Theories Of Aaron Hernandez

In June of 2013 Aaron Hernandez, formerly of the New England Patriots, was taken into custody after he had been charged with the murder of his friend Odin Lloyd. This case has been front-page news for nearly two years now and it has finally come to a conclusion. On Wednesday, April 15th, 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Three criminological theories that could explain why Hernandez committed this crime are the Rational Choice, Containment, and Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory. The first theory that could provide an explanation behind why Aaron Hernandez committed this murder is the Rational Choice Theory. This theory states that the actor

This theory states that learning is a cognitive function that takes place through social interactions. Aaron has been surrounded by criminals his entire life. He came from a particularly dark childhood, which included his mother being arrested for running an illegal gambling ring out of their home and a very untimely death of his father. From an early age, Aaron had been friends with some very questionable people and it seemed that his dad was the one person who was able to keep Aaron from doing something he would regret. During high school he was photographed flashing the gang sign of the Bloods and wearing all red, the gang’s color. Soon after the photo surfaced is when his father passed. According to people close to Hernandez, his fathers’ death was a turning point in his life. His interactions with the friends his dad attempted to keep him from increased and along with it, his criminal activity. In accordance with the Differential Association Theory, Aaron must have learned how to live the life of a criminal through interactions with his friends. One critique of Sutherland’s theory is that people are rational actors and are individually motivated. It is possible that Aarons interactions with his friends was not the motivating factor behind his criminal activity, it could have stemmed from his own

This theory suggests individuals are put through pushes and pulls that either influence or deter people from committing crime. If we look at the push and pull forces that have had an influence on Aaron Hernandez’s life, we can see the forces that push him towards a life of crime outweigh the ones that would deter him from criminal activity. It is very likely that the number of push forces greatly outnumbered the forces that pulled him away from crime. His mother went to jail when Hernandez was in high school and his stepfather was in prison before marrying his mother and would eventually go to jail again after he stabbed his mother multiple times. His friends in high school would also be a push factor, leading him to his life of criminal activity. The person who most likely had the greatest impact on Aaron’s life was his father. His father was the one person who kept Aaron out of jai for the first sixteen years of his life. After his dad’s death is when the push factors surpassed the pull factors and is when his criminal activity began to increase and finally came to an end when he was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd. One criticism of this theory is that it does not take into account self-control. If Aaron Hernandez had the self-control to overcome the push factors he could have been able to avoid being a life-long