British Soldier Lee Rigby: Why Do People Commit Crime

This essay will be looking at killing of British Soldier Lee Rigby in May 2013 in Woolich, London and using Hirschi’s Control theory can help to explain the killing. Hirschi’s Theory contradicts usual criminology theories, which usually focus on why people commit crime, however this theory focuses on the opposite and why the majority do not commit crime and answers the question of “why don’t we do it?” (Maguire, Morgan & Reiner, 2007, p.13) Beginning with a brief outline of the killing of Lee Rigby, it will then move on to try and use the theory to find connections and reasons as to why he was killed.

In May 2013, British Soldier Lee Rigby was murdered by two men; Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale in his hometown of Woolich, London.

(Maguire, Morgan & Reiner, 2007, p.13) He also looks at what happens with a lack of control in situations that could lead to or prevent crime from occurring, he suggests that it is the decrease in control and increase in opportunity that can lead to the committing of crimes. Hirschi suggests four elements to the nature of social bonds; attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. Once these social bonds are weakened, this leaves the offender vulnerable to commenting crime. Hirschi and Gottfredson have stated that they ‘started with a conception of crime and from it attempted to derive a conception of the offender’ (Newburn, 2007, p.237) in order to try and answer the question of ‘why don't we do it?’ Together with Gottfredson, Hirschi suggested certain high crime groups that may be susceptible to committing crime and that crime is ‘likely to be committed by those who are impulsive, insensitive, physical… risk taking, short sighted and non-verbal.’ (Hirschi & Gottfredson, 1990) Some high risk crime groups were suggested to be young people, those from deprived communities and

One element linked between the two could be the idea of male pursuit. This suggests that typically males commit more crimes than females, for example it has been said that, ‘a typical homicide begins as a fight about trivial matters of honour, status, and reputation between men.’ (Kanazawa & Still, 2000, p. 439) Hirschi suggests that this is due to the difference of the intensity of control males given compared to females and that when there is a stronger attachment they are more likely to feel guilt, this is usually evident in females. This can be seen in the case of Michael Adebowale as he was raised by a single mother, ((Whitehead, 2014, para. 29) this could have lead to a lack of attachment being formed to a father figure which then caused him to rebel in order to show masculinity and be the masculine figure, displaying aggression and violence. (Whitehead, 2014, para.