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Criminal Minds: Daniel Murphy

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Daniel Murphy, a character in the television series Criminal Minds serves as an example of social control theory throughout the episode “A Shade of Grey” in season four. Daniel Is the son of Dan Murphy and Sarah Murphy and brother to Kyle Murphy. The Murphy family lived in Cherry Hill, New Jersey where Daniel was an elementary school student. Daniel was 9 years old and experienced many problems concerning self-control. Daniel presents sociopathic tendencies at a young age and shows his lack of self-control and inability to feel emotions. I will be using Travis Hirschi’s social control theory to explain Daniel Murphy’s actions of murdering his brother, Kyle Murphy in the show Criminal Minds. Sun claims that social control theory can be defined …show more content…

As a child, Daniel displays criminal behaviors at a young age when he murders a puppy without provocation. Fedorek claims “lack of self-control was the primary cause of criminal behaviors. They claim most ordinary crimes require few skills to commit and have an immediate payoff.”(Fedorek, 2023). The instant gratification and lack of remorse show sociopathic tendencies in Daniel leading to his criminal actions. Daniel lacks social attachments and self control making him more susceptible to commit criminal actions. Due to his parents Dan and Sarah Murphy’s challenges with being able to control Daniel, Kyle Murphy is murdered leading to his parents' denial for Daniel's antisocial …show more content…

Due to lack of self control and social bonds Daniel Murphy murdered his brother and shows no guilt over the murder. When the behavioral analysis team interviews the family it is shown that Daniel has manipulative behaviors, and is able to mimic people's emotions. Daniel’s aggressive behaviors are shown to Emily Prentiss through aggressive behaviors shown towards the inability to open a bag of chips. Emily Prentiss determines that Daniel being a sociopath individual needs help. This resulted in Daniel Murphy being institutionalized after murdering both his own brother, Kyle, and a

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