Tim and Lionel convinced four schoolmates to send them nude photos. Tim is 14 while Lionel is 15 years old. The two boys received the nude photos and distributed to their other friends. From the perspective of the media, this was an incident of sexting. ‘Sexting’ is defined as the process of sending sexually explicit messages and media using digital devices, especially mobile phones. This term is mainly used to refer to situations involving adults. The society considers adults, who are individuals above the age of 18, as people who have the mental capacity to weigh options in life and choose what is good for them. However, the case of Tim and Lionel ‘sexting’ their schoolmates is a special one since it involves young children. The society has a responsibility of protecting these children until they develop to a level where they have the discretion to decide what is good for them. From a legal and ethical perspective, the actions of Tim and Lionel involving receiving, storing and sexually explicit images of minors amount to child pornography. This is also a special case of child pornography since the perpetrators are minors. This essay is an application and evaluation of two criminological theories to help the reader understand the issues surrounding this case study. The writer will explore the feminist thought in criminology and the low self-control theory in explaining the issues around the case study.
Thesis statement: The actions by Tim and Lionel are a reflection of societal gender power relations and low self-control of the perpetrators.
Feminist Thought in Criminology
The feminist theory uses gender as a theoretical concept when focusing on class. Class affects the predispose of an individual to being a victim of crime. There are also incidences where class puts a person in a better position to be a perpetrator for certain crimes. Feminism insists that classes created by gender should redefine the was the society studies, defines and responds to crime. Child pornography is one of the many sexual offences where women are more likely to be victimized than men (Jordan et al., 2014). Feminism conceptualizes sexual relations as one of the areas where men have dominated. There are many instances where men misuse this dominance to disadvantage their female counterparts.
There are different facets of the feminist theory. The common theme in all these facets is the patriarchal nature of relationships in the society. According to Akers and Sellers (2004), the privileges and rights enjoyed by men are superior to those of the females. In this case study, the perpetrators of child pornography are male minors. Development in technology has led to democratization of the cyberspace. Pornography has been industrialized, this has seen it grow into a fully recognized sector. However, there are relatively many restrictions on the productions and distribution of pornographic material in the UK compared to other countries such as the US and Australia. Despite the liberation of the sector, most pornography targets the heterosexual male population. It thus reflects societal gender power relations while at the same time depicting women in various degrading ways (Tong, 2013). Children such as Tim and Lionel must have come across the materials from the mainstream pornography industry. The likely effect of such material on young men is giving them a sense of entitlement over others and making them initiate scenarios such as the one in the case study where they start soliciting explicit images from their peers.
Application of the Low Self-Control Theory
This theory prepones that motivation to get involved in deviant behaviour is generally constant across all people. Criminal conduct is caused by variations in the restraints or controls that people have over variant impulses (Paternoster & Bachman, 2001). Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) observe that in the course of an individual’s life, opportunities to get involved in crime often show up. In Tim and Lionel’s scenario, there are two major factors that facilitated their ability to commit the offence: the ownership of the devices and access to their schoolmates. Many children around the country have access to these two factors. However, very few have the thought of using the devices to solicit pornographic material and spread them.
Teenagers who have high self-control utilize their mobile devices to normal uses such as friendly conversations with their friends through calls, text and social media, playing games and using the internet to access useful information. They communicate with their peers on useful issues such as academics, sports and mutual friendships that result in personal development. Instead of utilizing the two factors for these beneficial uses, Lionel and Tim decided to combine the two factors and use them for committing an offence.
Individuals are born with self-control and also learn it during their childhood. Gottfredson Hirschi (1990) note that the main sources of self-control are parents and school. In many instances, the ability to influence the child’s behaviour and perspective of life is vested upon these two factors. Proper parenting nurtures self-control among the children as they grow up. Though there is no exhaustive definition of proper parenting, it is generally defined as the ability to provide the physical, intellectual, social and emotional needs of the child in a manner that promotes the child’s health, happiness and success. In this case scenario, the parents of Tim and Lionel are deemed to have failed in their parenting responsibility due to failure to regulate and monitor their children’s communication. Though the two deserve some level of privacy with their communication gadgets, their parents should give them regular advice or even monitor their communication when it becomes suspicious that they are misusing the gadgets. It is the responsibility of the school to carry out education that aims at shifting the gender power imbalance. Male students should be made to understand that their perceived superiority when it comes to gender relations should not be misused. Rather, they should take a responsibility of protecting their female counterparts.
There are some elements that the school and parents should have helped the parents and school to predict the behaviour of Tim and Lionel. Bachman et al. (1993) lists some of the elements among individuals with low self-control. They include inability to hold back immediate gratification, where an individual will be more willing to take part in criminal acts in order to get immediate results. Such individuals are adventurous, risk-taking and thrilling. In this case, the two teenagers may not have thought about the results of their actions. According to Gottfredson & Hirschi (2003), individuals with low self-control lack empathy and are self-centered. They are likely to ignore the consequences of their actions on the victims. In this scenario, Tim and Lionel seem oblivious of the effects that their actions will have on their peers. The self-centeredness must have been reflected in prior conduct of these two teenagers to warrant action by the parents and the school. The main role of the school and parents is to prepare the children for their future lives. With Tim and Lionel’s behavior, they are unlikely to have stable relationships and employment in future because of lack of long-term goals and commitment. Therefore, low self-control theory provides a good basis for understanding this scenario.
Comparison and Contrast of the Theories
Low self-control theory is more compelling than the feminist theory. According to the low self-control theory, deviant behaviour exhibited in the case resulted from failures of Tim, Lionel, their parents and their school to ensure that the two boys reflect on their actions and their impacts before committing them.
Empirical Validity
Low self-control theory is empirically valid. It describes the various attributes of the delinquents that can be tested to prove whether their act was an isolated one or a result of their personalities and character. This validity is limited by portraying self-control as a multi-faceted attribute. The theory does not explain the interaction between the various factors associated with self-control.
The feminist theory is empirically valid in this scenario. It explains how gender relations have resulted in giving more power to the males. The case scenario results from the depiction of these gender power imbalances to the two young men.
Scope or Ability
Low self-control theory provides a good account of the different criminality rates occasioned by differences in the extent to which an individual can utilize self-control to refrain from crime. The theory provides an explanation on how factors such as lack of commitment and patience, risk-taking tendencies and self-centredness contributes towards delinquency.
The feminist theory is shallower and does not provide a full description of the factors that can be analysed to understand the actions of the delinquents. There is need to look at how the actions taken by stakeholders such as parents and the school impact the behaviour of the students.
Cognitive Clarity
The explanation provided by Gottfredson and Hirschi (2003) on the low self-control theory makes sense by explaining how the various personal attributes contribute towards the ability of an individual to take advantage of situations to commit crime. However, there is ambiguity in some of these aspects. For instance, there is no criteria for determining the levels of lack of empathy, patience and commitment that can result in crime.
The cognitive clarity of the feminist theory is limited outside the perspective of Tim and Lionel. It does not recognize the role of the school, parents and the larger community in guiding the young people and instilling positive values in them.
Sentimental Relevance
Low self-control theory makes sense to me. It provides a good connection between personality and character traits and the ability of an individual to commit crime.
Sentimental relevance of the feminist theory is limited in this case. It mainly explains how the character and personalities of the two boys resulted in this case scenario. However, it cannot fully account for failure of the school and the parents and how the actions of these two parties can be used to deter similar occurrences in the future.
Integrating the Two Theories
These two theories can be integrated to provide a candid discussion that links the causes of Tim and Lionel’s delinquency to reliable solutions. Theoretical integration should form the basis of this process. Low self-control theory explains how development of the child impacts their outlook of the world and the society. Feminism mainly explains how gender relations result in power imbalance thus creating classes. According to the low self-control theory, the school and parents are the closest stakeholders in a child’s life during the early years. Integrating these two theories will involve examining how the school and parents can stimulate development that results in balance of power between the male and female children. The theoretical integration of these two theories will help in determining how gender relations impact self-control. There is need to erode the elevated feeling of entitlement among men when relating with their female counterparts, especially in romantic relationships.
The feministic thought in criminology gives a good account of how power imbalances influence crime. This theory cannot form a strong basis for a good approach to crime deterrence. Crime, including one that results from power imbalances between gender, is a multi-faceted societal problem that may be a consequence of various people. In his case scenario for instance, delinquency of the two boys can be blamed on themselves, the parents, school, technology and the teachers. Feminist theory only explains how relations between the victims and the perpetrator influence the crime. Low self-control theory will help stakeholders in coming up with a plan on linking power imbalance between genders to viable solutions.
There is need for both intra-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary integration of the two theories. In applying intra disciplinary integration, gender relations will be looked at an integral part of self-control. There is need for individuals in the society to remain conscious and have control over their actions in gender relations. Young men have to be recognizant of their role towards their female counterparts. A sense of responsibility should stem from a perspective where men and women look at each other as compliments who require mutual support.
Policy Implication
There is need for policy that targets to elevate the role of parents and schools towards the behaviour of minors. These two stakeholders spend most time with the children and should be empowered with information and data that can help them shift the power imbalance among males and females from an early age. Specifically, there is need to target male children with the aim of making them make a positive impact in gender relations. The perception by the male children that they have more power than their female counterparts should either be eroded or be harnessed to ensure that the former protects the latter from any form of harm. There is need for formation of curricula that enhances self-control of all children. The children should be taught the importance of ethics and how they can avoid being perpetrators of crime when when there are opportunities. This will make the children more responsible with factors such as technology and relations with their peers. For gender relations, there should be non-lenient but effective methods of handling young people who perpetrate sexual crimes against their peers. The best approach is strengthening attributes such as patience, manual skills and empathy among the perpetrators.
References
Akers, R. L., & Sellers, C. S. (2004). Criminological theory.
Bachman, R., Paternoster, R., & Ward, S. (1992). The rationality of sexual offending: Testing a deterrence/rational choice conception of sexual assault. Law and Society Review, 343-372.
Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford University Press.
Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (2003). Self-control and opportunity. Control theories of crime and delinquency, 12, 5-19.
Jordan, C. E., Combs, J. L., & Smith, G. T. (2014). An exploration of sexual victimization and academic performance among college women. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15(3), 191-200.
Paternoster, R., & Bachman, R. (Eds.). (2001). Explaining criminals and crime: Essays in contemporary criminological theory. Roxbury Publishing Company.
Tong, R. (2013). Feminist thought: A comprehensive introduction. Routledge.
