12/10/08
Opinion Paper 3 I believe that it is obvious that Gary Gilmore’s behavior is best explained by Hirshi and Gottfredson’s General Theory of Crime. There are several facts about Gary Gilmore’s life that fall under the trends described in the General Theory of Crime. One fact includes Gary having a very hard childhood where his dad would beat him and his mom. Another fact about Gary was that he had low-self control and acted impulsively. He would commit several crimes randomly and excessively. These are only two of the common symptoms Gary has that are found in all criminals according to the General Theory of Crime. Hirshi and Gottfredson explain in their theory that self-control is a major attribute that factors into the likelihood of committing criminal acts. They specifically say that low-self control is attained as a direct result of bad parenting. Bad parenting includes the inability to care for the child, the inability to recognize deviant behavior, and the inability to punish or correct deviant behavior. They also say that self-control is a stable trait is usually set by age 8. Gary’s family moved around a lot and switched homes when he was young. Also, Gary’s first 8 years of life were harsh because of an abusive father. His father drank a lot and would abuse the rest of his family. Gary would get the worst abuse out of the children. Gary’s father did not only physically abuse him, he would verbally abuse him too which most people would agree could cause psychological problems throughout life. Because of the horrendous parenting, Gary attained low self-control. Apart from the low self-control, Gary also shares characteristics of a criminal as set out by Hirshi and Gottfredson. The traits they say a criminal possess include: impulsiveness, being a risk taker, a physical rather than mental attitude, bad tempers, and insensitive. Gary definitely