Criminology

            Based on strain theory, why do individuals engage in crime acts and is strain theory related to Aileen Wuornos and her serial killing acts?  According to the theory of strain, individuals are involved in crimes because they once experienced strain or stressful moments (Krohn, Lizotte, & Hall, 2009).  This, therefore, forces them to engage in crimes in order to reduce the stresses and also escape from stress in which they are subjected to.  This is the fact that the individuals may at times be involved in violence in the aim of ending a harassment that they are getting from other individuals. This may involve even stealing in order to solve their financial issues or escape from home so that they can escape from their parents or guardian who proves to be abusive. This is, therefore, the activity of being involved in criminal acts in order to seek revenge against those individuals who they believe that they have offended them (Krohn, Lizotte, & Hall, 2009).  Being involved in crimes therefore helps the individuals in feeling even better.

            Strain theory can, therefore, apply to Aileen Wuornos and her behavior because this was not developed by the social learning rather by the subjection that she went through (Krohn, Lizotte, & Hall, 2009).  As a young person, Wuornos Aileen was abandoned by her own parents and left under the care of her grandfather. This caused her strain in order to deal with life after being abandoned but it was however not enough because her own grandfather who was supposed to raise her abused her sexually (Cullen, 2011).  Her grandfather’s actions caused her so much stress as she had to deal with low self-esteem as well as denial. She was young and defend-less. In fact, she would have done nothing since it was her own guardian that was abusing her. In her defense, she became a prostitute because she failed to find any worth in her being. These activities, therefore, involved men who she believed were abusing her sexually or even physically. Due to the experience that she held, she would not allow the kind of thing to happen and she had to defend herself.  She was, therefore, involved in the serial killing of her client’s whom she believed that were assaulting her sexually (Cullen, 2011).

This is no wonder because her trust was broken by the stressful experience that was subjected to her by her grandmother.  In her defense, she claimed that she killed them while trying to defend her from abuse. Based on strain theory individuals are involved in crimes in order to achieve the following goals financial stability, autonomy, revenge as well as respect.  In the case of Aileen she was thus attempting to gain respect from those that she believed that were assaulting her and to additionally feel sufficient (Cullen, 2011).  This can be described as the desire to gain oneself control ability. This is the capability of restraining demands that are made by other persons thus engaging in activities without ones self-authority.  As an adult, Aileen had the capability of being an autonomous individual based on the fact that she would control what people did to her. She accomplished this objective through killing those that attempted to assault her (Cullen, 2011).  Autonomy denial according to the theory of strain may result in delinquency based on several rationales.  First delinquency may be a way of autonomy asserting for instance behaviors that are disorderly or sexual intercourse. It may be a mode of achieving autonomy like the act of killing in order to gain self-independence as a way of defiance and the act of venting one's frustrations against those individuals that deny one to become autonomous.  Aileen was involved in the killing of seven men because she believed that they attempted to assault her in a sexual way. This was her way of expressing frustration to the men because they were trying to deny her autonomy. She wanted to be independent and gain the ability to control her own life without being involved in experiences without her own consent (Wuornos, Kester, Gottlieb, & Chesler, 2012).

Aileen strain experience caused her to fail in achieving several goals that she had wished to.  According to the theory of strain, the failure of attaining some set of aims may result to stress which is generated when individual’s takes a thing from another that they highly value or rather present it with stimuli that are negative (Miller, 2014). This damaging treatment may, therefore, trigger anger thus resulting to crime. Aileen was upset by the fact that her own grandfather was responsible for taking care of her life in order to be a great person which he destroyed by assaulting her. One’s sexual life is highly valued because he was not supposed to make her feel so low.  By assaulting her he took away something that held much value to her thus causing her to feel stressed and damaged.  This, therefore, resulted in crime occurrence because she lost all that she held dear. The ability to achieve positive goals was denied because of the stress that was caused by her grandfather’s actions.  Based on the theory of strain the ranges of conditions as well as events that are negative are responsible for the probability of increasing the rate of negative behaviors which are crimes.  Particularly crime is directly associated to neglect, a child abuse, physical and emotional abuse from family parents negative relations, negative experiences as well as growing range of procedures and situations that are stressful (Miller, 2014).

Behavior has resulted when the general cost of misbehavior proves to be low in comparison to the associated benefits (Miller, 2014). The motivation of Aileen be involved in the crime was fueled by the irritability that was generally caused by the actions of her grandfather. Despite her having a bad relation with her own parents because they abandoned her events increased the motivation when her grandfather assaulted her.  Aileen responded to the events by being involved in crime because he held the belief that through crime she would be able to justify her misbehavior. This is supported in that she responded that she killed the men in the act of defending herself (Wuornos, Kester, Gottlieb, & Chesler, 2012).  Her delinquency act was fueled by the fact that before she was defend-less and now she would comfortably be able to defend herself and gain control over her life.

 Stressful and damaging occasions make one feel low. The bad sensations, in turn, generate the pressure for counteractive activities.  This is mainly caused by frustration as well as the accumulative anger caused by the events which provide the person with the required energy to act thus creating a desire for  revenge and reduced regrets (Wuornos, Kester, Gottlieb, & Chesler, 2012). The only available way of coping with stress is through involvement in behaviors that are not positive which is referred as criminal responses according to the theory of strain.  This, therefore, justifies that strain theory is applicable to Aileen and her delinquency actions of serial killing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Cullen, F. T. (2011). The origins of American criminology. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction Publishers.

            Krohn, M. D., Lizotte, A. J., & Hall, G. P. (2009). Handbook on crime and deviance. Dordrecht: Springer.

Miller, J. M. (2014). The encyclopedia of theoretical criminology.

            Wuornos, A., Kester, L., Gottlieb, D., & Chesler, P. (2012). Dear Dawn: Aileen Wuornos in her own words, 1991-2002. Berkeley, Calif: Soft Skull.