Explaining Crime

Ca ingestions of law-breaking are arguably criminologys roughly important and largest query topic. In this offshoot of research, criminologists and academics return use numerous theories in attempts to unspoiledify how and w herefore multitude resort to law-breaking (Ellis, Beaver, Wright, 2009). The object of this paper is to examine a slip-up study scratch line with the use of line of reasoning theories (ST), followed by social learning scheme (SLT). The first office will occupy a summary of the good fount of R v immortalise Andrew HUGHES (2009) NSWDC 404 involving an bulge outline of the offenders face-to-face spiritedness, of his crimes, and his punishment r severally down by the New southern Wales District Court.It is important to outline these details in value to refer to them and appropriately hit the books them. The following section will use broth theories to analyse factors and elbow greases that lead the offender to commit his crimes. Anomie and bank line supposition will be employ here with respect to Mertons c formerlypt of retreatism (Merton, in Alder, Laufer, 1995), as well as Ag unexampleds general flesh system (GST) as it bank notes for individual and aro utilize accent derived from disconfirming bloods (Agnew, 1992). These will be the primary theories used for analysis in this paper as they are close to(prenominal) relevant.The final section will com soldieryd the application of SLT. rough drawing from the case of R v class Andrew HUGHES (2009) NSWDC 404, the offender is a forty seven year old art object named Mark Andrew Hughes and will be referred to as Mr Hughes for the distance of this paper. Mr Hughes churlhood involved a material degree of interdict stimuli. For example, Mr Hughes experient rejection by nitty-gritty of and by dint of the failed relationship of his m opposite and father at a genuinely unfledged age, leave aloneing in the complete absence of his biological fathe r.Mr Hughes was and so subjected to his mothers new spousal relationship and relationship with a man who was to puzzle his stepfather. This relationship became volatile and involved alcohol abuse and violence, resulting in any case in insularism and divorce. In addition, Mr Hughes was subjected to his mothers difference of opiniond with dickens(prenominal) mental health issues, and problems with the abuse of prescription(prenominal) medicine. Mr Hughes adult relationships mostwhat reflect his mothers. He married two times of which both resulted in divorce.Importantly, the first wedlock was in 1991 and created three children, of which one tragicall(a)y died at seven months of age. He is occurrently is having to the highest degree no involvement with the other two who are now teenagers. Mr Hughes nones his second marriage (1996-2005) was extremely important to him, however collapsed collect to his relationship with doses. This marriage created two children whom he h as strive with every Sunday, however his current circumstances (in custody) means this is via telephone.Apart from the minimal contact Mr Hughes has with his two sons, he has been burn up off from his family. It is also acknowledged that Mr Hughes had been comprehend a counsellor however halt just preliminary to his crimes collect to the effect of his medicate addiction at the time. Drugs have been a big part of Mr Hughes life-time from a young age. He began victimization undersidenabis at age twelve, and his first experience with heroin was age fifteen, which resulted in addictions and desire full stops of residential treatment.It has been reported that in times of personal upheaval, Mr Hughes is incapable of haughty his propensity to resort to drugs ( meaning abuse) in order to escape. In fact, in late(a) old age Mr Hughes drug addiction has involved advance and ice to such an extent that he needed to remain high (drug-affected) in order to bend the pain of adve nt down, which was a daily costume that cost over $400 a day. It could be give tongue to that as a result of Mr Hughes primeval life experiences, gaining an study was a struggle, and has been extra.For voice he perfect his reading half means with secondary education, resulting in several inexperient assembly lines however, shortly prior to a partitioning in his second marriage, and his vile go on, he held a job in a recycling factory for almost xiv years. It should be noted that the court points out the findings from a well-known clinical forensic psychologist called W John Taylor, who states that based on Mr Hughes history, he felt he had a drive disorder in his early teenage years, confirms he is workly battling with drug abuse disorders, and is currently suffering with depression. til now he feels that Mr Hughes is genuine in his desire to overcome his addiction with drugs, and with the right embody, he has a chance at re take a craping his demeanor and addic tions. This brings us to the second issue to be outlined, that is Mr Hughes crimes. Aside from a charge of pull out and enter as a child, other(prenominal) charge regarding sexual relations with a juvenile when he himself was a juvenile, and at the age of twenty-two, convictions for false pretences, theft and drug use, Mr Hughes has wind to remain crime free regardless of his drug addictions. in any case, until the most recent crimes, Mr Hughes has neer served a prison house margin. Thus in view of these facts, the court regards this as an in square twist record considering Mr Hughes current age. During the months of phra filter to the end of November 2008 Mr Hughes resurfaces with six serious nefarious offences, mostly involving break enter and slip ones mind of which was from a business, a warehouse, a shop and two lines. Two of these offences involved criminal acts that incurred separate charges, which were stealing a railroad car from one of the home(a)s he entere d, and also prejudicial property.Importantly one of the six offences was an aggravate break enter and steal from a home as one of the owners (husband) came home and surprised Mr Hughes while he was within stealing. Mr Hughes responded with aggressive conduct threatening him with what has been set forth as wire cutter, eventually forcing the man on a bed and relation back him to stay there and he would not harm him. The man warned Mr Hughes that his wife was delinquent home and hoped this would scare Mr Hughes off, however it resulted in Mr Hughes tying up the victims hands, and gagging his mouth for a short period of time while he move to steal and ransack the home.It was mentioned that Mr Hughes did not cause any physical harm, however the crime is regarded as very serious. Finally, the court came to the boilersuit sentence for his crimes of eight years and vanadium months, with a non-parole period of five years and five months. The sentencing process considers a simulacru m of factors which will be discussed afterward. Agnews (1992) GST proposes that crime is committed as a result of pressure or business line that is derived from prohibit relationships and subsequent life experiences or events with those relationships.These relationships include three types of strain that involve situations where a person has coachn away(predicate) something valuable from another, ruined anothers opportunities to pass on a valued intent/s, or the infliction of offensive and outcaste stimuli (Bernard, Snipes, Gerould, 2010). The consequences of being subjected to strains of this nature, is the geneproportionn of discordant controvert emotions within the person handle depression, fear, anger, frustration, disappointment, and anxiety.Thus, depending on an individuals characteristics and environment, these forbid emotions can lead them to commit crime (Agnew, 2006). The way in which a person responds to this strain and subsequent negative emotion, is to eith er carry their current situation with a positively charged outlook, which normally involves the individual having a advantageously support network or go to delinquent demeanour and the use of drugs to avoid negative emotions (Agnew, 2006 Bernard, Snipes, Gerould, 2010). From this we can already embark on to see some of the aspects of GST in the case of Mr Hughes.For example, referring back to Mr Hughes personal details, Agnew would argue that because this mans troubles started as a child through the red ink of a relationship with his biological father, the introduction of a new father who presented negative stimuli and was imposed/not wanted, and he was unable to reassign himself from this situation or relationship due to his age, he was therefore subjected to the effects of emotional strain. In addition to this, the most significant person in his life (mother) was also presenting negative stimuli by self-medicating and engaging in volatile arguments with the stepfather.Acco rding to GST, as a child/ teenage, Mr Hughes would have been suffering with feelings similar fear, anger, and disappointment, and so taking drugs was his way to immediately cope/manage these emotions and interpersonal problems (Agnew, 2006). The fact that Mr Hughes was very young when he began to take drugs, as well as falling out of school early, and committing some forms of crime, is attest of the condoneed process of Agnews concepts in GST, and in fact were primarily used to rationalise delinquency and drug use in adolescents (Bernard, Snipes, Gerould, 2010, p. 64). Additionally, before Mr Hughes committed these most recent crimes, he has in many ways re-experienced these issues in his adult relationships. For example, the tragic loss of his first born son, the loss of his contact with his daughters and wife from the first marriage, are all examples of something valuable being removed from his life. This then occurred once more in the next marriage, which Mr Hughes had tell was very important to him, and a very big loss.sociable Learning hypothesis can also serve well to explain this repeated experience of Mr Hughes and will be discussed later. There are two other explanations through the use of strain supposition that can help to explain wherefore Mr Hughes lived most of his life crime free, in spite of his drug utilisation, before committing his most recent crimes. Firstly Agnew developed another concept within GST in the form of storylines which operate at a time-based level and can help to draw connections from chivalric events to explain current issues or situation cues (see Agnew, 2006b).Using this concept it could be said that Mr Hughes most recent crimes are a result of his desperate need for depots to support his sever drug habit that is primarily a result of make do with his emotions that stem back to childhood. The second concept is derived from Mertons (1968) idea of anomie, where by auberges expectations and emphasis is stro ngly connect to the idea of always striving to extend to monetary earnr, which is generally proven through the accumulation of things like houses, cars, private schooling and general wealth.However Merton argues that opportunities to achieve this success are not evenly distri onlyed, and it is usually the lower class citizens that struggle to achieve the final goal (Merton, 1968). Never the less, each individual is expected to continue to try for their own self-respect and value (Merton, in Alder, Laufer, 1995). Merton offers four ways in which people may respond to their ability to achieve wealth, or not, through institutionalized means (see Bernard, Snipes, Gerould, 2010, p157).The most relevant of these responses with regard to Mr Hughes would be retreatism. Rendering this concept, aside from long term drug use, the fact that Mr Hughes lead most of his adult life up until this point, as a law abiding citizen, and held his job for fourteen years, attempted to have a family on two occasions, and attended focus in an attempt to rectify his personal issues and better himself, are all signs that he strived to achieve the expected societal goals and aspirations to the topper of his ability within his available means.That is with limited education, no acquired skills, and limited social skills. From this, it would be argued that Mr Hughes has come to the realisation that he has once again lost his battle with drugs, and as a result failed another marriage, losing contact with his children a second time, then losing his long term job, finding himself without any family support of any kind, and thus believing, then pass judgment that he will never in truth achieve anything.In his response to his battle to achieve, he has become a unsullied retreatist, as the strain became too very much to bear, thus becoming deeply enwrapped in his addiction with ice to such an extent that he had to steel to fund his addiction (Merton, 1968). The underlying societal value and importance of accumulating wealth are comprehend in the various renderings of Judge Cogswell in response to Mr Hughes crimes, and in determining sentencing (see R v Mark Andrew HUGHES 2009 NSWDC 404).One example can be seen in this comment Once again, one can infer the inconvenience and distress which the theft of calculating machine and mobile phones essential have had on the managers of that business. These comments are not just due to the loss of the physicality of the objects themselves, but also their use in the business, as they would be an important aspect in facilitating the institutional means of achieving further success.Also in Mr Hughes most serious crime, the comments again refer to the victims home being used to commit crime. For instance it was verbalise This must have been an inordinately terrifying experience for the clergyman, whose home was used to commit this crime by Mr Hughes. This again clearly shows the importance, respect and value dictated on ac hieved goods. These concepts of anomie and strain conjecture with regard to good societal goals and value are also considered and noted by the court with regard to Mr Hughes himself.For example a considerable amount of time was taken from Mr Hughes time to be served in prison to acknowledge the good in his determine that was observed in the way of his penitence for his crimes, and quick pleas of guilt to all of his charges. It was give tongue to this has a significant impact on the administration of justice in this rural area. And because he had never served time in prison before this could be regarded as special circumstances that enabled the adjustment of the ratio between the non-parole and parole period.However it was affect that considering how in line a mount of the court responses were with the concepts found in strain theories, that one method in which could be used to help people like Mr Hughes, and that was recommended by the court appointed psychologist mentioned earlier, was later considered as un-important by Judge Cogswell. Mr Taylor had stated that in order for Mr Hughes to have a chance at rebuilding his life, his escape of social and emotional support must be considered, and believed that his program called Ex-Inmate Program could help with many of his issues.Mr Taylors ideas and concerns are in line with methods found in strain theories that would help to reduce the burden of strain (Bournard, Snipes, Gerould, 2010, p169) in the lives of people like Mr Hughes. Social learning Theory (SLT) compliments strain theory but most significantly can help to explain some aspects in this case that strain theory cannot. Firstly it can be argued through SLT that much of Mr Hughes negative behaviour has been conditioned through spy his mother and stepfathers abusive relationship, nd his mothers negative make out strategies as a result of them (Bandura, 1977). Refer back to the life history and crimes of Mr Hughes, the concept of lettered behavi our may explain some of the malicious mischief and aggressive behaviour to the victim in Mr Hughes crimes that strain theories has not. Specifically, the concept of derivative associations in SLT would suggest that Mr Hughes has gone through an data-based process over the course of his young life that has equipped him with the skills to behave in the way he has (Akers, 1994).That he has been marooned from more pro-social behaviour, and therefore acquired various negative attitudes motives and rationalisations for his marchs (Bernard, Snipes, Gerould, 2010). This can also help to explain the similar relationship behaviour and coping strategies that Mr Hughes had to his mother. Furthermore, Burgess and Akers (1966) developed the concept of differential reinforcement, which argue that individuals engage in behaviour in ways that will positively reward them and that they can identify with from observing others.Thus it can also be argued that Mr Hughes engaged in the type of crimina l behaviour that he did to reward himself with goods and bullion that will fund/ reward him again with drugs, which then rewards him by removing not just his emotional pain, but the painful withdrawal symptoms he acknowledged he suffered at the time of these crimes. To combine both SLT and strain theories, Mr Hughes has in a sense experienced twofold the conditions to lead him to crime and negative coping strategies.For example SLT would argues Mr Hughes observed how to manage negative emotions long before he could fully experience or image his own, through the observation of his mothers benefits from self-medicating. Thus when he became overwhelmed with strain from his negative life experiences that are explained in the prior section through strain theories, he already had in place the learned methods/behaviour of relieving his emotional strain, which would be explained by Akers (1985) concept of differential associations.Thus the process of retreating discussed previously in ST , became an easier process as he has mimicked or put into action his own interpreted version of coping with the use of drugs. However, unfortunately neither of these theories account for mental health or conduct disorder, both of which Mr Hughes was diagnosed with, and are significantly cogitate to negative home environments, delinquency and substance abuse in adolescent (Linskey, Fergusson, 1995 Hinshaw, Lee, 2003). In conclusion, SLT and ST can help to understand most of the complex issues that lead to the criminal actions of MR Hughes.It is clear that both observing and experiencing negative stimuli has consumed Mr Hughes with various negative emotions that resulted in strain. It is not toilsome to understand from these theories how and why Mr Hughes became so inclined to drugs and struggled to manage his relationships effectively as a result of these factors. However what is not accounted for in these theories with regard to his behaviour and crimes, are the influences of his diagnosed conduct disorder he had as an adolescent or his current state of depression.