Agnew’s General Strain Theory applied to Every Fucking Day of My Life
The following two questions are related to the films “Every Fucking Day of My Life” and “Aileen: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer.” Make references to the required texts (specific theoretical components to the theory) and to particular scenes in the films. Make sure that information you provide corresponds with the theory you are discussing. Remember, theories are like equations—certain assumptions must be met.
In this class, you learned about psychological, biological, and sociological explanations of violence. Since there’s no single theory alone that can explain violence, we must look at various theories that can help us understand a piece of the human violence puzzle. Consider Wendy and Randy Maldonado’s violent actions toward Aaron—the actions for which they were both sentenced to prison when they pleaded guilty to first and second-degree manslaughter, respectively. How can Agnew’s General Strain Theory be used to explain the violence they committed? Apply the theory to Wendy’s violent behavior first, and then Randy’s AFTER explaining the theoretical components of the theory. Do not just discuss the facts of their case (minimum 200 words, 12 pts)
Answer- “Every Fucking of My Life” fearured Aaron Maldonado who abused his wife, Wendy Maldonado, physically and sexually. Wendy explained many red flags that her husband showed in their relationship till the day he had been killed. The first red flag had occurred when he made her move fast while getting married. The second occurred when Aaron said Wendy that he had fantasized being a serial killer while slowly torturing them till the day they die. He had been trying to live his fantasy with that of his family. He had isolated his family by holding them hostage and by hurting them. As per General Strain theory, it focuses on the negative relationships that leads to the delinquency. It claims that how a negativce relationship can make an individual resort to criminal offenses. This negative impacts influenced her to kill her husband. The delinquency by the son, Randy, towards her father proved his hatred on him for torturing them. The components like failing to achieve positive goals from the relationship, removal of the positive aspects, and the introduction of the negative aspects due to the negative abusive relationship were triggered in both the mother and the son (Alvarez and Bachman, 2021).
How could Moffitt’s Developmental Theory explain the delinquent and criminal activity that Aileen Wourono engaged in throughout her life? Mind that you MUST explain this theory—there’s a typology, which means Aileen could not be considered both a lifecourse persistent offender and an adolescent limited offender; according to Moffitt, these are mutually exclusive categories. Consider what we know about Aileen’s life (what was shown in the documentary) that applies to the classification? Don’t make up any facts—you have to work with the facts at hand! (minimum word requirement 175 words, 10 pts)
Moffitt’s Developmental Theory applied to Aileen: The Life and Death of a Serial Killer
Answer: In his theory, Motiff had proposed that there existed two types of anti-social offenders of the society- the adolescene-limited offenders who behaved anitisocially only at the time of adolescence, and the life-course-persistent offenders who behaved antisocially from the early childhood to the adulthood. Aileen, abandoned after her birth, was looked after by her abusive grandfather. She drifted towards prostitution after she was thrown out from her home after she got pregnant at the age of 11. Even then, she had been abused so much in an abusive domestic violence marriage that she resorted to killing. As per the theory, Aileen’s behavior can be considered to be an adolescent limited offender (McGee and Moffitt, 2019). The theory of delinquency Motiff had suggested that the youths of the risk can be able to be divided into two groups, which are the adolescence- limited group as well as the life-course-persistent group who are predetermined at a very young age, and also the social interactions in between such two groups is also signficantly becoming substantial during the adolescent years.
Identify and explain at least three risk factors associated with physical child abuse. What explanations do Alvarez and Bachman provide for explaining this type of abuse. After answering, use the text and provide examples from each of the following documentaries: “Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer,” “Every Fucking day of My Life,” and “Searching for Angela Shelton.” Make sure you point out which risk factors and explanations for child abuse that Alvarez and Bachman discuss are depicted in the documentaries (minimum word requirement 150, 8pts)
Answer: The three risk factors of physical child abuse are- postpartum psychosis, younger children and children with mental disabilities. Alvarez Bachman explained that children who are susbjected to lack of social support, mental disabilities and stress related to poverty are subjected to physical abuse. In all these three documantaries, the characters of Wandy, Aileen and women like Angela Shelton had been physically and sexually abused at an younger age that compelled them to choose criminal offences (Liu et al., 2021). Such that Aaron said Wendy that he had fantasized being a serial killer while slowly torturing them till the day they die. He had been trying to live his fantasy with that of his family. He had isolated his family by holding them hostage and by hurting them. He used to get satisfied with the ways he used to torture his family and used draw happiness from them (Liu et al., 2021).
- Which Strain Theory best explains violent behavior (Merton’s Strain Theory or Agnew’s General Strain Theory)? Justify your answer, citing both the book and the additional readings I provided. In your response, you must explain both theories before stating which best explains violent behavior. (minimum word requirement 150 words, 8pts)
Risk factors and explanations for physical child abuse in popular films
Answer: The Merton’s Strain Theory suggested that the society is known to put pressure on the inviduals in order to achieve the goals, however, they lack means which compels them to resort to violent behaviours.
The Angew’s General Strain Theory suggested that it focuses on the negative relationships that leads to the delinquency. In order to explain the violent behaviours, the Angew’s General Strain Theory is preferable (Muehlmann, 2018). As per the Angew’s General Strain Theory , “strain” can occur at all the strata of that of the population and therefore, it is not considered to be a phenomenon of a specific class. He tried to explain how the “strain” can lead to a criminal act. He assumed that stress can lead to the staes of negative emotional such as anger, the violent behavior or the depression with the use of drugs. These are considered to be conducive without coping skills.
- The War on Drugs’ primary strategy has been to amplify the legal penalties for trafficking and possession of illicit drugs; consequently, our nation has taken many prisoners of war. In fact, because of our War on Drugs, we now have one of the largest prison populations on earth—2.2 million— and this number doesn’t include those in jail or on probation or parole. Discuss how the War on Drugs has significantly affected minority subgroups within the U.S. population. Make specific references to legislation, racial disparities, and violence. (minimum word requirement 150 words, 8pts)
Answer: The effect of the War on Drugs on the minority subgroups in US population was such that there are around one-third of the total prisoners of drug abuse out who belong to the minority groups. The rise in the usage of drug had began when soldiers of America had came back from the Vietnam War where they had been addicted toseveral kinds of drugs. At that time, drugs were only being taken by a small group of people, and they were excluded from society. The legislation, racial disparities like Blacks and violence on the basis of skin colour were other reasons for the imprisonment (Muehlmann, 2018). Drug addiction is considered to be one of the issued faced by a lot of people in the world. The campaign of the war on the drugs had been initiated for defining this and therefore, it reduced the illegal consumption of drugs (Muehlmann, 2018).
- Which Technique(s) of Neutralization did Angela Shelton’s father demonstrate at the end of the documentary “Searching for Angela Shelton”? How did Angela’s father respond to the statements she made about her abuse? Make sure you explain the theory before applying it and stating the particular techniques(s) used. (150 Minimum word requirement, 8pts)
Answer: The theory of Neutralization is referred to the fact of how the criminals get engaged in the rule-breaking activites when they negate their culpability and blame. The technique is of denial of the victim. Her father had denied that he had abused her (Pecino-Latorre et al., 2019). There are around five techniques of the theory of Neutralization. These are accounted to be for the purpose of explaining the juvenile delinquency. Therefore, the makers of this theory had proposed the five major types of the neutralization techniques such as the denial of responsibility, the denial of injury, the denial of the victim, the condemnation of the condemners, as well as the appeal to higher loyalties. This means that the father of Angela Shelton had been portraying an individual who had subscribed to be submissive to the morals of the society and as someone who is able to stand his own behavior.
- Though the film primarily covered his violent behavior, we know very little about Aaron. This makes it challenging to explain his actions toward his wife and children. Think of a psychological theory covered in class (e.g., Prefrontal Lobe Dysfunction Hypothesis, Psychopathy) that could be used to explain Aaron’s behavior if certain information was available. What do we know, and what additional information would we have to have to argue that the selected psychological theory applies? You must state which facts exist (as per the documentary) and which facts would have to exist! (minimum word requirement 120 words, 6pts)
- You must first discuss the theoretical assumptions first and then what facts could support those components.
Merton’s Strain Theory and the War on Drugs
Answer: In the documentary, Aaron had been involved in the domestic violence with his wife, tortured her and abused her sexually. Aaron had shown charateristics like manipulative, having shallow emotions, and lacking empathy. To be termed as a psychopath, Aaron needed to exhibit habitual lying, and egoistic behavior (Shadmanfaat et al., 2019). Such that Aaron said Wendy that he had fantasized being a serial killer while slowly torturing them till the day they die. He had been trying to live his fantasy with that of his family. He had isolated his family by holding them hostage and by hurting them. He used to get satisfied with the ways he used to torture his family and used draw happiness from them.
- Consider what you learned about media and the relationship to violence in American society. Like most Americans, you have probably been exposed to—and may even enjoy—watching violent television shows, going to see the latest action or horror movie, or playing violent video games. Discuss the possible correlation between the media violence and violent behavior learned through human exposure, paying particular attention to childhood exposure to media violence. (minimum word requirement 120 words, 6pts)
Answer: The relation between media violence and the violent behavior through the human exposure, specially to the children, are that children perceive the reality through the shows and movies and set the violent behavior shown in their mind finding it to be true (Wilhelm, Joeckel and Ziegler, 2020). The consequences of the exposure to the media violence are likely to get varied in accordance to the age of the child and during their stage of development. There is a prevalent consensus between the scienti?c community whose experiences often matters. Particularly, the child development specialists have recognised that the preschool years can mark a sensitive period for the social, cognitive as well as the behavioural development among the children in the ways.
- Provide a summary of the myths and misconceptions about mass shootings (refer to Fox and DeLateur, 2003). Afterward, provide a recent example of one myth or misconception that has circulated the news or social media since the most recent mass shooting. If you cite a news source, be sure to use proper in-text citation (APA format). (120 Minimum word requirement, 6pts)
Answer: Myth says that mass shooting is on the rise, which is also untrue because in USA, there are 20 mass shootings in a year. Another myth says that violent video games influence mass shooting, this is also untrue because there is no proof of such. Recent example- On june 12, 2016, there was a mass shooting in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida which killed around 17 students (Zhang, 2019). The mass shooting is referred when there is a single incident of shooting with that of one or more firearms towards quite a many people, however, there are more than two as well as large number of people, especially at the time when victims are considered as random.
- Explain what is meant by policy spillover and gun migration (refer to Coates & Pearson?Merkowitzz, 2017). How does this contribute to the problem of gun-related violence in city centers, where “gun regulation” is strictest? Refer to the Vice video of Chiraq to illustrate your answer. (minimum word requirement 120 words, 6pts)
Answer: As per the spillober theory, the values and the justification for the violence in socially approved setting s “spill over” into the other settings and results in the illegitimate forms of violence. (page- 5).This policy provides the values and the justification fo r violence into the socially approved settings of the spill over. Based on the policy, it is expected that the strong gun laws import the guns from the states which have weaker laws for exporting the guns (Shadmanfaat et al., 2019). “ChiRaq” is considered to be regarding violence as well as guns and men, women, sex as well as power. The title of te film is acknowledged to be a slang language which gets coined by the residents of violence-plagued the South side of Chicago. The movie is sensual yet life affirming, and therefore blisteringly funny which the critics and the political commentators have been sure to take it as distasteful.
- Explain why defining violence is so difficult to do. Provide two different scenarios and explain the circumstances in which the actions could be perceived as either violent behavior or nonviolent. Explain what contributes to the difference in the violent versus nonviolent perception of the scenario. (minimum word requirement 120 words, 6pts)
Theory of Neutralization and its application in Searching for Angela Shelton
Answer: Violence related to the abusive household may not be similar to the violence to the children. Such that when a mother slaps her child, it cannot be termed as a violent act. However, beating a child ruthlessly on a regular basis can be termed as violent. A nonviolent act does not pose threat to a set of people, while a violent act does (Muehlmann, 2018). An act is considered to be violent when “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation”, as per the definition of WHO. Acts of the violence include cruelty or turture which is used to deem the other person. It is difficult to define violence because it varies from person to person. (page- 11)
- Discuss the main controversy regarding the gun debate, as covered in this class. What has prevented government officials from passing comprehensive gun control legislation? What arguments deflect from the main issue? (refer to handout on Gun Control Legislation, Alvarez and Bachman, and the videos on gun control). (minimum word requirement 100 words, 4pts)
Answer: The controversy was regarding that Americans to have right over bearing of arms. This allowed people to carry weapons with them. However, due to the mass shooting taking place, President Trump blocked the sale of guns to people with mental isuses (Liu et al., 2021). Gun control is referred to domestic regulation of the firearm manufacture, the usage, as well as the transport, specifically when regarded to the classes of the weapons that are referred to the small arms such as the revolvers as well as self-loading pistols, rifles, carbines, assault rifles, submachine guns, and the light machine guns.
- What is the difference between instrumental and expressive homicide? Briefly describe the revised instrumental–expressive homicide continuum and provide examples to illustrate your answer (refer to Fox and Allen, 2014). (100 minimum word requirement, 4pts)
Answer: The Instrumental homicide is referred to the act that is meant to be end. The exoressive homicice refers to the motivations that expresses the emotional state like anger and jealousy (Shadmanfaat et al., 2019. The instrumental–expressive homicide continuum included the instrumental-offensive, expressive-offensive, and expressive-defensive homicides (Shadmanfaat et al., 2019). Difference in between the expressive and the instrumental homicides is not always a straightforward situation in some of the cases, as it might be. Some researchers suggested that the actual situation of violence can be constituted by the “a combination of expressive and instrumental aggression” (Shadmanfaat et al., 2019).
- Discuss Wolfgang and Ferracuti’s “subcultures of violence” theory, and apply their conceptual framework to discussion of the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan in the Southern states. (minimum word requirement 100 words, 4pts)
Answer: Wolfgang and Ferracuti asserted that the subculture of violence have the identifiable values, the norms, the shared expectations for the purpose of interaction which is used to dictate the usage of violence in certain situations. It stated that the violence for the purpose for the protection of reputation is not wrong. The emergence of Ku Klux Klan is justified because he wanted to propagate his white supremacist agenda for maintaining the reputation (Pecino-Latorre et al., 2019). As per the theory, it is argued that violence cannot be expressed in all situation but the individuals can be continuously prepared for the violence.
- Explain how all violence is bound into what is called the “unity of human aggression.” (minimum word requirement 80 words, 2pts)
Answer: The violent acts are considered to be sharing some common characteristic which bind them together into the unity of human aggression. A network of different acts, beliefs, ideas and reasons are considered to be common (Muehlmann, 2018). Violent acts are considered to be sharing a number of important characteristics which bind them into something called the unity of human aggression. Human beings tend to look at violence as something consisting of the discrete acts which are different from one another.
- Discuss the relationship between stress and violence as it relates to the overrepresentation of minority communities. (80 minimum word requirement, 2pts)
Answer: Stress in the minority community comes from their deprivation of developmental structures and their indulgence to use of drugs, which compel them to resort violence. The minority groups that refer on this light that stress is related to them causing violence (Muehlmann, 2018). There are many scientists who found the biological evidences in which the stress and the aggression can be able to feed off one another, contributing to the “cycle of violence” which can be considered as tragic.
- Could one of the theories covered in this class explain both Wendy and Aaron’s violent behaviors if their motivations and trajectories of violent behavior are different? Explain the theoretical components first and why or why not they could apply to both cases. Cite your work (pages/substances of chapters included) accordingly. (100 minimum word requirement, 1.5pts)
Answer: The Moffitt’s Developmental Theory can be explained in order to describe the violent behavior of Wandy and Aaron. Motiff had proposed that there existed two types of anti-social offenders of the society- the adolescene-limited offenders who behaved anitisocially only at the time of adolescence, and the life-course-persistent offenders who behaved antisocially from the early childhood to the adulthood. Motiff had suggested that the youths of the risk can be able to be divided into two groups, which are the adolescence- limited group as well as the life-course-persistent group and also the social interactions is also signficantly becoming substantial (Muehlmann, 2018).
- Provide a brief description of four of the eight specific tactics Cupach and Spitzberg identified as commonly employed by stalkers and then use examples to illustrate your answer. Cite your work (pages/substances of chapters included) accordingly. (80 minimum word requirement, 1pts)
Answer- Any four tactics of Cupach and Spitzberg are- general disturbance, affective health, social health and cognitive health. The general disturbance is indicated towards the emotional or the psychological or the lifestyle difficulties which is experienced in general. The affective health is refered to the effects such as the anger, anxiety, and depression (Muehlmann, 2018). Social health is referred to the impact of the stalking on the relationship of the victims with the others like the friends, family, as well as the colleagues. The cognitive health effects is consisered to be including mental states considtions like confusion, distrust and suspiciousness.
References
Burke Draucker, C. (2020). The mental health consequences of mass school shootings: What do we need to know?.
Liu, L., Bachman, R., Qiu, J., & Sun, D. (2021). Do Both Petty and Serious Female Offenders Have Shorter Incarcerations than Their Male Counterparts? Testing the Universality of Chivalrous Treatment. Women & Criminal Justice, 1-15.
McGee, T. R., & Moffitt, T. E. (2019). The developmental taxonomy. The Oxford handbook of developmental and life-course criminology, 149-158.
Muehlmann, S. (2018). The gender of the war on drugs. Annual review of anthropology, 47, 315-330.
Pecino-Latorre, M. D. M., Pérez-Fuentes, M. D. C., Patró-Hernández, R. M., & Santos-Hermoso, J. (2019). Expressiveness and instrumentality of crime scene behavior in spanish homicides. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(22), 4526.
Shadmanfaat, S. M., Cochran, J. K., Muniz, C. N., & Kabiri, S. (2019). Soccer hooliganism in Iran: A test of Agnew’s general strain theory. Deviant Behavior, 40(5), 544-558.
Wilhelm, C., Joeckel, S., & Ziegler, I. (2020). Reporting hate comments: Investigating the effects of deviance characteristics, neutralization strategies, and users’ moral orientation. Communication Research, 47(6), 921-944.
Zhang, J. (2019). The strain theory of suicide. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 13.
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