In Russell Tiller’s documentary The Seven Five, the characters Michael Dowd and Adam Diaz were ideal ‘criminals’ to analyse using theories that we discussed in class. I will be using four theories to explain why those two characters were committing criminal acts. The four theories I plan to use are learning theory, self control theory, general strain theory, and differential association. I would like to start with Michael Dowd. He was known to be fearless, he was known to not care if he got busted, and he learned a lot of this behavior because of his fellow peers. One theory that explains why he committed criminal acts is learning theory. In lecture, professor Foreman stated that learning theory is “learned through interaction with others,
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In the textbook Essential Criminology, it states “Those with a low degree of self-control are easily swayed by current benefits and tend to forget future costs. Most people are between these extremes, sometimes doing things they know they should not do, other times being careful not to take the unnecessary risks for short-term advantage” (Lanier, Essential Criminology). This is a perfect explanation for why Dowd individually commits criminal acts. He, as I stated before, was known to be fearless. He did not think of the consequences because he was distracted by the thing that gave him instant gratification. In the film, this began when “one day I was hurting for money and I just took a risk and pulled over a motorist who was a 18 year old mystery...he had no license or nothing, but he had a nice stack of one hundred dollar bills” (The Seven Five, 2014). He didn’t think of the long term costs, he just saw the money and was lured by it. He then continuously went on to do delinquent acts, without thinking of the long term goals. He was very impulsive and was known for that as well. One of the reasons why Dowd committed criminal acts was because he had low self control and because of this, he did not think of the long term …show more content…
One theory I would like to use to explain why Diaz committed criminal acts is Agnew’s general strain theory. This theory can be both macro & micro, but I want to use the macro explanation. In lecture, professor Foreman stated that “You can have strain in a society & you can also have individual strains that a person will respond to which explains why they commit crime” (Foreman, week 5). In a structural sense in why Diaz and his organization commit crime is that they faced strains in this society and they responded, like other drug lords and criminals, by committing criminal acts. According to Agnew, "Strains lead to crime because they increase negative emotions which creates pressure for corrective action” (Foreman, week 5). These people were facing many strains most likely because they faced discrimination because many of them were another race or ethnicity, they were probably economically disadvantaged before their road to criminality, and many other stressors. In a structural sense, many people who committed crime, like the people in the Diaz organization, had “negative emotions that reduced their ability to cope in a legal manner” (Foreman, week 5). Diaz and many people like him probably committed crime because of the strains they faced in
In the textbook Essential Criminology, it states “Those with a low degree of self-control are easily swayed by current benefits and tend to forget future costs. Most people are between these extremes, sometimes doing things they know they should not do, other times being careful not to take the unnecessary risks for short-term advantage” (Lanier, Essential Criminology). This is a perfect explanation for why Dowd individually commits criminal acts. He, as I stated before, was known to be fearless. He did not think of the consequences because he was distracted by the thing that gave him instant gratification. In the film, this began when “one day I was hurting for money and I just took a risk and pulled over a motorist who was a 18 year old mystery...he had no license or nothing, but he had a nice stack of one hundred dollar bills” (The Seven Five, 2014). He didn’t think of the long term costs, he just saw the money and was lured by it. He then continuously went on to do delinquent acts, without thinking of the long term goals. He was very impulsive and was known for that as well. One of the reasons why Dowd committed criminal acts was because he had low self control and because of this, he did not think of the long term …show more content…
One theory I would like to use to explain why Diaz committed criminal acts is Agnew’s general strain theory. This theory can be both macro & micro, but I want to use the macro explanation. In lecture, professor Foreman stated that “You can have strain in a society & you can also have individual strains that a person will respond to which explains why they commit crime” (Foreman, week 5). In a structural sense in why Diaz and his organization commit crime is that they faced strains in this society and they responded, like other drug lords and criminals, by committing criminal acts. According to Agnew, "Strains lead to crime because they increase negative emotions which creates pressure for corrective action” (Foreman, week 5). These people were facing many strains most likely because they faced discrimination because many of them were another race or ethnicity, they were probably economically disadvantaged before their road to criminality, and many other stressors. In a structural sense, many people who committed crime, like the people in the Diaz organization, had “negative emotions that reduced their ability to cope in a legal manner” (Foreman, week 5). Diaz and many people like him probably committed crime because of the strains they faced in