Nehemah Griego Case Study

Merely a child, Nehemiah Griego pleads guilty to the murders of his mother, father, and three siblings. This unlawful homicide has given, Nehemiah, both charges of child abuse, in partake with his younger siblings and murder. Nehemiah is a 15-year-old boy from New Mexico who was said to have been frustrated and annoyed with his mother, which led to the beginning of his killing spree. Although Nehemiah has not further explained the exact reasons for the cause of his delinquent act other than being frustrated with his mother (which may have been the only reason), he admits to killing them one by one without much hesitation. Not only did he admit to killings his family members, but he also admitted how he did so and how he had planned to go on

Both guns that he used to kill his family, were guns owned by the household. Griego is said to not have any mental illnesses and proclaim to not have been intoxicated or found with anything in his system. What seems to be the best explanation for this whole case is that the father of Nehemiah, Greg Griego, was a pastor who had a history of being an affiliated gang member. He had numerous arrests from his past and as reported, owned various guns that were placed throughout his household. Due to the fact that Nehemiah’s father was a past gang member, this could provide various reasons to why Nehemiah decided to kill his family members, due to strain and a family structure that seemed to be

Both the social learning theory and control theory seem to play a big part in describing why Nehemiah committed his delinquent act. Parental crime plays a role in a juvenile’s delinquent activities, as it provides them with a different view on delinquency. Social learning plays a vital role in this situation as Nehemiah’s father was a part of a gang. Growing up knowing that his father was in a gang and was taught how to use guns at such a young age, provided Nehemiah an alternate route, that route being a delinquent one. If his own father was a criminal, it provided Nehemiah with a choice of being one as well. The social learning theory provided Nehemiah a certain belief on crime which differed from others, since his father engaged in crime as well. Due to his father being in a gang, this is where the control theory comes in. Control theory can explain the cause for his delinquent act due to having a low stake in conformity and not much direct control. Criminal parents are said to be more involved in abusive behavior and not have a strong bond with their children. This can explain how, since Nehemiah had very little stake in conformity, he was more willing to commit his delinquent act. He didn’t have much to lose or possibly didn’t care too much of what he was committing since he didn’t have much direct control or stake in conformity. It seemed that he had