Essay Example on Famous Killer in Canada: Allan Legere

According to the Social Structure Theory the socioeconomic forces can contribute to individuals who are not financially stable to commit a crime. The Social Structure Theory consists of three types of theory which are social disorganization theory, strain theory, and cultural deviance theory. Allan Joseph Legere is an arsonist and as well as a Canadian serial killer who was born in Chatham, Miramichi. Due to a terror group that Legere he inflicted upon residents of the Miramichi River valley in 1989, he is also referred to as Monster of the Miramichi. Legere grew up in a low-income family where he was brought up by a single mother together with his younger brother. While he was a child, his 15-year-old brother was run over by a track, and Legere's mother told him that the wrong person had been killed. This made Legere grow hatred towards the community and turned him into a serial killer. Legere has been convicted of several murder cases. The social structure theory best suits the serial killer Allan Legere.

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The main focus of the Social Disorganization Theory with criminology is that the ecological differences in the level of crime depend on the cultural and structural factors that help shape the nature of the social order within various communities. The social disorganization theory tends to link the rate of crimes of neighborhood ecological characteristics. The social disorganization theories further stipulate that some neighborhoods tend to maintain such a high level of poverty which critical social institutions such as family break down and the school. This is evident in the case of Legere since according to the former RCMP officer Legere was a master manipulator who would keep a list of people who prosecuted him. The strain theory suggests that an individual uses the resources available to ensure that he achieves the goals he has set and this results in a person committing a crime. The cultural deviance theory is a result of burden and societal separation whereby the people who are in the lower class tend to develop their subcultures which are not in line with the rules of the society.

An interview was held between Mountie and Allan Legere, and from the interview, Mountie says that by transferring Legere out of a special holding unit at Quebec prison Canada is making a mistake. According to the article, four people had been killed and the fifth assaulted by Legere during a rampage in New Brunswick. During this time Legere had managed to escape from a Moncton hospital. According to a former RCMP officer who had the chance to interrogate Legere after his first killing, if Legere's security level is reduced, he will try to escape from the prison as there were arrangements of having Legere transferred from the super-maximum security unit at Ste-Anne-des-Plaines to a regular maximum security prison. Legere was serving a life sentence for having killed a convenience store owner. The regular maximum security prison is located near Sept-Iles in Port-Cartier. Legere had told the RCMP officer that he had unfinished business and therefore there was a possibility that Legere would attempt to escape. Residents of New Brunswick Miramichi region were at unease due to the news they were getting about Legere's move ("Possible move of serial Killer Allan Legere Sparks Fear in N.B," 2017) .

Serial killers may have a certain degree of psychopathy that turns them into the homicidal behavior. Some of the psychopathic behavior that is common to most serial killers is that they lack remorse or guilt. Legere does not feel any guilt of killing Annie Flam, Father James Smith and two sisters. Most of the serial killers tend to have been abused physically, sexually or emotionally. For the case of Legere it can be considered that he was emotionally abused after his only brother was run over by a truck and the right person not held accountable and this added more pain to his suffering as a child in his hometown. Many serial killers face similar problems during their childhood development. Environmental problems in which a child is raised from greatly contributed to the homicidal activity of the individual. According to a study carried out by Wilson and Seaman most of the serial killers tend to have been involved in some environmental problems during their childhood such as a broken home. For example, for Legere, he had been raised by a single mother, and that can be considered to be a sign of a broken home (Simpson, 2000).

In conclusion, the article is relevant to the Social disorganization theory as it helps the reader to have a better understanding of the issues and factors that could cause a person to be a serial killer. The environment in which an individual is brought up from plays a significant part in ensuring that a person is not a serial killer. The environment in which a person lives could cause physical, emotional or psychological damage which results in the growth of hatred towards the community which results in the growth of the homicidal behavior.

References

Possible move of serial Killer Allan Legere Sparks Fear in N.B. (2017, September 30). The Guardian.

Simpson, P. L. (2000). Psycho paths: Tracking the serial killer through contemporary American film and fiction. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.