Steven McGahan
Gloria Nikolai
Sociology 231-151
13 October 2015
Critical Thinking 1 In his article for the Miami Herald “Young killer sentenced to life in prison to get new hearing” published October 12, 2015, David Ovalle tells the story of twenty five year old man, Michael Hernandez, who has been in prison for over ten years for the murder of his high school friend Jamie Gough. When Hernandez was fourteen years old he persuaded his friend to follow him into the bathroom at the school where he proceeded to stab him forty times before cutting the kids throat and then going to his next class. Before this event he had failed at an attempt to isolate another friend earlier on the same day. At first Hernandez denied the crime but went on to tell …show more content…
For this reason the free will theory seems the best way to analyze Hernandez’s actions. In book Deviant Behavior Erich Goode lists the three elements needed for deviance to take place as “a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian” (30). Even though Goode also states that the motivation is not as important as the other two elements, it may still be worth exploring. While he was a teenager Hernandez decided that he wanted to become a serial killer and wrote a list of people that he wanted to kill. Gough was on this list. An article by the Associated Press states that Hernandez’s list also included his own sister and another friend because he thought they knew what he wanted to become. The article also states that “prosecution experts said that although he had some mental problems, he met the legal definition of sanity and had made a choice to be a killer” (Associated Press). By analyzing these statements it seems likely that his motivation was to kill and to protect himself so that he could kill again. This can also explain why his victim fell under the “suitable target” category (Goode, 30). By isolating his victim, Hernandez reduced the chance that another student or a teacher would be able to stop him. The way he planned and carried out his attack showed that he was able to think through his actions …show more content…
In this case it seems that the person doing the labeling was Hernandez. He decided to become a killer. The desire to not be caught shows some understanding that his actions were in violation of social norms. Still, he accepted this and acted within the parameters of his chosen identity. His actions may have also been influenced by the way he thought he was viewed by some of his intended victims, forcing him to act before his initial planned time in order to avoid being labeled publicly. Court reporter J. Logue account of the appellate trial revealed that Hernandez’s psychiatrist knew of Hernandez’s plan to kill after he turned eighteen. In this instance the label of killer was one Hernandez wanted and his actions seem to have been his attempt to stop this label from becoming public and interrupting his future
Gloria Nikolai
Sociology 231-151
13 October 2015
Critical Thinking 1 In his article for the Miami Herald “Young killer sentenced to life in prison to get new hearing” published October 12, 2015, David Ovalle tells the story of twenty five year old man, Michael Hernandez, who has been in prison for over ten years for the murder of his high school friend Jamie Gough. When Hernandez was fourteen years old he persuaded his friend to follow him into the bathroom at the school where he proceeded to stab him forty times before cutting the kids throat and then going to his next class. Before this event he had failed at an attempt to isolate another friend earlier on the same day. At first Hernandez denied the crime but went on to tell …show more content…
For this reason the free will theory seems the best way to analyze Hernandez’s actions. In book Deviant Behavior Erich Goode lists the three elements needed for deviance to take place as “a motivated offender, a suitable target, and the absence of a capable guardian” (30). Even though Goode also states that the motivation is not as important as the other two elements, it may still be worth exploring. While he was a teenager Hernandez decided that he wanted to become a serial killer and wrote a list of people that he wanted to kill. Gough was on this list. An article by the Associated Press states that Hernandez’s list also included his own sister and another friend because he thought they knew what he wanted to become. The article also states that “prosecution experts said that although he had some mental problems, he met the legal definition of sanity and had made a choice to be a killer” (Associated Press). By analyzing these statements it seems likely that his motivation was to kill and to protect himself so that he could kill again. This can also explain why his victim fell under the “suitable target” category (Goode, 30). By isolating his victim, Hernandez reduced the chance that another student or a teacher would be able to stop him. The way he planned and carried out his attack showed that he was able to think through his actions …show more content…
In this case it seems that the person doing the labeling was Hernandez. He decided to become a killer. The desire to not be caught shows some understanding that his actions were in violation of social norms. Still, he accepted this and acted within the parameters of his chosen identity. His actions may have also been influenced by the way he thought he was viewed by some of his intended victims, forcing him to act before his initial planned time in order to avoid being labeled publicly. Court reporter J. Logue account of the appellate trial revealed that Hernandez’s psychiatrist knew of Hernandez’s plan to kill after he turned eighteen. In this instance the label of killer was one Hernandez wanted and his actions seem to have been his attempt to stop this label from becoming public and interrupting his future