringing and the seclusion from others by his mother’s deceit and fanatic religious practices influenced his behavior greatly. He never had a girlfriend or a wife, so he was not good with women.
The face of American crime has evolved from adults to the not so innocent faces of adolescence. In today’s society, it is not uncommon for people to fear just walking into public places because they don’t know what horrendous actions may occur due to the indifferent, disrespectful actions of some of America’s youth. Parents are often hesitant to send their children to school because they feel that they cannot trust their child’s fellow classmates. This lack of trust and apprehension was evident in Wisconsin, where two thirteen year old girls attempted to murder one of their fellow classmates. Their reasoning was that they were trying to imitate a fictional character that they saw on the internet.
Juvenile Justice Should juveniles get treated as adults that’s one of the biggest controversy in our nation now days, with many juveniles committing crimes that are inconceivable according to their age. Judges have the last word on how to treat this young people. Many people argue that “the teens that are under eighteen are only kids, they won’t count them as young adults, not until they commit crimes. And the bigger the crime, the more eager this people are to call them adults” (Lundstrom 87). This is why people can’t come to a decision as how these young people should be treated like.
The 2012 ruling in Miller v. Alabama required the court to consider the circumstances of each juvenile charged with heinous crimes before sentencing life in prison without parole. The Supreme Court considered mandatory juvenile life without parole sentencing as unconstitutional because it violates the Eighth Amendment. However, with the 2012 ruling in place, many proponents such as victims of juvenile crimes believe that juveniles should be sentenced to life in prison. While juveniles who commit heinous crimes should not go unpunished, they do not deserve life sentences like an adult. First of all, juveniles should not be sentenced with life in prison like adults because scientific studies confirm a strong difference between an adolescent
hat have been developing to understand and explain the origins and causes of child abuse. Psychological Theories This theory focuses on the impulsive and psychological traits of the offenders. According to Corby (2000), often the individual abuser may have been abuse in childhood, thus causing abnormalities are responsible for abuse. i. Attachment Theory Bowlby (1951) talks about this theory whereby he explains that the separation of a child from the mother in the first five years may lead to psychological and social difficulties in later life.
A theory that explains juvenile delinquency is the Psychological theory. This theory focuses on the personality of the offenders rather than biological or social situations. This theory easily explains juvenile delinquency when looking at the three interrelated parts of the personality- id, ego, and superego. The id is the part of the personality that is supposed to destroy aggression which usually controlled as a person grows and learns social norms and rules; however, an over aggressive person may have an under regulated id which could cause them to be violent.