Homicide Case Study

Homicide Case Study

Introduction

Psychological issues and problems are not uncommon these days, and more often than not, the victims of these issues are youngsters and abused individuals. Most of the psychological theories have proved that individuals who are physically, sexually or verbally abused in childhood or who have gone through some disaster generally grow up to be psychological patients. The extent of the problem and chances of recovery vary from one case to the other, and individuals who are properly treated are have more chances of leading a normal life, while others are more prone to worsening of situation with the passage of time.

The case under discussion also deals with the victim of broken family and child abuse, with the central character in the case, Mary, being maltreated as a child. Her mother also fails to play her part as a parent and leaves her on her own, which results in further deterioration of the situation and she finally leaves home to live her life on her own terms. The behavior adopted by Mary is that of a usual young delinquent, and can be effectively described using Social Learning Theory of Aggression. A complete analysis of the situation and linkage of case to the theory is presented in the following paragraphs:

The Case Study and Social Learning Theory

The social learning theory of aggression mainly deals with the physically injurious actions of human beings and the reasons behind them, which assist in generalizing the situation and reaching to the actual cause of issue. This implies that the violent behavior is learnt by observing others and is later imitated by the observer. The theory proves that the basic purpose of aggression is getting satisfaction, and any individual involved in aggression is trying to satisfy himself by inflicting pain and suffering on others. The reasons behind aggression can be numerous and multifaceted, as the theory has broad scope that encompasses the various reasons that might cause aggression (Borum and Verhaagen, 2006). However, in the case under discussion, the major causes of aggression shown by Mary are abuse, affiliation with a broken family and lack of care and attention. The description says that Mary has been a difficult child right from the beginning, and was not involved in any of the constructive activity, like learning and playing peacefully. In addition, it has also been mentioned that she always befriended with her likes and thus gained more encouragement and strength to show aggression and cause harm to others.

According to the social learning theory of aggression, aggression is defined as the capacity to cause personal injury or physical destruction, and according to this definition, Mary is a victim of aggression that forced her to plan a murder, followed by a robbery, in order to get money for drugs. The aggressive behavior is clearly shown by the planning of murder, as in normal circumstances, robbery could have been planned without killing the victim or some other means of earning could have been adopted. The behavior of Mary can ...