Natalie will be one of the first in her family to earn a collegedegree. She is determined to earn her bachelor’s degree inpsychology and then possibly go on to a master’s degree, or even adoctorate. However, these dreams need to deal with reality. She hastwo children to raise on her own, and has to stay active with workas well as her children’s lives. She is proud of heraccomplishments and hopes that her children will go as far, if notfurther with their education. Natalie’s two brothers did not seem to have the same chances.Her oldest brother seems to have the most difficult time. He wasalways angry as a teenager and got suspended from school on anumber of occasions due to fights. Once, he got into an altercationwith a teacher and hit the teacher pretty hard; he was expelledfrom school. He took his GED at a boys’ boot camp run by thesheriff’s office. When he was released at the age of eighteen, hehad a difficult time landing a job and worked on and off as a daylaborer. He was later arrested for stealing tools from aconstruction site and sent back to jail. This only seemed toincrease his anger towards everyone. Natalie stopped visiting himand now keeps in touch sporadically. The last she heard, he wasworking odd jobs and relying on alcohol and drugs. Natalie wonders why her brother has turned out so different. Ofcourse, they all had the same childhood, and their father was anabusive alcoholic. But all the more reason, she thought, herbrothers would choose a different path. She wondered if they hadthe same choices as she did. Did being a male make life harder? Shealways thought men had it easier in life. She wondered if herbrothers were to blame for their decisions and life choices, or ifthey ever had a real choice at all. She felt frustrated that, withall her psychology courses, she still could not tell why herbrothers turned out so differently. |
Research theories related to gender and crime. Identifyscholarly, peer-reviewed sources for use in this assignment.
Based on the scenario, your readings and research, respond tothe following:
Select at least two different, contemporary theories that wouldapply to the case.
Employ the theories to explain why Natalie and her brothers havechosen different paths in life.
Give reasons in support of your responses.
Write your initial response in 4–6 paragraphs. Apply APAstandards to citation of sources.
