Analytical Essay of a Violent Event in the Media

Analytical Essay of a Violent Event in the Media

 The fields of philosophy and sociology have recently experienced renewed interest as humans grapple with challenges such as rational choice, human agency, and complex social problems. In criminology, especially, the works of scholars such as Mead, Galtung, Raine, and Katz have been used to develop theories that explain the origin of violent behavior. This paper will, therefore, examine the murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart through the lens of Mead’s philosophy, and propose an approach that could have been used to prevent the crime from happening.

Cassie was house-sitting for her aunt and uncle Frank and Allison Contreras on 22^nd September 2006 at night when she was murdered. On that evening, her boyfriend Matt came to visit her, after which Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik joined them. As they were watching a movie together, Adamcik and Draper decided to leave, saying that they preferred watching a film from the local theater (Adamcik). Cassie and Matt were left alone at home, and shortly afterward, the lights went off. Later that night, Matt’s mother came to pick him up as a surprise from his father, who had been away in rehab. Cassie decided to stay on at the house, although the electricity was out because she felt responsible for her relatives’ home and animals.

Before Matt’s departure, Adamcik and Draper had come back to the house without Matt’s or Cassie’s knowledge and shut the power off. They never left to go to the movie theater, but instead, they had then hidden themselves, waiting for the right time to kill Cassie. After Matt had left, they had entered the house and stabbed Cassie thirty times, inflicting her with twelve fatal wounds. The two were arrested five days later and indicted for murder of the first degree, and conspiracy to commit murder (Adamcik). During the interrogations, Draper initially denied stabbing Cassie but later admitted that Adamcik had ordered him to stab her. He then took the police officers to Black Rock Canyon, where they had discarded the knives, masks, and clothes they had used to kill Cassie.

At the time the crime was committed, Torey Adamcik was a sixteen-year-old junior high school student at Pocatello High School. He had never been in trouble and was a good student and son, although he had a learning disability. He had never suffered depression or behavioral issues. He had a passion for movies and had been writing scripts and making films from the age of ten together with friends. So when he met Brian Draper, who had recently moved to Pocatello from Utah, they became instant friends as Brian also had an interest in filmmaking.

Brian was also sixteen years old and attended the same school as Cassie and Adamcik. He, on the other hand, had a history of writing about murdering people and suicide. In the eighth grade, he and two of his friends had been caught planning a mass shooting at school (Adamcik). They denied having been serious about going through with the plan in which he had explained in graphic depth how he would shoot his peers for ignoring him. Once, he had posted on his Myspace platform how he was sick in the head, and no one knew it.

Both of them were white teenagers from middle-income families. They had a moderate socioeconomic status, which could probably have been made worse by peers with higher SES. None of them had any history of substance abuse. Earlier on, Draper had filmed a movie featuring two teen murderers in which he went into detail about specific people he wanted to kill. The tape was the most damning piece of evidence in their trial. It was also established that Draper had an obsession with the Columbine massacre at Columbine High, while Adamcik was inspired by the horror film series Scream.

According to George Herbert Mead, an action is divided into four ordered phases. In the first stage, impulses, rooted in social conditioning and physiology, initiate the action, and one seeks stimuli from physical objects. In the second stage, perception, one actively looks for objects that would consummate their impulses and anticipates their physical characteristics (Deflem). In the third stage, the objects are perceived and manipulated with the hands, and their resistance subdued to reach consummation. In the final step, consummation, the impulses have either been frustrated or expressed. He further elaborates that social control is built upon the perception of oneself from another’s view.

In criminology and violence, appraisals as a rule-breaker by one’s parents lead to similar appraisals from their teachers and peers, which consequently results in delinquent behavior in the future. In adolescents, the correlation between criminal behavior and labels as a rule violator is unusually high as they are concerned with other’s opinions about them (Deflem). The process, known as differential social control, may also result from seeking others’ approval, associating with delinquent peers, and the reactions of significant others to violence. In this way, Mead shows that social and cultural factors may influence one to engage in criminal activity.

In the era of popular culture, crime and violence have become a dominant feature in many works of fiction. In horror films, the killer is usually depicted as a mastermind who can inspire terror in their victims and escape arrest and punishment for their crimes. Such a depiction may lead one to unconsciously idolize such a criminal, which may eventually result in enacting the actions depicted in such films. This is illustrated in Adamcik’s case, as he was inspired by the horror film Scream in Cassie’s murder. In the movie, the antagonist gets away with several murders before finally getting killed, and so Adamcik thought he would also not get caught.

In Draper’s case, he had a history of delinquent behavior and posted that he was sick in the head on social media, probably to get attention. In the eighth grade, he had threatened to shoot some classmates for ignoring him as he wanted to fit in. Popular culture has redefined the rules of popularity, as people can be termed famous even for committing crimes. His inspiration was the Columbine massacre that drew attention and made news headlines. Similarly, he wanted to perform an outrageous crime that would draw attention and bring him fame, even if it was for the wrong reasons. The jury also revealed that the motive for Cassie’s murder was fame.

As shown by Mead, associating with delinquents can also make one become a criminal. Prior to their friendship, Adamcik had been a good student with no history of problematic behavior. Even when Draper recorded the video about two teenage killers, he did not think that he could kill anyone. So when Draper proposed they hide and scare Cassie, he was unaware of Draper’s ulterior motives. He might have acted on instinct once Draper started stabbing Cassie due to subconscious conditioning to delinquency through association.

Although popular culture has been used as a form of expression against oppression and conformity to some primeval societal expectations, it needs to be regulated due to its ability to influence attitudes towards certain subjects. For instance, Draper’s parents ought to have monitored his activities on social media and taken appropriate actions to help him. Most teenagers seek the approval of strangers on social platforms, and if such communications are monitored, proper counseling can offset the inclination to resort to delinquency for popularity. Moreover, parents ought to monitor the films that their children watch and restrict watching movies that idolize criminal behavior.

Incorporating life skill education in the school curriculum is also an effective way of preventing violence, especially among children with low SES. Since Draper exhibited delinquency from the eighth grade, had his school implemented a social and emotional learning (SEL) program, he would have learned how to control his emotions and not get aggravated over getting ignored. SEL programs teach students core life skills, such as assertiveness, emotional management, assertiveness, and interpersonal skills (Kumar). Such programs involve a life skills educator who trains the children using group activities and assessments, providing them with a foundation for coping with the challenges in life and avoiding violence in the future. Although they are more effective among younger learners, they can also be used on high school students with significant success.

In brief, social control and culture may influence one’s attitude towards crime and violence, making them susceptible to delinquency later in life. Therefore, to raise individuals with proper attitudes towards crime, parents ought to monitor the content their children are exposed to, and the friends they hang out with. Moreover, schools ought to incorporate life skill training within the curriculum to offer learners a moral foundation and a projectile to a violence-free future.

Works Cited

Adamcik, Shannon. The Guilty Innocent. Shannon Adamcik, 2012,             www.createspace.com/3917769.

Deflem, Mathieu. “Social Control.” The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory, 2017,      pp. 1-3.

Kumar, Pradeep. “Morality and Life skills: The need and importance of life skills   education.” International Journal of Advanced Education and Research, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 144-148, www.alleducationjournal.com.