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Social Process Theory: Cyraus Foldger's View Of Crime

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Do you ever wonder why some people become criminals? Is it a genetic compound that we are born with, or is it a casual effect of the surroundings we are raised in and the people we are raised by? It’s a complicated question with no absolute answer. Cyraus Foldger once said, “We are all capable of becoming something monstrous.” Foldger’s statement couldn’t be more accurate, human beings are shaped by their surroundings and relationships and because of this, we all have the ability to become criminals. There is a view of crime called the social process theory which is the view that criminality is a function of people’s interactions with various organizations, institutions, and processes in society. Social process theory consists of three independent …show more content…

For instance, take the Beltway sniper attacks that took place over three weeks in October of 2002, killing ten people and injuring several more across the Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. area. The shootings were carried out by John Muhammad, who was acting as guardian to his accomplice, seventeen year old, Lee Boyd Malvo. Muhammad had served in the National Guard and Army for 17 years before he was honorably discharged. Muhammad then traveled to Antigua around 1999, where he engaged in credit car and immigration fraud and ended up meeting a young Malvo and his mother. After their meeting in Antigua, Malvo came to live and was raised by Muhammad. In high school, Malvo’s classmates noted that he never made the effort to befriend anyone, describing his demeanor as antisocial. Along with his antisocial tactics, Malvo took up shoplifting and actually claimed that he stole the Bushmaster XM-15 that was used in the deadly shootings. In the end, Malvo told authorities that his participation in the shootings were due to Muhammad’s vast influence on his life, especially his knowledge of fire arms. Malvo’s deviant actions can be seen as a prime example of how adolescences learn from their surroundings, especially from the actions of their significant others in their …show more content…

A few commonly used labels such as “criminal”, “ex-con”, and “junkie” tend to isolate people from society and lock them into lives of crime. In some instances, there are kids whose parents are in jail and because of that, the kids at school label them as a “future criminal” by saying, “ You’re going to grow up to be just like your dad”. It is situations like that that put ideas into these kids minds and they just grow up living up to those kids expectation. Sometimes, even a child’s parent label them as a criminal because a member of their family is in jail or they tend to misbehave and are disobedient in the household. It is situations like these that shape that child into the person they will become and more times than not, they do end up becoming criminals. Eventually, people just accept the labels given to them and ultimately, their personality is built around these labels. It is for this reason that convicted criminals that serve time then are released tend to commit a crime again ultimately sending them back to prison. For example, let’s say that little Timmy’s father was sent to prison when he was 2 years old, robbing little Timmy of a father figure. The kids at school pick on him for being such a “momma’s boy” and said he

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