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Comparison Of General Strain Theory And John Wayne Gacy

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General Strain Theory and John Wayne Gacy
Mandy Feldbauer
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

General Strain Theory and John Wayne Gacy
There are many ways that criminological theories can explain the criminal behaviors of serial killers and other types of criminals. There are also plenty of theories and an abundance of criminals. For every criminal, there has to be some theory that could explain his or her behaviors in some way. This is especially true for the serial killer, John Wayne Gacy. General Strain Theory can clearly explain some of his behaviors.
In a lecture to a Theoretical Criminology class in October of 2014, Dr. Ridener stated that Robert Agnew presented General Strain Theory in his landmark article …show more content…

Once the victims were manacled the cuffs were shown to be real, at which point he would overpower them or drug them with chloroform, then strip and gag them, often with their own underwear. Torture and rape followed, then they were asphyxiated by their gags (“John Wayne Gacy: Killer Clown,” 2014).
His fate was to serve 12 death sentences and 21 life sentences for his terrible crimes, and he was imprisoned at the Menard Correctional Center for almost 15 years, before being executed. He was killed by lethal injection on May 10th, 1994 at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois. This finally brought an end to the terror, and people could now sleep at night and not have to worry about the killer clown (“John Wayne Gacy Biography,” …show more content…

His birthday was Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17th, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois (“John Wayne Gacy Biography,” 2014). His parents were, John Wayne Gacy, Sr. and Marion Elaine Robinson Gacy as the second of three children (Bell & Bardsley, n.d.). Gacy’s father was a drunk who used to beat him and his sisters for the smallest misbehavior. His father was never proud of him, no matter how much Gacy just wanted his approval. His sister said that all three of them had to toughen up, and act like the beatings and abuse didn’t bother them. Apparently, Gacy would no longer cry as their father took his drunken anger out on them (“John Wayne Gacy Biography”, 2014). His father frequently called him a “sissy” and they never had a good relationship (“John Wayne GACY Jr,”

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