In 1836, the gruesome death of a prostitute encaptivated the public eye and began a newspaper frenzy that centered on a morbid fixation of the life and death of Helen Jewett. Patricia Cline Cohen's The Murder of Helen Jewett pieces together the facts of Helen's life and death in an attempt to describe gender inequality in America by giving a meticulous account of life in the 1830s. (Insert small biography) Around three in the morning on Sunday, April 10, 1836 Rosina Townsend, the madam of the brothel, was spurred from her bed at the south end of Thomas St by a man knocking on the front door.
Nurture. Hickock suffering a physical injury that affected his frontal lobe and skewered his personality and judgement. On the other hand, Smith experienced a traumatic childhood that affected his mental health and with it being detrimental to not only him, but the society as a whole as it gave rise to his criminal behaviours. In Smith’s case it can be argued that his lawlessness is the result of embracing “causes that they could use as vehicles in their search for excitement, power, and conquest.” (Psychology Today.)
Andrea Yates conviction was a unjust trial at first and later on the conviction changed to a just one. She was convicted for the murders of her children (Chan). She suffered from depression and had tried to commit suicide (Chan). Yates was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison (Chan). This convictions was later over turned and she wasn’t found guilty anymore because, of insanity (Chan).
Houston, Texas, was home to Andrea Yates; a wife and a mother to Randy Yates and their five children. One morning in the year 2001, she dialed, 911 breathing heavily into the phone “I need a police officer,” (O’Malley). The news over Andrea Yates drowning her children spread like wildfire across the nation, horrifying Americans. Following her confession, she pleaded innocent with the “Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity” (NGRI) plea, yet the jury rejected her appeal and found her guilty of five accounts of first-degree murder. However, in the retrial of 2006, Yates’ abiding murder convictions were overturned, and Andrea Yates was found NGRI.
In addition to the connection in homicide, intimate violence and stalking. Particularly, the case of Nicole Simpson. The theories of criminology
The Criminal Justice system has placed an emphasis on three factors that may influence their legal decisions. This includes, biological and social factors related to the offenders historical background and the context where the crime took place. More importantly, legal decisions are primarily based on the facts of the crime itself. However, issues of legal responsibility in cases involving chromosomal deficiencies and gene abnormalities have sparked the biological debate once again in courtrooms. Conditions such as psychopathy and pedophilia are commonly associated with biological factors and put into question the individual’s culpability of such crime.
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
Furthermore, the use of trickery and deceit is not uncommon. With the widespread use of DNA evidence, many once guilty victims have been exonerated of their crimes and set free. If psychology has proven that certain practices can influence ideas and behaviors,
Most was derived from the assumption that behaviors such as; criminal and otherwise, are inherited. Which means that criminals are biologically different than non-criminals. One of the earliest explanations was known as Phrenology which was in the mid-1700’s to mid-1800’s, which viewed the shape and size of the brain and skull as determinants of criminal tendencies. The next early positivist explanation for deviance was in 1876, Cesare Lombroso’s theory of “Atavism” and “The Born Criminal” This was the 1st Major Application of this new science to the study of criminals and deviance.
It does not consider other factors such as criminal associations, individual traits, and inner strains, which plays a significant role in determining punishment for the individuals in committing crimes. It is observed that this theory endeavours to know that whether the activities of crime as well as the victim’s choice, criminals commit the activities on start from rational decisions. The theory also determines that criminals consider different elements before committing crime. They engage in the exchange of ideas before reaching on any final decision. These elements consist of consequences of their crimes, which include revealing their families to problems or death, chances of being arrested, and others elements, which comprises of placement of surveillance systems (Walsh & Hemmens, 2010; Lichbach,
In this assignment the case study of Ted Bundy and how many biological, social and cognitive studies affect the perspective of criminals. In this case biological theories are our genetics and what we inherit from our parents and further on. These theories will be linked to Ted and if they affect how he performed the criminal acts. Introduction Ted Bundy is one of America’s most prolific serial killers who targeted brunette women in an attempt to get back at his ex-girlfriend, but also his mother who had lied about Ted’s paternity for a number of years. During Ted’s early life he went by the name of Theodore Robert Cowell.
In the case of Mary Barnett, I agree with the courts decision to find her guilty of second degree murder and manslaughter. This is largely based on my analysis of the witnesses presented during the trial and the demeanor and actions of the defendant. Having an associates degree in psychology helped me formulate decisions about the role of each character and what part they were to play during the course of the trial. I utilized the teaching from the text book as well as the concepts from my social psychology class which required me to people watch and analyze the surroundings, body language, and actions of others.
Today, there are proven facts that people who have parents that are criminals have a high chance of becoming criminals themselves. Not only can people become criminals because of their family but they can also become criminals because of the environment that they surround themselves in. This is where nature versus nurture comes into play. A person’s nature is their genetic makeup, basically meaning that a person’s nature is the genes they get from their parents. Also, a person’s genotype, one’s genetic makeup based on the sequencing of the nucleotides we term, provides them with physical traits that set the stage for certain behaviors (56).
Where external and internal factors play a part and they are fated to be a criminal. The scientific grounds are offenders and people who have not yet offended can be given help, and they can be diagnosed by experts and receive treatment needed to not offend (Cavadino, 2007
Though he was influenced by Darwin, Lombroso misunderstood his work and considered criminals evolutionary throwbacks of primitive forms (Mazzarello, 2011). Trait theory has evolved over time from Garofalo’s sociological tilt (crime is an immoral act that is injurious to society) to Enrico Ferri (focused on social and economic factors that motivate criminals) to a modern, biosocial trait theory, which theorizes each person is mentally and physically unique, does not possess equipotentiality (equal potential to learn and achieve), and has developed traits at birth or soon after that affect social functioning and affect criminal behavior. Physical, environmental, and social conditions work in concert to produce behavior. The last part of the theory states, instincts affect learning (rape or desire of males to control