Carries Case Study

Running Head: CARRIE’S CASE STUDY

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY

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CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 2

Introduction

Once a person starts using drugs the effects may not be as devastating, however with time the

effects of continued drug abuse become countless. According to Loeber (1988) for some people,

drug addiction can occur right after the experimentation stage. However, for some people, drug

addiction occurs after heavy dependency on drugs (Smith, 1990).

Carrie’s criminal behavior

The Intervention is a real-life TV show that explores the kind of lives that drug addicts

are involved in and the crimes that they commit to get money to finance their addiction. Episode

44 gives a vivid story of Carrie's life struggles in addiction, her criminal life and the way her

family suffered due to her addiction. Carrie was an experienced boxer who found meaning in life

after finding a coach who took her in and trained her to become a successful boxer. However, the

film explains that Carrie was able to take the tournament home for most of her games except one

which saw her go to the drain and turn to drugs.

After losing one of her matches, Carrie lost her confidence and self-esteem in life she

turned to drinking alcohol. What seemed to be a flourishing life of boxing for a young woman

turned into a failure? She took to exchanging her items for drugs. The addiction was so dire that

she ended up with no item that she could have called her own and eventually she could not be

able to pay her bills. Such events in her life left her homeless, and all she could do was live in

the streets. Her friend reencounters that one time she met Carrie her face and feet were full of

scars dues to fight she engaged in with other addicts. The scars on her feet were due to the

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 3

sleepless nights she spent walking in the streets. Carrie turned to shoplifting which saw her get

arrested for the first time in her life.

Her mother could not bear to see the suffering that her daughter encountered, and every

day she lived in fear that her daughter could be on the verge of death. After her daughter goes

missing with no reply to texts she goes to search for her daughter with her friend. When she

enters in the warehouse where her daughter lives, she cannot help control her emotions, and she

bursts into tears due to the miserable living conditions in the warehouse. She takes up Carrie who

lives in her house. At least she is assured that her daughter will not be involved in crimes such as

stealing and shoplifting, but her daughter’s addiction tears her family apart, but due to the

motherly love she has for her, she cannot stand to see her daughter in the streets.

Carries family background

Carrie was raised in a family where her mother was the only person who was raising her

and her sister. Carrie and her sister did not share the same father. Carrie’s father left when she

was just three years old. She had not identified with her father. On the other hand, while she was

a kid she was subjected to being grounded something that her other half-sister was not subjected

to. Her mother later on remarried in the hope that her new husband could become a father figure

for her daughters. However, this did not augur well with Carrie as she rejected him claiming that

he was not her biological father. Her sister is currently already living a good and stable life and

hopes that Carries can change to be a better person. On the other hand, her mother is still married

to her second husband. The family is very cooperative, and they all work together in trying to

help Carrie out of her predicament (Intervention, 2017).

The show view on Carrie’s addiction to stand

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 4

The cast gives a vivid explanation of the evidence that led to the kind of life that Carrie is

leading. Carrie’s stepfather explains that the incidence that left Carrie devasted was the moment

that she lost her boxing match. According to her family, her coach had straightened her after

having uncountable expulsion from schools. The video provides evidence that after joining

boxing Carrie gained control over her life ad she was able to even perform well in her classes.

However, when she lost the game, she turned to alcoholism after which she became an addict to

hard drugs. Her mother claims that she is not able to pick up the pieces that are broken.

Carrie’s view about her addiction

Carrie’s strongly believes that the cause of her addiction is lack of a father figure in life,

feelings of defeat and feelings of being insecure and abandoned. She recaptures that when she

was small, her father would come into her life and just leaves suddenly. He would then send her

letters that he would come soon which he never did. She would seat at the window hoping that

her father would come back which he never did. This made her feel so abandoned. Even after her

mother remarried, she could never learn to see her mother’s husband as a father. Later on, she

felt crashed after she lost her boxing match which saw her lose her place to play in the nationals

that year. She describes vividly that after her first match which she lost, she took up more

vigorous exercises to prepare herself for the ultimate match (Intervention, 2017).

However, when the referee raised her opponents hand and announced her as the winner,

she felt crashed and felt that all her effort had gone to waste. She reencounters that the feeling of

defeat loomed large and she lost hope; she felt that things would never be okay for her however

hard she tried. She had tried all her best yet she had lost She also turned to alcoholism to escape

her feelings of defeat. The drinking habit turned to be an addiction. Later on, she engaged with

groups who abused hard drugs such as brown sugar which she became a victim to for the better;

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 5

part of her life. She would do anything to get a dose of a drug so that she could survive to see the

next day.

The eventual outcomes for Carrie

After living in the street and in the warehouse which gave her a makeshift in which she

could spend a night for a long time, later her mother came to her rescue. However before this

Carrie was arrested several times, she got into fights with her boyfriend and became torn apart

from society. Her mother reencounters that she even got feet ulcers as she spent sleepless nights

walking in the streets as she was homeless. Her life was miserable however she did not seem to

notice since she was not in her conscious mind most of the time. Unlike other addicts who end

up losing their lives, Carrie was lucky that she had a caring family that was ready to sacrifice

time and look for her. Maybe later they would enroll her in a rehabilitation program.

The family-focused theory

The focused family theory was developed by Nye. Lilly (2010, p.95) argues that the aim

of the theory was not to predict a criminal’s behavior but rather seek to explain why a criminal

behaves the way he does. Nye, however, bases his argument on a study that was carried out on

adolescent to explain the extent to which family influences a person’s behavior. The family is the

most important unit that influences a person behavior. However Nye suggests that there are four

types of control that exist within the family setting namely; internalized control, direct control,

indirect control and alternative satisfaction. Internalized control cases in which an individual can

exercise their feeling even in the absence of direct control.

Nye further stated that it was necessary to identify some positive factors that could be

either classified as biological, psychological or sociological. These factors would be key factors

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 6

in influencing the reason as to why individuals engage in delinquent or criminal behavior. The

main objective of his theory was to identify the social control factors that caused non-conformity

to the rule of law. The factors were twos sided. If the factors operated in a positive manner, then

it means that individual also had the ability to control their actions to be pro-social. In case the

factors operated negatively then it was more likely that the individual could be involved in

criminal activities.

According to Lilly (2010, p. 101), direct control, on the other hand, is exercised by

parents and teachers. Indirect control is associated with the level of affection and integration that

exists in a particular family which enables a person to control his actions. Alternative

satisfaction, on the other hand, is mostly a social system where individuals chase alternative

needs. Nye concentrated more on the family as the family was a key unit in society that had the

ability to influence all the four forms of control. However, the theory draws closely from the

Social control theory. The theory was advanced by Travis Hirschi who put forward his argument

in control theory (Lynch, 2002).

However, it was found that the four types of control were capable of operating

independently. Nye argued that the different forms of control were mutually reinforcing. It was

also very possible to find that one type of control was effective in a particular situation while

another type of control was more effective in a completely different scenario. In most cases when

adolescents were able to identify with their parents through parental attachment then it triggered

a sense of submission and acceptance to the direct controls from parents. However, if teenagers

were not able to form the kind of attachment then they could not be able to submit to parental

control, and in most cases, they turned out to be rebellious (Lilly,2010).

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 7

Kawachi (1999) advocates that family and teachers are the major components of society,

which influence a person’s behavior. The theory claims that the crimes occur when the bond

created by the society is weakened. Societal bonds are based on attachment with the society. The

theory explains that young people have close examined bonds with family. The theory further

articulates that the more the parental attachment, the lower the likelihood of an individual being

involved in crime. This especially occurs in the young life of an individual. In most cases,

children who are raised by both parents are likely to have a strong attachment which helps them

to take control of their actions even when they mature to adulthood (Rankin, 1990).

The social context that relates to the theory

In line with Lilly (2010, p. 101) Nye’s theory was based on a study that was carried on a

number of adolescents who were reviewed to identify the different levels of attachment they had

to their families. Adolescents were chosen in this case since it is during this stage that an

individual develops some of the most relevant behavioral characters. The character traits that an

adolescent adapts at this stage have a significant influence on their future.

The basic tenets of the theory

The theory relies heavily on society and attachments. The society, in this case, is defined

as anything within the environment of an adolescent that influences his or her behavior. The

parents, teachers are the major pillars of a society that have a direct influence on most

adolescents. On the other hand, attachments can be defined as the societal bonds that an

adolescent has. In such a case the bonds that an individual attains with his family and teachers

act as a guide that helps them to make wise choices in life (Hawkins 1992).

Influence that correlates to the criminal behavior

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 8

According to Matsueda (1987) in most cases, it is common that children who were raised

in families that lacked love felt insecure. For example, the adolescents who experienced a

separation between their parents lacked strong parental attachments, and in most cases, they felt

abandoned and not wanted. The father figure was very important in constructing a child’s

societal bond. In most cases, children who lacked such parental bonds were found to be

rebellious in schools and ranked poorly in the school performance.

Later on, in life, such children were found to engage in irresponsible behavior such as

drug abuse and criminal offenses. The stronger the bond that an adolescent has, the higher the

likelihood of making wise choices and avoiding delinquent behavior (Chaplet, 2005)

Main theorist

The theory is mainly linked to Nye who gave a clear interpretation of what the theory

meant. However, on the other hand, Nye developed his theory on the tenets advanced by Travis

Hirschi who first introduced the aspect of social control but in a vague manner. Nye developed

the theory and narrowed social controls to the family context which gives a better insight into the

level of control that the family has over the behavior of young people (Umberson, 1987).

Why the theory you were chosen best explains the struggles of Carrie

Carrie is raised by a single mother together with her sister. Her father fails to take

responsibility of raising them and leaves them to the care of their mother alone. Carrie is most

affected by this experience which leaves her distraught. Her mother explains that after her father

left, Carrie lost herself. She could wait on him near the window hoping he would come back. It is

very evident that Carrie did not have a stable parental base and like any other child, it was hard

for her to develop a positive parental attachment. In line with Nye’s theory parents have direct

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 9

control over their children due to the bond that they have as they raise their kids. In such a case

there was something that went wrong with Carrie’s teenage life. Carries was not able to form

positive attachments with the parents in her life (her mother and step-dad).As a result, she was

unable to submit to their direct controls, and it was hard for her parents to monitor Carries

behaviors as she became rebellious both at home and in school.

On the other hand, Carrie even in her adulthood still has bitter feelings about how her

mother treated her when she was a teenager. She explains that her sister who was a brilliant

student in school was not grounded as many times as she was, her mother is the only parent she

had, however, she does not have any positive relationship with her. The frequent expulsions from

school due to poor performance and behavior are also an indication of poor attachments with her

teachers. Nye was able to point out that teacher had some substantial form of direct control on

teenagers; however, this was only possible if the teenagers submitted to them. Carrie seems to

have carried feelings of sentiments and bitterness from her childhood into her teenagehood. Such

feelings blinded her and caused her to engage in delinquent behavior at school which caused

friction between her and the teachers. The teachers, in this case, were rendered helpless as they

could influence Carrie positively as she was not interested.

These are among the people who exercise a tremendous direct control over kids as they

spend most of the time with them. Carrie in her interviews relates some of these incidences as

some of the factors that contributed to her downfall and addiction to drugs. It was during her

childhood that she developed the greatest fears in her life; fears of defeat and the fear that things

would never be okay however much she tried. Despite the fact that she was doing well in boxing

one match crashes her completely and from then on she is never able to pick and put back the

broken pieces of self-confidence together (Loeber, 1988).

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 10

Maybe if Carrie had been exposed to a more friendly childhood where both parents were

present as she grew up. Then things could have turned out to be different for her. If she had

developed some form of positive attachment to her parents, then they could have been in a

position to exercise direct control on her actions. She could also have created a strong base for

confidence and self-control that would not have been shaken despite life hardship. Picking up the

broken pieces of her life after life’s disappointments could have been much easier for her. Such

internalized control would have played a significant role in helping her abstain from drug abuse.

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 11

References

Chaplet, C. L., Hope, T. L., & White ford, S. W. (2005). The direct and indirect effects of

Parental bonds, parental drug use, and self-control on adolescent substance use. Journal

of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 14(3), 17-38

Hawkins, J. D., & Catalano Jar, R. F. (1992). Communities that care: Action for drug abuse

Prevention. Josser-Bass

Lynch, M. (2002). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society.

Polar: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 25(2), 109-112.

Intervention. (2017). Carries story. Retrieved from http://www.aetv.com/intervention/videoLilly,

J.R., Cullen, F.T. and Ball, R.A., 2010. Criminological theory: Context and consequences. Sage.

Karachi, I., Kennedy, B. P., & Wilkinson, R. G. (1999). Crime: social disorganization and

Relative deprivation. Social science & medicine, 48(6), 719-731.

Matsudo, R. L., & Heifer, K. (1987). Race, family structure, and delinquency: A test of

Differential association and social control theories. American Sociological Review, 826-

840.

Natural histories of conduct problems, delinquency, and associated substance use. In Advances in

Clinical child psychology (pp. 73-124). Springer US.

Rankin, J. H., & Wells, L. E. (1990). The effect of parental attachments and direct controls on

Delinquency. Journal of Research in Crime and delinquency, 27(2), 140-165.

Smith, S. S., & Newman, J. P. (1990). Alcohol and drug abuse-dependence disorders in

Psychopathic and no psychopathic criminal offenders. Journal of abnormal psychology,

99(4), 430.

Umberson, D. (1987). Family status and health behaviors: Social control as a dimension of social

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 12

Integration. Journal of health and social behavior, 306-319.

CARRIE’S CASE STUDY 13

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