Dylan Roof Social Structure Theory

Social structure theory says that the social and economic forces operating in deteriorated lower-class areas are the key determinates of criminal behavior patterns (Siegel, 2015). On June17th, 2015, Dylann Roof a self-proclaimed white supremacist walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and murdered nine of its members (Charlson Church Shooting, 2015). Social structure theory would suggest that due to the social and economic aspects of Roof’s life are the reason as to why he committed this mass shooting. His parents had divorced but were temporarily reconciled at the time of his birth. When Roof was five, his father married Paige Mann in November 1999; they divorced after ten years of marriage. Bennett Roof was allegedly

Roof ended up moving around a lot never getting a solid social structure. At one point he lived in the Florida Keys before moving back to South Carolina and living on the couch of friends and relatives. One of the first major concerns for Roof’s wellbeing came from his maternal uncle who was concerned about social withdrawal because Roof didn’t have a job or other things a normal then nineteen-year-old would have (Dylann Roof, 2016). All these things are talked about in the social structure theory and suggest that based on the theory it was only a matter of time before Roof was going to commit a heinous act. Unfortunately, no one could have guessed it would result in the loss of life for nine people sitting in

Roof believed that what he had started was the beginning of the change that he wanted to see. He thought that by killing those African Americans that other white supremacy groups such as the KKK would finish what he started and begin killing African Americans like it was the 1950’s but most of the groups issued statements after he was arrested saying that they did not condone the actions that he was taking. Social theory suggests that Roof did this as a way for him to fit in and grow into some sick and twisted type of family that he felt he didn’t have as a child but that he was striving for. This also explains how and why he was so easily coerced into believe that any one not white was the problem with America. Three days after the shooting took place, federal investigators uncovered a website with 60 images and a 2,000-word manifesto that delved deep into Roof’s troubling racist beliefs, outlining why he chose the Charleston church with the intent of inciting a race war (Dylan Roof,