One of the cardinal reasons of studying criminology is the hope to attain an understanding of criminal behavior and criminals. This essential knowledge can then be used by the requisite authorities to control and prevent crime. The study of the Matias Reyes case demonstrates that criminal behavior is learnt over a period of time. Juvenile delinquent behavior is in most cases learnt at the family level. Reyes must have inter alia suffered from parental discord, wrong parental attitudes or an unhappy home background. Sutherland argues that a family that is criminally inclined will in most cases produce children who are delinquent.
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Emotional and psychological stress within Reyes family could be the cardinal cause of his criminal tendencies. Having failed to find the requisite affection at home, Reyes sought to compensate for it with raping other women. The inadequacy of a reformative family environment made him a recidivist.
The police investigators and the prosecutors in the central park jogger case were so focused in winning the case and nailing the five juvenile males that they conducted a shoddy investigation. This was a case of extremely poor quality of investigation. The fact that the case relied extensively on the confession of the five juvenile and not on the reception of prove or disprove of evidence shows that justice was flawed. Race and public opinion was instrument in convicting them rather than evidence. It is unfortunate that despite DNA evidence being available the same was not used to find out the true culprits. Despite Reyes confession, the police and some media outlets still believe the five convicted juveniles who are now adults are still guilty. It is this perception that made the police investigators to be fundamentally misled.
References
Miller, J. A. (2009). Remembering Scottsboro: The Legacy of an Infamous Trial. New York: Princeton University Press.
Stein, A. (2007). Prologue to Violence: Child Abuse, Dissociation, and Crime. New York: Routledge.
