Agnew's Social Bonding Theory

Crime can be critically assessed from many different sociological and criminological theories. The reasons why people commit crimes are their own, and can be a result of copious amounts of factors that get compounded, driving offenders to commit certain acts. These factors can be numerous, and range from internal factors such as mental diagnoses, to outside environmental factors, affecting the individual, such as peer associations and unstable family relations. The goal of this paper is to critically assess the tragic events of June 4, 2014 in Moncton, New Brunswick, from two criminological theories. This paper will provide assessments of the offender and offences committed, from the view points of the Social Bonding Theory and the Agnew’s
The strength of the bond to a loved one can be used as an indicator to gauge the level of criminal deviance (Hope & Paat, 2015). Justin Bourque underwent a psychiatric assessment after he was arrested and charged for the Moncton shootings. The assessment shows that there was significant strain between Justin Bourque and his mother, who home-schooled him and also resented his interest in video games (Bissett, 2014). The majority of the time, Justin Bourque did not like being home-schooled and aimed most of his anger and frustrations at his mother, and had stated that he wanted a “normal” life (Bissett, 2014). Travis Hirschi proposed four different aspects to which he believed were the essential components of the social bond; attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief (Hope & Paat, 2015). From this first component, the greater attachment to a loved one and stronger emotional bonds are to parents or teachers, the less likely individuals are to become involved in delinquent behaviours (Hope & Paat, 2015). Given Justin Bourque’s mother acted as both mother and teacher, the argument can be put forward that the dual role she played in his life aided in the level of strain between them. Travis Hirschi’s second component of his social bonding theory is commitment, to which he states that one is
When exposed to these types of strain, people will experience negative emotions such as anger, fear and depression, and the mechanisms used for coping with these emotions often involves criminal means when the level of strain experienced is thought to be chronic, unjust, and severe by the offender (O’Connor, 2013). Justin Bourque picked up a chronic marijuana smoking habit at the age of 22, to which he claimed it helped him deal with his negative thoughts about life and his lack of respect for authority (Bissett, 2014). Engaging in crime has been linked as a way for individuals to reduce the negative emotions they feel as a result of the strain or strains they are experiencing (Agnew, 2013). In the weeks leading up to the shootings, Justin Bourque was working 15 hour days at a job he didn’t like, and couldn’t afford his marijuana habit (Bissett, 2014). This links with the first type of strain in Agnew’s Strain Theory. Even while Justin worked 15 hour days (a conventional means); he couldn’t make enough money to support a negatively valued stimulus (his marijuana habit); this, in turn, lead to the aforementioned negative emotions he