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In criminology there are theories that criminologist look at to seek out trends in certain crimes. While assessing this they try to answer the questions, “Why did this occur?” and “What can we do to put a stop to it?”. By looking at various theories, it may help us understand why people commit certain crimes, and that’s what I’ll be looking at in the case of Ethan Couch.
I will be comparing three theories; low self control theory, social structural theory, and labeling theory to explain why this crime might have happened.
In 2013, Ethan Couch and some of his friends stole his fathers car, and the night went down hill from there.
Couch who was 16 years old at the time, decided to drive a stolen car while drunk which lead him to speeding into a family who was helping a stranded motorist on the side of the road. This resulted in the death of four people and paralyzing his two friends.
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Couch was sentenced to 10 years probation and had to remain drug and alcohol free. This sentence began a national discussion on how he could only get 10 years probation for the death of four individuals. Couch’s legal team argued that he was an adolescent that struggles with understanding his own consequences due to his privileges. Couch got a 10 year probation due to him suffering from “affluenza” that isn't even thought about by the American Psychiatric Association to being an actual disorder. But this wasn't the end of the discussion of Ethan Couch. Two years into his probation he was seen on video drinking in Mexico with his mother, therefore violating his probation. Couch was then sentenced to two years in prison. This brought up a bigger problem than just a “troubled” teen but a problem in our justice system.
The first theory that speaks levels to this case would be the low self control theory. This theory that some people have impulses that help us avoid pain and improve pleasure. Individuals with low self control are more likely to be involved in risk taking behaviors, and also have more problems with drugs and alcohol. People with low self control also have problems being sympathetic to others, therefore building relationships are hard for these individuals. One of the main reasons people have low self control is because of parenting. As a parent you must see the bad behavior, assume responsibility and correct it. If a child is never taught self control they will most likely never develop this trait. When Couch was growing he was never disciplined for his actions but just shushed by his parents and thrown a credit card at his face.
In the article, “Affluenza: the latest excuse for the wealthy to do whatever they want” it stated that, “The teen never learned to say that you're sorry if you hurt someone. If you hurt someone, you sent him money” (Luther, Dec 2013). Couch was taught at a young age that money could pay for all of his troubles. One thing this theory doesn't explain is that having a large family, having a parent involved in crime, and coming from a single parent household was the main causes to low self control. Ethan Couch was an only child, both of his parents have never been involved in crime, and he grew up with both of his parents. Although this theory doesn’t explain all crimes, it does in fact explain most of the case of Ethan Couch.
The second theory that relates to this case is the social structural theory. This theory focuses on how your family, and socioeconomic status can shape your development. More specifically strain theory is a part of social structural theory, and this explains this case because of individual strain. Individual strain is when certain life experiences leads you to a place of discomfort which can lead you to antisocial behaviors. Couch was a child who grew up with parents caring more about how much money they had rather than focusing on the fact that they had a teen that might have been crying out for help. Couch’s psychologist argued that his high socioeconomic status resulted in him not understanding the full range of consequences for the actions that he made. But this wasn't the first time that Couch was caught stealing his fathers car; maybe one reason why this was an occurrence was because he was never actually punished for stealing his fathers car. Couch’s parents rarely set rules for their son, but let him make his own decisions. These could all be reasons in which Couch took part in antisocial behaviors. One thing this theory doesn’t cover for this case is that there was no specific goal for Couch. There was no goal that needed to be met, in which this was a crime that was only based on how socioeconomic status and family contributed to him committing this crime.
Lastly, the third theory that explains this case is the labeling theory. Labeling theory describes the way in which the power of your socioeconomic status comes into play. There are two different types of crime in this theory; an upward crime also known as a downward law, and a downward crime also known as an upward law. An upward crime is a crime that involves the offender being from a low socioeconomic status and the victims being from a high socioeconomic status. A downward crime is a crime that involves the victim being from a low socioeconomic status and the offender from a high socioeconomic status. Victims that are labeled in the lower class often don't receive the justice that they deserve. In this case Ethan Couch came from a very wealthy family, and they used that when coming to a decision about his sentencing. The reason this case was such a known national problem was because of the reasons for such a mild sentencing for the death of four people. Many think the reason behind his non severe sentence was because of his status. Couch is from a high socioeconomic status and the victims were not, so therefore this would be labeled as a downward crime, and an upward law. One way this theory doesn't explain this case is because the friend that was paralyzed from the crash back in 2013 sued the family and won a two million dollar settlement.
The theory that explains this case the best would be the labeling theory. In my opinion, this case was widely about the power of a status. How could an adolescent that was under the influence, crash into a group of people killing four and injuring one of his passengers, only get 10 year probation, I have one word for you privilege. Upward crimes are taken more seriously than down crimes, meaning upward crimes are more likely to be sentenced in the justice system. Family aspects are important when speaking about this crime, because maybe if his parents disciplined their son, or raised him better this might have not occurred, but the reason of status speaks more to this case.
With all crimes come solutions and ways to reduce that crime from occurring again. In this specific case what I would do to make sure this crime doesn’t occur again would be to provide more resources for safe driving, and having the parents attend these classes with their child. On the justice system level I would enforce that the same crime types get treated the same regardless of social standing. This is important because we have seen many cases in which one individual from a lower status got a harsher sentence than someone from a higher status for the same crime. Taking away privilege from crime would be the best way to ensure that this crime will not reoccur.
In many ways these theories help us understand reasons in which people commit the crimes that they do. If we use these theories and work to understand why individuals commit the crimes that they do, we might be able to reduce these crimes. There are still some crimes that these theories do not account for, but by continuing the research that has been done, we could be able to understand all crime types.
Implementation Of Self Control Thoery And Social Structural Theory In Criminology. (2024, Feb 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/implementation-of-self-control-thoery-and-social-structural-theory-in-criminology-essay
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