Introduction
The Betty Griffin Center is a program whose mission is to protect and provide services for recovery victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The program operates in St. Johns County, Florida, providing shelter assistance, guidance counseling, and other standard services. Many of the programs offered by Betty Griffin are meant to empower the victims by providing free and confidential services. Several criminological theories are applied by the Griffin Center in its provision of services and help to reported cases of victims. These theories include social learning, rational choice, and anomie or strain theories. This paper intends to analyze the assistance offered by the Betty Griffin Center from different criminology perspectives, including social learning, rational choice, and strain theories. The analysis identifies shortcomings and provides an action plan to address them.
Social Learning Theory
From this perspective, people are more likely to begin and make criminal activities a habit if they have a diverse connection with other criminals. Social learning theory has four significant aspects useful in analyzing criminal behaviors: imitation, definition, differential associations, and reinforcements (Carvalho & Ossorio, 2021). Imitation involves mimicking another person’s behaviors; in this case, many criminals tend to have role models they look up to in crime (Carvalho & Ossorio, 2021). For instance, in the case of domestic violence, many offenders that are physically aggressive against another individual have personally and continuously witnessed others take part in similar violent acts. Many young adults participate in criminal behaviors due to peer pressure as a way to fit in with the rest. Social interactions propel the desire and need for individuals to participate in criminal activities.
Differential associations enable sexual and domestic offenders to learn new habits, values, and beliefs from their criminal role models. Betty Griffin Center uses this theory to identify the primary motive of why individuals decide to participate in specific criminal activities such as sexual assault and domestic violence. Social learning theory is vital when researching criminal conduct for the organization since it analyzes the social and behavioral strategies disclosed by close interactions of the criminal’s circumstantial, logical, and behavioral aspects. When conducting their duties, the employees and advocates of Betty Griffin Center must scrutinize the causes of crime rates in a given area to come up with ways of improving the situation (Buskens et al., 2020). Through the measurement of crime-related aspects involving the social learning theory, the advocates of Betty Griffin can ensure a sense of security and protection for the victims in their shelters.
Before formulating solutions to offer protection and providing essential services to victims, Betty Griffin advocates must identify the different connections of a crime. The organization needs to have accurate and updated data because this helps establish the social group, age, and community disproportionately affected by sexual assault and domestic violence. Differential association is social learning theory’s most dominant variable element, which is critical for creating solutions (Buskens et al., 2020). In matters of domestic violence and sexual assault, social learning theory is critical. Social learning theory influences the daily operations of Betty Griffin Center since it helps them to comprehend how the concept of aggressiveness and violence is propagated through observation. It allows the social advocates of Betty Griffin to use the theory to influence positive practices by adjusting their reinforcements connected with the primary source of challenges experienced.
Rational Choice Theory
The rational choice theory is one of the theories that guide the actions of the Center’s advocates. This theory emphasizes that the decision to engage in criminal activities is a rational process that involves weighing the costs and benefits of committing a crime (Buskens et al., 2020). It is important to note that the individuals who commit domestic violence or sexual assault have the power and ability to make that decision (Buskens et al., 2020). This theory helps the advocates at Betty Griffin to understand the motivations behind an offender’s behavior. For example, some offenders may find these crimes easy to commit and satisfying. Using this theory, the employees at Betty Griffin can analyze the offender’s behavior and decision-making process to understand better the underlying factors that led to the violent crimes. This information helps the employees provide the necessary assistance and support to the victims of these crimes.
The rational theory approach is essential to be utilized by Betty Griffin in their daily responsibilities because it enables them to understand the reason and objective for being violent. This is crucial because it gives insight into the solution and action that must be taken to protect them. The rational choice theory is essential in understanding a victim’s choices not to involve authorities in domestic violence. For instance, many victims weigh the costs and benefits of involving the police and find it more time-consuming and too costly. This is crucial for Betty Griffin as an assistance program since they have the chance to be informed of the victim’s primary principles in the decision-making process to assist them in realizing specific differences in circumstances and impacts on their lives.
The central aspect of the rational choice theory is the recognition that humans can make logical decisions and avoid engaging in crime. This is achieved by implementing strict laws and regulations that instill fear of punishment. This theory plays a crucial role in guiding the Betty Griffin Center’s actions as they address the increasing cases of domestic violence and sexual assault in Florida. Using the theory, Betty Griffin can develop effective solutions, such as educating victims on navigating such situations in case they occur again (Neissl et al., 2019). This theory also enables advocates from the program to establish a personal connection with victims through guidance and counseling services. The rational choice theory provides a valuable framework for the Betty Griffin Center to examine and analyze the actions of perpetrators while empowering victims to take control of their lives and seek help in case of future incidents.
General Strain Theory
According to the general strain theory, an individual engages in crime as a response to the negative emotions developed by the strains present in an individual. From this perspective, it is essential to note that engaging in offensive acts may be a direct response to strain or a form of escapism. It is also vital to mention that in the general strain theory, perpetrators choose to act aggressively because it allows them to eliminate toxic treatment (Raturi & Rastogi, 2022). Many domestic violence perpetrators tend to act or behave aggressively because of their surrounding social environment factors that push them to retaliate to a problem in such a manner. The primary focus of general strain theory is on negative emotions such as anger, which is influenced by the motive for revenge as a form of corrective action. This theory is vital for the operations of the Betty Griffin program because it can account for the differences in the sexual assault and violence experiences of male and female perpetrators.
The theory is also essential for the Betty Griffin program since it allows them to determine the most effective coping strategies for the assaulted victims and the valuable resources at their disposal to help in the coping mechanism. This is critical because, from this perspective, they understand some victims’ difficulties that hinder their healing process despite showing progress in coping mechanisms. General strain theory mentions different types of strain that result in different reactions leading an individual to commit a crime. Therefore, engaging in crimes such as sexually assaulting others or beating them up is an illegitimate form of coping with the experiences connected to strain and adverse emotions
The general strain theory is vital for Betty Griffin in performing their role of protection and providing services to victims because it can explain why many men are the perpetrators and women are the victims of such behaviors despite being exposed to similar strain conditions and levels. Most perpetrators are male because they prefer to express and project their blame on others, while women would instead internalize hence the differences. By understanding the concept of general strain theory, Betty Griffin advocates are in a position to provide quality services to the victims, especially women, since they can identify strains that are relevant to women, such as the possibility of being exposed to an unappreciated social environment in their households resulting in physical and sexual abuse. Through this theory, the program advocates identifying and comprehending the perpetrator’s motive as needing control and responding to the strain by engaging in violent behaviors. The inability to maintain control is a motivating factor when engaging victims in guidance and counseling sessions at the Betty Griffin Center.
Challenges and Solutions
The Betty Griffin Center, as observed by the public domain, experiences several shortcomings hindering its ability to provide quality services and protection to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. One significant challenge is the lack of vital resources in their service operations. Issues of domestic violence and sexual assaults have increased in the region of operation, resulting in overcrowding in the home shelters and the resources becoming minimal to manage and take care of everyone (Wiley, 2020). As the manager in charge, it is crucial to seek help from other nonprofit and nongovernmental programs in the form of grants to acquire the necessary resources to maintain the program and offer quality services to all people. Female poverty is also a significant challenge and shortcoming in the provision of services by the Betty Griffin Center.
Many victims benefiting from the program are women living in utmost poverty. They cannot contribute positively to the program resulting in delays or traffic in the provision of services—women, mainly from black and Latina ethnic groups, many victims living in extreme poverty (Garg & Sharma, 2020). Domestic violence and sexual assaults tend to push women into a cycle of poverty, and these women lose their jobs because they are not helpful due to depression and poor health, leading to the loss of jobs. The Betty Griffin Center finds it challenging to cater to the problems of such victims, especially since they come in large numbers.
The most reliable approach to handling this problem is creating minor programs to empower and motivate women to work hard by teaching them the means. The Betty Griffin Center can help and support women by encouraging them to leave such situations early before jeopardizing their mental health. This is important since it means the victims will be protected and keep their jobs, reducing poverty levels among women victims. The Betty Griffin Center, in addressing such challenges, can also provide volunteer programs to keep the victims occupied and help them gain new skills and knowledge helpful in the community. Partnership with relevant government authorities helps ensure that many of the victims are provided for by encouraging society to report any unreported cases to minimize the rate of public complaints.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is critical to understand that the discussed criminological theories are significant to the daily operations of Betty Griffin Center and other similar programs. These theories are helpful in the identification and explanation of the motivating factors that push people to engage in atrocious crimes, such as domestic violence and sexual assault. People participate in crime for different reasons, such as financial and personal benefits. The rational choice theory claims that people commit crimes because they want to and are aware of the costs and benefits. The social learning theory focuses on imitation and social relationships as motivating aspects for engaging in crime. The general strain theory primarily concerns crime as a response to strain caused by anger. From this perspective, to ensure a decrease in the rate of violent crimes of assault, Betty Griffin Center and law enforcement officials must implement reliable strategies that align with the respective criminological theory.
References
Buskens, V., Corten, R., & Snijders, C. (2020). Advances in the sociology of trust and cooperation: Theory, experiments, and field studies. De Gruyter.
Carvalho, J. D., & Ossorio, D. F. (2021). A comprehensive analysis of social learning theory linked to criminal and deviant behavior. American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 11(2). Web.
Garg, T., & Sharma, U. (2020). Juvenile delinquency causes and prevention. International Research Journal Commerce Arts Science, 11(3). Web.
Neissl, K., Botchkovar, E. V., Antonaccio, O., & Hughes, L. A. (2019). Rational choice and the gender gap in crime: Establishing the generality of rational choice theory in Russia and Ukraine. Justice Quarterly, 36(6), 1096–1121. Web.
Raturi, S., & Rastogi, S. (2022). Sociological theories of juvenile delinquency: A criminological perspective. International Journal of Health Sciences. Web.
Wiley, K. (2020). Implementing domestic violence policy: When accountability trumps mission. Affilia, 35(4), 533–551. Web.