Amanda Castros Research Papers

2275 Words10 Pages

Introduction On 22nd August, 2002, a young woman Michelle Knight is in a hurry to attend a social services meeting to discuss her son’s custody. Unfortunately she does not know the directions to that place. She walks into a convenience store to get the directions. Unknown to her, someone was listening. The man walks towards her and offers to drive her there. Knight recognizes the man. They had schooled with his young daughter. On his car is a note tied, advertising puppies for sale. The man convinces Knight that her son would love to have a puppy and he drives towards his home. On entering his house, Knight has the door shut on her marking the beginning of her ten years of confinement. That was the first kidnap case to rock Cleveland. Between …show more content…

The women were kidnapped in separate incidences between 2002 and 2004. At that time of disappearance, the women were aged 14, 16 and 20 years respectively. Castro held them captive while chained in a basement room of his residential house. Castro used to work as a bus driver before he lost his job in what the school termed as bad judgment. At one time, he made a U-turn on the road while school children were on board. In yet another incidence, Castro left a young child in the bus all alone and went out to have lunch. In addition to this, at some time left the school bus unattended and went to have an afternoon rest in his …show more content…

He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and an additional 1000 years. One month into his life sentence, Castro was found dead in his cell, having hanged himself. Various theories have been fronted to offer an explanation of the criminal behavior of individuals. However, no single theory captures the cause of criminal behavior in Ariel Castro. A combination of the various theories provides more knowledge of the criminal mind. Positivistic school of criminology has the biological, psychological and sociological factors that may lead to an individual committing crime. The kidnapped victims tend also to exhibit certain psychological behaviors. These include Stockholm syndrome where the captives bond with their captors expressing sympathy towards them but it is more of a survival tactic. In their captivity, the victims also exhibit psychological fear mixed with

Open Document