Case summary
Susan Smith, an American woman, was convicted of murdering her two children; Michael and alexander who were 3 years and 14 months aged respectively. Smith gave a false claim that her sons were kidnapped by a black man during a carjacking. The recent evidence that could show the reason behind her offense is a letter wrote to her by a rich man who advocated that he was not after ready -made family as he was in a relationship with smith. It was later confirmed that she drowned her sons in nearby john D long lake. As per the court ruling, she was subjected to life imprisonment with parole.
Biopsychological factors that led to committing his/her crime.
Impulsivity.
According to the life history of Susan Smith, she rarely had a stable home life growing up. She tried to commit suicide several times (Blum, & Jaworski, 2016). Her marriage relationships were encountered with difficulties that possibly contributed to the committing of the crime.
Mental health.
Mental health can have both direct and indirect links to criminality. Mental problems are associated with negative results (Blum, & Jaworski, 2016). Susan admits that she was not in her right mind while committing the crime. This can be evidence that her mind was not set for the crime but she just found that she had already committed the murder.
Psychological, situational or social factors that led to the offender’s criminality
Divorce
The first marriage of Susan with David smith was full of challenges. The marriage was rocky and they separated several times. This is a situation that is likely to have caused the crime (Thomeer, Reczek, & Umberson, 2015). A letter sent by tom Findlay could also be a possible reason for committing the crime. The letter was after ending the relationship as tom claimed that he did not want children. As a result of these series of divorce, Susan was subjected to stress and she, therefore, might have committed the crime as a result of relieving herself.
Emotions.
Susan’s father died as a result of suicide, Susan tried to commit suicide several times. Her life was not that simple as she grew up. Her marriage was faced with a lot of challenges. All these factors could have caused emotion to Susan than later could have made her commit the crime.
How psychological factors may have contributed to committing violent crimes.
Emotions.
Emotional situations such as anger, depression, and even fear can influence a violent crime (Dundon, & Hemer, 2016). Emotional situations can cause flashbacks and traumatic stress to a person that makes him/her commit the crime. Once the emotions of an individual experience leading to trauma or flashbacks, he/she becomes unstable. As a result, the person ends up committing a crime even without an intention. All these emotions and their effects interfere with the mind of a person hence the person can be involved in a crime without knowing. When the emotions are controlled at an early stage, the occurrence of violent behavior becomes minimal.
Divorce.
Divorce as a social factor has a great impact on the decisions of an individual. Once a divorce has occurred, some people may lack guidance and counseling on what to do (Horstman, 2016). They end up committing different crimes such as suicide. Divorce contributes to trauma and stress that can make an individual have a wrong choice on how to coy up with either trauma or stress. As a result, an individual ends up committing a crime.
Identification of whether the client suffered from a mental illness.
Susan smith was not suffering any mental illness. She had a lot of issues in her childhood life but this was not enough to cause mental problems in her adulthood life (Ocasio, 2017). She only murdered her two children to be with a man. In the confession that she gave, there is no indication that she was in a psychotic state. Smith was aware of her actions since she wanted to be with a rich who was not after the ready-made family. The reason as to why she murdered her children is that she wanted to be with the rich man who wrote a letter of divorce to her simply because she had children.
The diagnosis and diagnostic criteria for Susan Smith.
The South Carolina Department of mental health examined smith and diagnosed her for having several depression (Slewa-Younan et al., 2017). The diagnostic criteria were not properly met simply because the experts even lacked enough information to show that Susan Smith suffered from depression. Some days before she committed the murder, she had committed sex with several men and tom Findlay had told her that he did not require children. Smith murdered to secure her relationship with tom Findlay.
The ACE’s score for the client
The ACE’s score for the client was found to be 6 based on research from revised articles and essays. During her childhood life, smith experienced trauma as their family was rocky and not stable (Holmes et al., 2017). She experienced trauma following the suicide of her father when she was eight years old. She also encountered molestation at the hands of her stepfather at 13 years. She also tried to commit suicide several times. Her family relationships were difficult as she committed sex and involved in drug abuse. She was divorced by tom Findlay, the last incident that possibly made her murder her children as the man suggested in the letter that he was not after a ready-made family.
Impacts of childhood trauma, abuse, and neglect on criminal behavior.
Childhood abuse increases the risk of adulthood crime by promoting antisocial behavior during childhood and adolescence stage (Forrest-Bank, & Jenson, 2015). If a child is raised in an environment that is not safe and traumatic, this can lead to post-traumatic stress disorders in adulthood. This kind of stress can be caused by things such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. if there is no proper guidance, a child would go through adulthood with this kind of trauma without the proper skills to make good decisions.
The traumatic incidents experienced in childhood therefore can lead to criminal behaviors in adulthood (Bland, Lambie, & Best, 2018). Childhood abuse can lead to emotions that lead to depression and social withdrawal which in turn increases the rate of adulthood crime. Behaviors adopted in the childhood stage grow with time and impacts negatively to the child. Once such behaviors develop, they later become dominant in the adulthood stage hence they can contribute to criminal behavior. A behavior adopted in the childhood stage becomes difficult to be changed in adulthood stage.
Did smith experience any traumatic event in life that could be considered to have influenced the criminal behavior?
Susan smith experienced traumatic incidences in her childhood. Her father committed suicide and her self-committed suicide more than once in her lifetime. She further encountered molestation from her stepfather. These traumatic events were not enough for her to commit such a crime. Smith was driven by love and she, therefore, murdered the children to secure her relationship with tom Findlay. Smith had a choice to seek help that could improve her situation to have a happy and healthier life than turning to her innocent children.
The view of scientific research on the impacts of trauma on criminal/ violent behavior.
The research indicates that highly stressful, potentially traumatic events can alter the brain structure of an individual (Teicher, Samson, Anderson, & Ohashi, 2016). The traumatic reaction can involve emotions, depression, change in behavior, and difficulties in self-control. These reactions trigger violent behavior as an option of copying up with the traumatic events in most individuals. The research also shows that early childhood experience can lead to criminal and violent behavior in adulthood life. A child risen in a traumatic environment can be affected and in adulthood life, the child can be involved in a criminal offense if counseling is not done (Brown, & Shillington, 2017). Traumatic events can also make an individual engage in immorality and drug abuse which later stimulates criminal behaviors.
Mitigation factors that may provide a credible argument against the death sentence for Susan smith
Susan Smith did not have any other criminal history before the recent offense. Though Susan tried to commit suicide more than once in her lifetime, he did not commit any other serious offense that could subject her to a death sentence. In her life, she experienced many traumatic events including the suicide of her father, molestation from her stepfather, and also marriage challenges where she parted with her husband (Cheng, 2016). Despite these challenges, smith committed a crime of trying to commit suicide but this was not enough to be subjected to a death sentence.
Showing remorse
Though smith committed the crime, she later admits the offense and regrets her action and even felt shameful for the action. This shows that maybe she was not in the right mind while committing the criminal offense. Probably, smith was under depression and also the trauma that triggered the action. As a result, she did not deny the action and she, therefore, deserves another kind of punishment and not a death sentence.
Provocation
Smith could be considered to have committed the crime because of a series of events that she experienced throughout her childhood life. Concerning these events, smith could not cope up with the traumatic reactions. She tried to commit suicide several times in her life just the way her father committed suicide. As per the research, early childhood experience influences adulthood life of a person. The traumatic events of Susan smith maybe were the key reasons for committing the crime. Following all these traumatic events and Susan smith deserves a lesser punishment rather than death punishment.
Conclusion
Counseling serves as a psychological intervention in this case. According to the series of events that smith encountered throughout childhood life as well as adulthood life, early counseling could have prevented her from committing the crime. Proper counseling could have made her control her emotions depressions. If the counseling was offered at right time, there is a possibility that smith could have a happy and healthier life that could not made her murder her two children. Considering the mitigation factors listed, death punishment is not appropriate for smith. She committed the crime but the grounds under which she committed the crime have to be established. Susan Smith, therefore, deserves a lesser punishment than death as according to her life history, she was not involved in any other criminal offense.
References
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Cheng, J. (2016). Mitigate from Day One: Why Effective Defense Advocates Do Not Prioritize Liberty over Life in Death Penalty Cases. Ohio St. J. Crim. L., 14, 231.
Blum, D., & Jaworski, C. G. (2016). From suicide and strain to mass murder. Society, 53(4), 408-413.
