I recently came upon a Facebook article posted by my local sheriff’s department, who regularly post stories about particularly noteworthy arrests. Although the arrestees in these posts are typically strangers to me, I occasionally recognize them as friends of friends or former acquaintances. This article was one such occasion. The man arrested was someone my friends and I used to “party” with regularly during our high school years. Apparently, he had never moved past the stage of rebellion that is so common during adolescence. Reflecting on this observation, my friends and I noted that he had “missed the memo” about maturing into a responsible adult—He had failed to “understand the assignment.”
According to the Office of the Stafford County Sheriff (2022), our former acquaintance had been under police observation for some time due to suspected criminal activity. He was finally arrested during traffic stop, at which time police discovered a “cocktail” of illegal drugs concealed in a Pringles can in his glovebox. His mother, a passenger in the car, was also arrested (OSCS, 2022). Stories such as this that involve people my friends and I used to associate with are always somewhat shocking to hear. While we seemed to mature past the stage of teenage rebellion naturally and effortlessly, this has clearly not been the case for these former acquaintances. By contrast, these individuals seem to have both engaged in more of these behaviors and involved themselves in increasingly serious criminal offenses. This always leads my friends and I to the question of “why?” Having started off in similar places in life as these offenders (sneaking out of our parents’ houses, underage partying, etc.), what lead to such a stark contrast in how we carried on with our lives? What caused these individuals to “miss the memo?”
Research by Gruman et al. (2016) in the fields of social and criminal psychology outlines many of these potential causes. One notable factor that was likely in effect in the case of our former acquaintance was the attribution of negative parental influences. As made evident by the simultaneous arrests of this individual and his mother (OSCS, 2022), his parents clearly had a less-than-positive influence on his behaviors. The extent of these influences is also supported by the fact that (as witnessed by my friends and I) this individual’s parents had, in the past, routinely allowed large parties and underage alcohol consumption to occur in their home. (These parties had also frequently been “busted” by the police; Despite this, the parents continued to host them.) This lack of positive parental guidance and supervision are recognized as key risk factors in the development of criminal behavior (Gruman et al., 2016). The allowance of (and, at times, participation in) such behaviors by parents along with the influence of equally rebellious peers during this time served as both social support and positive reinforcement of these behaviors. As further explained by Bandura’s social learning theory, the observation of criminal behavior in one’s environment often leads to the imitation of such behavior (Gruman et al., 2016). “Poor use of leisure time” (in the form of partying, underage drinking, and illegal drug use for this individual) also inevitably decreases time available for “prosocial leisure pursuits” with “noncriminal associates” (Gruman et al., 2016, p. 374). As is often the case for “adolescence-limited individuals” (Gruman et al., 2016, p. 376), my friends and I’s parents actively condemned antisocial and criminal behaviors in the home. This individual, by contrast, had parents who supported this lifestyle; Therefore, these negative influences did not simply cease when association with like-minded peers faded off after high school. This likely played a key role in our former acquaintance’s continuation of (and heightened involvement in) antisocial and criminal behaviors beyond the adolescent years—as is characteristic of the “life-course-persistent” group of criminal offenders (Gruman et al., 2016, p. 377).
As indicated by my friends and I’s former observations of this individual along with drug possession being the reason for his recent arrest, the consistent presence of drugs and alcohol in this individual’s environment was likely another major contributor to his criminal involvement. These substances are known to be mind-altering, in themselves. In addition, the recurrent presence of these factors in an individual’s life can lead the individual to regard them as more socially acceptable than they truly are (Gruman et al., 2016). This dissonance from reality (in combination with parental support of these behaviors) often results in a greater tolerance towards deviance, in general (Gruman et al., 2016). Each of the above factors help to explain why our former acquaintance “missed the memo” and failed to progress beyond the years of teenage rebellion.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. (2016). Applying Social Psychology to the Criminal Justice System. In Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (3rd ed., pp. 367–405). essay, SAGE Publications. Retrieved 2022, from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/pensu/reader.action?docID=5945490.
Office of Stafford County Sheriff (OSCS). (2022, February 10). “Pringles Problem” Adds to Charges. Facebook. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStaffordCountySheriff%2Fposts%2F7437752996249780&show.