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John Wayne Gacy Jr.

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CRJS 131-1A Criminology Key Graded Assignment – The Mind of a Killer Ernesto Argote Westwood College January 2012 Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, cause, and control of criminal behavior (Siegel 4). Criminology is not just understanding criminal actions but also studying how to correct and prevent crime, overall. There are five major Criminological theories, (1) Classical Theory, (2) Positivist Theory, (3) Marxist / Conflict Theory, (4) Sociological Theory, and (5) Multifactor / Integrated Theory. Classical Theory originated at about 1764 and it involves Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarianism, which means that people choose to act when they believe their actions will bring an increase in pleasure and a decrease in …show more content…

Each of these theories had led to many new theories used today, such as the Rational Choice theory, Biosocial and Psychological Theory, Critical Theory, Cultural Deviance Theory, Life Course Theory, and many more. The one thing in common with every theory is that they all explain at least one behavioral factor that leads to crime. Today, all these theories, and more, are researched and taken into account when trying to understand why a criminal does what they do. John Wayne Gacy was born on May 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), 1942 to Marion Elaine Robinson Gacy and John Wayne Gacy, Sr. at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago. He was the second of three children. His older sister Joanne had preceded him by two years and two years after his birth came his sister Karen. The Gacy children were raised as Catholics and attended Catholic School (Taylor 2003). The neighborhood where Gacy grew up was a middle class neighborhood. Gacy, along with many of the children in the neighborhood, had part-time jobs after school. He got part-time jobs doing newspaper routes, bagging groceries, and Boy Scout activities. Gacy was not much popular in school but he had no trouble having friends and fitting in with others. He had friend in school and among his Boy Scout troops and he was liked by his teachers and his co-workers. With some exceptions, Gacy seemed to have had a normal childhood (Bardsley & Bell n.d.). At age 11, Gacy was playing at a swing set and was

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