Paper Example on Deviance Behavior of Lee Malvo and John Muhammad

Introduction

One of the terrifying incidents that left a scar on history was that of the two committed murders; John Allen Muhammad and this teenage compliance John Malvo. Even though the case was disputed under the theory of Genetic Epidemiology of Antisocial behaviour, there was nothing to insight people as to the reason of the way they acted (Jones, 2009). While their motivations remained hidden, none could get the answers to speculate on the incident. Moreover, since the admissions of the individuals were given freely, I may not explore what transpired and why they chose to conduct such an act.

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It is interesting to discover that the case supported the criminology theory idea. When compared to the case of the D.C. Sniper which was named as serial killings, there was a limitation of the white men profile (Beltway Snipers, 2016). It's regrettable to hear Muhammad killed all those people in revenge to getting his children who were given custody to her wife after they had separated (Beltway Snipers, 2016). Out of the random victim he involved his wife. Muhammad's agenda was for her to be in the middle of the shootings (who Muhammad never planned to kill) and after the incident, she would have emerged as another sniper victim (Jones, 2009).

One of the aspects from our module that can relate to this case is the interactionist perspective. Its theoretical concepts derive a social process such as cooperation, identity information and conflict) from human interactions (Triplett, 2013). Here, we see that all the environmental factors were examined in the area of genotype interactions and correlations. This perspective would examine Muhammad's family model like separation, divorce, substance use and depression. This means that the environmental influences upon an individual cannot be ignored if they have been documented while examining the history of a serial killer (Triplett, 2013).

Although some studies may not accept the genetic trait factor as I point out regarding Muhammad, we should not be quick to make conclusions of such incidents. This is because drug-addicted mothers and alcoholic parents can have a direct link to the lifestyle of a child's dysfunction. A lot that was hidden concerning the sniper killings; more suspicions incline that the environmental factors may have influenced one of them to act in such behaviors. For instance, the background of John Lee Malvo shows that he went to the U.S from Jamaica while he was only four years old (Jones, 2009). He never saw his mother since he was a child because she was known to be a person of 'little means.' In his youth, Malvo stayed in several homes where he'd search for a place to live.

One can, therefore, speculate that the early separation and broken home could be the leading factors to depression. John Allen Muhammad, on the other hand, was a military trained citizen who experienced two failed marriages. He later converted into a Muslim after his second divorce and then became homeless. Muhammad's mother died while he was still young, his father was nowhere to be seen, and so he was raised by his aunt and his grandfather (Jones, 2009). It would, therefore, be unreasonable to state the environmental factors as suggested earlier through the interactionism perspective never influenced both Muhammad and Malvo, and as a result, the joint dysfunction led to the death of thirteen people where ten were pronounced dead.

References

Beltway Snipers. (2016, May 18). Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/beltway-snipers

Jones for the Daily Mail, D. (2009, November 10). Wife of Washington sniper reveals the chilling reasons why her husband gunned down 13 strangers John Muhammad Mildred. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226524/Wife-Washington-sniper-reveals-chilling-reasons-husband-gunned-13-strangers-John-Muhammad-Mildred.html

Triplett, R. (2013). The conflict perspective, symbolic interactionism, and the status characteristics hypothesis. Justice Quarterly, 10(4), 541-558. doi:10.1080/07418829300092011