Hand of God
Hand of God
The documentary “Hand of God” was brisk and eye opening portrayal of child molestation of young boys carried out at the hands of Catholic Priest. For years many children have been quietly molested under the fallacy of protecting the Church. Paul Cultrera keep quiet about his victimization for years, which allowed for Father Birmingham to continue to molest others. There were a couple of theories that I felt applied to certain scenarios in this documentary while there were also others that I felt this documentary disproved.
Tarde’s Law of Imitation
When considering all of the circumstances surrounding child molestation, it is very common for the general public to wonder what could cause a person to molest a child? What is even more disturbing is that a priest would abuse his official position in order to take advantage of a child. But what caused this to happen? The truth of the matter is that there could be several different things that caused the molestation of the boys, but unfortunately all we can do is speculate. The first theory that came to mind was Tarde’s Law of Imitation. Tarde’s Law of Imitation states that the inferior delinquent will imitates the superior delinquent. It is very possible that Father Birmingham was molested himself as a child and he was imitating the sexual acts that were committed on him. Child molesters are often victims of child abuse and molestation themselves.
Sutherlands Differential Association-5th point
Sutherlands Differential Association Theory has 9 points. The 5th point states that the specific direction of the motives and drives that are learned come from definitions of the legal codes as favorable for the actor and unfavorable for the actor. The group of people a person chooses to hang around can influence his decisions. In the case of Paul Cultrera, he sought to be part of the church and have a close relationship with God. Paul learned very quickly through his associations with the Catholic Church that
The documentary “Hand of God” was brisk and eye opening portrayal of child molestation of young boys carried out at the hands of Catholic Priest. For years many children have been quietly molested under the fallacy of protecting the Church. Paul Cultrera keep quiet about his victimization for years, which allowed for Father Birmingham to continue to molest others. There were a couple of theories that I felt applied to certain scenarios in this documentary while there were also others that I felt this documentary disproved.
Tarde’s Law of Imitation
When considering all of the circumstances surrounding child molestation, it is very common for the general public to wonder what could cause a person to molest a child? What is even more disturbing is that a priest would abuse his official position in order to take advantage of a child. But what caused this to happen? The truth of the matter is that there could be several different things that caused the molestation of the boys, but unfortunately all we can do is speculate. The first theory that came to mind was Tarde’s Law of Imitation. Tarde’s Law of Imitation states that the inferior delinquent will imitates the superior delinquent. It is very possible that Father Birmingham was molested himself as a child and he was imitating the sexual acts that were committed on him. Child molesters are often victims of child abuse and molestation themselves.
Sutherlands Differential Association-5th point
Sutherlands Differential Association Theory has 9 points. The 5th point states that the specific direction of the motives and drives that are learned come from definitions of the legal codes as favorable for the actor and unfavorable for the actor. The group of people a person chooses to hang around can influence his decisions. In the case of Paul Cultrera, he sought to be part of the church and have a close relationship with God. Paul learned very quickly through his associations with the Catholic Church that
References: Bernard, T.J., Snipes, J.B. & Gerould, A.L. (2010). Vold’s Theoretical Criminology, 6th ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Cultrera,Joe(Producer).(2007) . Hand of God [motion picture]. United States: New York