Online Assignment 6 - Discussion over Affluenza PDF

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Discussion over Affluenza...

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Charles Burgess CJUS 3600 Online Assignment 6 The article provided is about an individual named Ethan Couch, who at the time was 16, was driving while under the influence and hit four pedestrians walking on a road and killing them. In addition, there were two individuals in the pick up truck who had received severe damage. The plea for Ethan Couch’s defense for the horrible incident was affluenza, meaning he was a very spoiled and wealthy individual and therefore could not understand the consequences of such a horrendous action. This brings us to the point of Sutherlands theory of Differential Association, which is broken down into two primary influences of agents of socialization and content of socialization (Miller et al., 2015). What this theory is basically saying is that Ethan Couch’s behavior was heavily influenced by some kind of teaching from possibly his parents, school, etc, or influenced by the community or his peer group. Both of these have such a strong influence any individual’s behavior, as you are more likely to exhibit the same behavior as those you associate yourself with. As the article continues, it later includes how Ethan Couch, who was on probation at the time, is now in jail. Ethan was caught violating probation terms on video attending a party where alcohol and drugs were consumed and therefore had a warrant for his arrest. To avoid potential sentencing, Ethan and his mother fled the country to Mexico, which was another violation. This is an obvious example of agents of socialization and how Ethan Couch’s mother is essentially teaching him these types of behavior. Due to the relationship between the two, Ethan’s mother had a very strong influence on him and

would exhibit the same type of behavior (Miller et al., 2015). Ethan Couch’s mother, Tonya Couch, could be the very sole reason as to why Ethan was originally arrested. If any young individual who is very unaware of certain laws in society sees a individual committing a crime, unless properly raised well, they will not know that is wrong to commit that crime. As stated within the book, the most frequent, longest-running, earliest, and closest influences will be most efficacious or determinant of learned behavior (Miller et al., 2015). Therefore, Ethan could have seen his mother previously drinking while under the influence and not have thought anything of it, other than it is completely okay to do it since his direct care giver is doing it. Although it is still completely wrong and against the law, it really raises the question of whether or not we can hold Ethan Couch accountable for some of things he has done and whether or not he truly knew that he was in the wrong when committing these crimes. Claiming affluenza as to why he committed these crimes sounds like an extreme cop out, but honestly could play a slight role within this case.

Miler, J.M., Schreck, C.J., Tewsbury, R., and Barnes, J.C. (2015). Criminological Theory: A Brief Introduction (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson....