Theoretical Application Essay

Running Head: THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

Theoretical Application Paper

Name:

Institutional affiliation

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

Theoretical Application Paper

Introduction

The case study will focus on a female serial killer who targeted the men as her victims and

will look at the theories that attempt to explain the mind of the apprehended killer. Aileen

Wuornos is known to kill seven people through pulling a trigger on them at point blank making it

appear like she did it intentionally (Burke, 2013). Her case and actions attracted the attention of

the world and more so students in law where they lay an emphasis by taking it as a case study to

formulate the theories in criminology as well as understand more lessons in crime. Criminology

is the field of science that attempts to understand through studying the extent and management of

criminal behavior. It focuses on understanding why people commit crimes and their flow of

thoughts that trigger them to do such a thing to innocent people and sometimes to their loved

ones. It is more of a social and behavioral science that seeks different angles and ideas on how to

solve the issues in the crimes. Further, it makes use of theories that tend to explain the reasoning

on the human actions towards the others. Theoretical applications and ideas on the subject are

broad and varied depending on the angle that the study takes. For the purpose of the survey, it

will focus on the labeling theory in a serial killers’ mind, the anomie theory and the social

control theory. All have different perspectives in the way they look at the situation and give

insights on the way that the public should resolve such social issues. They have their distinct

assumptions on the underlying factors justifying the application of the same in the court and

criminal cases presented in a session where justice served to the victims if they are alive is fair.

Thesis statement

The study will identify the application of the theories and justify why some actions take place

in a court of law through the thought of serving justice. It will also give a comparative analysis

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

of the theoretical approaches that the researcher uses to address the issues. It will also address the

high points, and the weaknesses of each theory as applied towards the case study as earlier

mentioned.

Presentation of Case

The study will focus on the case by Aileen Wuornos who the law considers a serial killer due

to the proof that she killed seven men through shooting them. She was a commercial sex worker

or what people in her day called prostitution and in her defense. She stated that whenever a client

presented or paused as one who posed a threat to her security, she would respond in self-defense

and justified the reason as to why she committed the murders (Taylor et al., 2013). Her

childhood was disturbed which could have contributed to the negative energy she had. The lack

of a father figure and the constant marriages that her mother had as well as the exposure to

sexual activities at an early age may have had an impact on her thought system and affected her

self-esteem. Some of her claims were that her grandfather sexually exploited her and raped by

his friends or sometimes forcing her to strip naked on their presence. After the death of her

grandmother, the grandfather threw her out and she started her prostitution activities so that she

could support herself. The effects on her mind after the mother abandoned them with the siblings

and the type of reception she got from her grandfather may have messed up her flow of thoughts

and behavior.

Earlier in her life before the cases of killing the victims, Wuornos appeared in many instances

brushing with crimes and petty offenses against the law. For instance, at an early age of eighteen,

she was caught driving under the influence and by the age of twenty-two, she was caught firing a

pistol from among vehicle. Other instances that indicate that she had a criminal mind who baited

others with the intent to kill were when she threw a cue ball at a bartender on his head. She also

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

took part in theft attempts, arrested and released which showed that she was used to the kind of

life in the jails and her mind preoccupied with doing the wrong things in the eyes of the law

(Lanier et al., 2014). The character that she portrayed had dark indications on a troubled

childhood and the fact that she had neither family nor any sense of belonging to the society.

Later, for the purpose and focus of the paper, she killed the men between 1989 and 1990. She

was arrested in 1990 and served with a lethal injection in 2002 after the court found her guilty.

Her defense is that the men were trying to rape her and she killed them so that she can protect

herself. She was later sentenced to death and received a lethal injection of a lethal dose to her

system which shut down the functionality of her body on the morning of October 9, 2002.

i. Theoretical Application

The theory of anomie by Durkheim argues that strain happens when a person looks for ways to

which they can satisfy their needs, and they often feel some pain and some of the form of

friction. The theory stands out with the deregulation which further stems from the inadequacy,

and there is a high possibility of the crime happening due to the strain placed and perceived on

an individual as they look for survival patterns. The normal and expected form of life is one that

allows one live a comfortable life without any training which may have an impact on their

wellness and the conduct they have towards different situations in life. It enables the free and full

relationship among people as they lack nothing (Henry & Lanier, 2006). However, in the case

that one strain to even access their basic needs, then there is some level of crime that may happen

with time.

The theory application and the analysis about the case study may have different indications

through the kind of strain that Aileen had and experienced from a young life which may justify

the reason she killed the men who were supposed to be her clients. She was going through an

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

emotional strain in the form of the abuse that she had faced in the past from the abandonment by

her mother and the fact that the person who was supposed to protect her became the one who

took advantage of her situation. Rape and sexual assault is the highest form of demeaning to a

woman where they feel they have no valid reason as to why they should be alive. Later, when the

grandfather kicks her out, she faces more strain where she has to look for means in which to fend

for herself, and the last option and choice she has is taking part in prostitution. She had no

education and therefore it would be hard for her to get some meaningful job. Every person seeks

ways through which they can reduce the strain they feel which could take different forms like in

emotional or physical. Her revenge on the men could have been a way through which she

released the tension and pressure she felt with no outlet of her internal pressure. The revenge

against the men would have also been a way through which she was getting back to the males in

her life who had failed her and taken advantage of her innocence. The court would have ruled in

her favor considering the dark past that she had gone through by giving her judgment.

ii. Theoretical Application:

The labeling theory works in a simple yet effective way through the lens of the serial killers or

any other line of criminal activities. On the one hand, there might be a justification from the

society as to why they consider naming and framing individual behavioral changes and actions in

humans as either right or wrong (Maguire et al., 212). The labeling theory assumptions argue that

once an individual in the society gets a label, they tend to live and act the way the label states. It

is common to find that once one convicted of a crime, the society looked at them from a different

perspective and labeled as criminals who have little or no respect for the law. They take up the

name and act accordingly identifying the characteristic features of the label given to them.

Howard, Lemert, and Tannenbaum were the theorists behind the idea of labeling. They argued

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

that the labeling happens in two phases, the primary and the secondary levels. The first behavior

occurs when there is a particular and specific action that causes the initial labeling of the person

as a deviant while the secondary labeling happens after a person starts behaving and identifying

with the classification given to them in regards to the label of the society.

In the case study of Aileen and her growing up, she had a low self-esteem due to the type of

life that she went through, and from a young, she started engaging in sexual activities which

would later become one of her clear identification as a sexual object through engaging in

prostitution. The fact that her stepfather was a pedophile and this communicated to her that

women used as sex objects for the fulfillment of the man’s sexual desires. The verbal abuse that

she faced through her father made her get the label from a primary point of view. She started

behaving as such and would be found engaging in sex with the opposite sex at a young age

where she even got a baby at the age of fourteen years (Henry & Einstadter, 2006). The labeling

further developed into a secondary level where she now identified herself as a sexually abused

person and due to the sexual abuse, she engaged in paid intercourse. It would later affect the way

she looks at the men who engaged in sex with her even though she would get some payment

from them. The perception in this case was the fact that she was now an adult and could also take

advantage and label the men who had previously taken advantage of her (Taylor et al., 2013).

She could get back at them by labeling them as rapists as she had earlier been labeled as a sexual

object and taken as such by the male society. Such scenario in a court argument would have no

relevance as the court because the offender took up the label given to her and responded by

acting as such and behaving in a manner that confused her moral standing.

iii. Theoretical Application

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

The social control theory, on the other hand, argues that the limitation and the scope which

govern the behavior of people have an effect on self-control. The forces that control the

individual behavior limit the way that people relate to each other as there are rules and

regulations that people should follow so that they can stipulate that they behave in the right way

or the wrong way. On the one hand, the laws that govern the society allow them to relate to each

other without having doubts about the respect accorded to one another. It allows people to

connect in a professional manner and creating an enabling environment for the others to have a

conducive environment for the others (Hughes & Edwards, 2013). Mutual respect is the fiber that

upholds the society and allows them to live in harmony without any form of criminal activities.

The social control is more about regulating the behavior of people and making sure that they

have the right forum within which they can work and live without causing any disruptions to the

way of life. They protect the peaceful coexistence that will reduce the possibility of crime

happening as people live together quiet with no form of fights among them.

About the case study, the Aileen already knew about the moral rules and regulations that exist in

the society and from a young age she knew what was right and wrong. In this case scenario, she

did some things affecting the social laws intentionally. She was enrolled in school for some time

and therefore she had an idea of the right thing according to the eyes of the law as well as the

repercussions of doing the wrong thing (Mark, 2006). The conscience being alive allowed the

proper functioning of her brain, and she could, therefore, make choices on what to do the right

thing or the wrong thing. The study concludes that she intentionally did the wrong thing against

the social control for her personal benefit and she was generally against the law all the time. On

the one hand, the study can comprehensively conclude that personal responsibility is one of the

factors that guides how one should behave towards others. They act in the right way, and the

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

society will give them a warm reception, and they behave otherwise, and they get the worst

reception from the community. In essence, the community supports those with good morals and

gives the other a hard time by putting them in jail as a form of punishment due to their lack of

support and respect to the social, moral standing.

Comparative Theoretical Analysis

Theories in Criminology exist so that they can give guidelines on how to best react to a situation

presented to them. The social control theory manages how the people behave in a setting

depicting the highest level of maturity on whether someone is watching them or not. The

argument may not hold ground in all areas due to the different interpretations of morality among

the various societies (Young, 2011). The labeling method, on the other hand, works by what the

society perceives to be a natural reaction to the talk that governs the way people turn out to be.

Shortcomings for this type exist in the way that not all people identify with the label the society

gives them as they have the choice to change or do what the community thinks they should do.

The most relevant theory that the study could support is the anomie theory which argues on

the strain behavior and understands that once an individual has had some form of pressure in

their young age, the output of such falls on their adult life. Courts could incorporate the idea of

such use it to make judgments on the cases presented to them. They could dig up the history if

time allows of an offender and more so who has a record of petty offenses at a young age where

they take the corrective measures. They do so that they can provide a solution to the offender

without necessarily punishing them without a course or without giving them a long term solution

that will solve the internal strain that they might have.

Conclusion

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

The purpose of the paper was to provide a thorough analysis of the theoretical approaches

applied in criminology as well as the arguments brought forward as part of the defense. The

study used the case of a serial killer and analyzed it to find a method through which the theories

of crime apply to the situation. The discussions have fulfilled the purpose of the paper to a large

extent and have given the justification that the courts would have assumed in the case were the

accused and the victims alive. The researcher was also able to read widely and identify other

theories that criminology applies in the court room. Justice to the victims is the main purpose as

to why the court systems exist as well as finding the initial reason as to why a criminal behaves

in the way they do (Lilly et al., 2014). The correctional facilities well known as the prisons, on

the other hand, isolate the criminals from the public for some time, but death as a sentence is the

worst case scenario applied in the courts. It is important that the court systems are aware of the

theories that will allow them to give the best decision in a case giving all the sides the justice

within the right procedure.

Implications of the analysis reveal that court systems do a great job as they seek and serve justice

by punishing the law offenders and punishing them through the different ways according to the

type of crime they committed. However, there is the need to review the system depending on the

crime and background of the offender. It means that there must be a reason as to why an offender

does something which necessitates the need to have the theories applied and punished the

offenders albeit give the punishment after looking at all angles. Some judgments to the offenders

may be too harsh, and with the right help, they could also get some relevant help that would help

shape their lives in the end.

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

References

Burke, R. H. (2013). An introduction to criminological theory. Routledge.

Henry, S., & Lanier, M. (2006). The essential criminology reader. Boulder, Colo.

Henry, S., & Einstadter, W. J. (2006). Criminological theory: An analysis of its underlying

assumptions. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Hughes, G., & Edwards, A. (Eds.). (2013). Crime Control and Community. Routledge.

Lanier, M. M., Henry, S., & Anastasia, D. J. (2014). Essential criminology. Perseus Books

Group.

Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T., & Ball, R. A. (2014). Criminological theory: Context and

consequences. Sage Publications.

Maguire, M., Morgan, R., & Reiner, R. (2012). The Oxford handbook of criminology. Oxford

University Press.

Mark. Lanier. (2006). The essential criminology reader. S. Henry, & M. Lanier (Eds.). Boulder,

CO: Westview Press.

Taylor, I., Walton, P., & Young, J. (2013). The new criminology: For a social theory of

deviance. Routledge.

Young, J. (2011). The criminological imagination. Polity Press, Cambridge.

THEORETICAL APPLICATION PAPER

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."