Criminal Justice 710:
Issues in Criminal Justice I
Fall 2020
Position Paper Number One
During the summer of 1969, Charles Manson directed members of “his family” to commit several murders. On August 9, 1969, Manson ordered Charles Watson to take Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkle to the former house of Terry Melcher and to kill everyone there. The Family members proceeded to kill five people including Sharon Tate, a well-known actress. Susan Atkins wrote the word, “pig” in blood on the front door as they left.
On August 10, 1969, six Family members, including Leslie Van Houten, Steve Grogan, and the four members from the August 9th murders, accompanied by Charles Manson himself, drove to the home of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca located in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles. In a bloody reprise of the August 9th murders, the members of the family murdered both LaBiancas.
After doing research on the details of this incident, as well as on Manson’s background, attempt to analyze this crime employing both Gottfredson and Hirschi’s “A General Theory of Crime” and Edwin Sutherland’s “Differential Association.”
Issues in Criminal Justice
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Issues in Criminal Justice
Hirsch and Gottfredson’s general theory of crime is a control theory that seeks to explain the cause of criminality and the difference between criminality and crime. According to the theory, lack of self-control is the main cause of all forms of crimes and criminality (Nofziger, and Johnson, 2020). Low self-control develop in people in their early stages of development, caused by lack of supervision from parents and guardians (Bleininger, 2016). People with self-control resist crimes and pressure to commit crimes from society, for instance, choosing to steal instead of working.
The general theory and social bond theory are similar, where social attachments, such as parents, teachers, and social norms, determine an individual prevalence of criminality (Bleininger, 2016). . Children growing in environments of abuse and neglect tend to commit crimes often. People with low self-control tend to be nonverbal and impulsive, where, according to Gotfredson, crime is an act of force that is conducted out of self-interest. Concerning Charles Manson and his family case, criminality occurs when a group of people or individuals tend to behave criminally. As the family leader, Charles Manson directed members of the family to go murder in Terry Melcher’s former house. Charles’s mason tendency to commit a crime and behave criminally was due to a lack of self-control. Manson’s lack of self-control made it hard to resist crime and choose revenge over the legal process.
Manson had little stamina and conscientiousness, making him resit and make wise decisions instead of choosing crime. Due to a lack of proper upbringing and being raised in an environment and setting of neglect, the family members could not resist directions from Charles Manson. Since parenting is the most impactful factor in the general theory (Nofziger, and Johnson, 2020), Charles Manson was not a good and responsible parent; the children are more likely to commit crimes.
On the other hand, the social attachment between the parent and the children and families contributed to the two murder cases. Hirsch’s bond of attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief is closely linked to social control. According to the concept of the bond of attachment, the family members found it hard to resist Charles Mason’s directives to murder because the family members thought what Manson would think if we resist crime. How many people care about what people think if we commit a crime is driven by self–control (Nofziger, and Johnson, 2020). Lack of self-control would drive one into committing a crime to satisfy someone else ego.
According to the differential association theory by Edwin Southerland, people learn techniques, motives, and values for criminal behaviors. The differential association theory is also known as the learning theory of crime, which provides how an individual becomes a criminal (Mark Lokanan, 2018). According to the nine principles of differential association theory, criminal behaviors are learned, drives towards criminality occur after interpreting favorable and unfavorable legal codes, all criminal activities are learned, most learning takes place in intimate relationships. An individual weighs the favorable and unfavorable conditions that support crime before choosing to become a criminal; learning criminality takes the same course as learning good behaviors.
The Sutherlands propositions of criminality explain Charles Masons and family involvement in criminality on ninth 1969 during the summer and the same tenth year. Charles Manson and the family members weighed favorable and unfavorable interpretation, choosing to commit a crime during summer. According to seasonal patterns in criminal activities, property crimes and murder cases in private homes are higher than in winter (Mark Lokanan, 2018). Charles Mason and his family chose to kill Sharon Tate and the LA Bianca’s in summer. Additionally, the tendency to commit crime due to lack of self-control, according to the general theory, provided a learning opportunity for the family members, such as Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkle, and Linda Kasabian (Bleininger, 2016).
The four family members involved in the first murder of Sharon Tate and five others learned techniques and motives of criminal behaviors. The learning process occurs when individuals are raised in a family with a criminal background, such as Charles Mason’s family (Mark Lokanan, 2018). The learning process, according to Southerland, takes place through communication and interaction with people. Also, most learning occurs in intimate relationships, such as from family members or spouses, such as in the case scenario.
The relationship and attachment between the family members provided a suitable learning environment build on loyalty and trust. The intimacy between the family members made it hard for them to resist crime because all the members conducted criminal activity with the same motive. The first four family members, led by Charles Watson, set the other members’ pace to provide a learning platform. For instance, Steve Grogan and Leslie Van Houten learned criminal motives and behaviors from the first four. The family members were influenced by the definition of crime provided by Charles Mason and other family members involved in crime (Mark Lokanan, 2018). Criminality is a social learning process where exposure to criminal behaviors leads to criminality. The crimes committed by the family members were driven by general needs and values, such as revenge or jealousy, and because of the favorable definitions and interpretations of legal codes that favor committing the criminal act.
References
Bleininger, M. S. (2016). An examination of self-control and the family structure (Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University).
Mark Lokanan PhD, C. F. E. (2018). Informing the fraud triangle: Insights from differential association theory. The Journal of Theoretical Accounting Research, 14(1), 55-98.
Nofziger, S., & Johnson, T. (2020). Revisiting the Concept of Stability in the General Theory of Crime. Crime & Delinquency, 66(6-7), 739-769.
