Free Essays on Columbine

On April 20,1999 there was a school massacre that went down in history for the worst. This massacre involved two teens that attended the Columbine High School that planned this activity for one year unnoticed by many faculty in the school , the community members, friends and parents. These two boys seemed like ordinary teens with problems coping with their feelings. In this paper I will be applying the General Strain Theory to Dillon Clebold and Eric Harris to explore more why they did what they did. The General Strain Theory was first adopted by Robert Merton who was a sociologist. This theory had many sociologist’s arguing that there are more sources of strain that Merton did not realize. The one sociologist that made sence of the theory was Robert Agnew. Agnew says that there are three types of strain which are Stain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals, Strain as the removal of positively valued stimuli, and Strain as the presentation of negative stimuli. The General Strain Theory links delinquency to the strain of being locked out of the economic mainstream, which creates the anger and frustration that lead to delinquent acts (Juvenile Delinquency p.89). When things happen we ask why? Why did Dillon Clebold and Eric Harris want to hurt many people? The theory that most explains why they wanted to hurt others is Strain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals. They wanted revenge on others because they were not being treated fairly. These two teens were victims of bullying because others did not accept them for who they were as millions of teens are victims of these heartless actions of other teens. These other classmates also teased and threw stuff at them for being in a gang called the trench coat mafia. This teasing caused Dillon and Eric to become very depressed because they wanted to be respected... Free Essays on Columbine Free Essays on Columbine On April 20,1999 there was a school massacre that went down in history for the worst. This massacre involved two teens that attended the Columbine High School that planned this activity for one year unnoticed by many faculty in the school , the community members, friends and parents. These two boys seemed like ordinary teens with problems coping with their feelings. In this paper I will be applying the General Strain Theory to Dillon Clebold and Eric Harris to explore more why they did what they did. The General Strain Theory was first adopted by Robert Merton who was a sociologist. This theory had many sociologist’s arguing that there are more sources of strain that Merton did not realize. The one sociologist that made sence of the theory was Robert Agnew. Agnew says that there are three types of strain which are Stain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals, Strain as the removal of positively valued stimuli, and Strain as the presentation of negative stimuli. The General Strain Theory links delinquency to the strain of being locked out of the economic mainstream, which creates the anger and frustration that lead to delinquent acts (Juvenile Delinquency p.89). When things happen we ask why? Why did Dillon Clebold and Eric Harris want to hurt many people? The theory that most explains why they wanted to hurt others is Strain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals. They wanted revenge on others because they were not being treated fairly. These two teens were victims of bullying because others did not accept them for who they were as millions of teens are victims of these heartless actions of other teens. These other classmates also teased and threw stuff at them for being in a gang called the trench coat mafia. This teasing caused Dillon and Eric to become very depressed because they wanted to be respected...