Columbine

5 Pages 1328 Words

On April 20,1999 there was a school massacre that went down in

history for the worst. This massacre involved two teens that attended the Columbine High

School that planned this activity for one year unnoticed by many faculty in the school , the

community members, friends and parents. These two boys seemed like ordinary teens with

problems coping with their feelings. In this paper I will be applying the General Strain Theory to

Dillon Clebold and Eric Harris to explore more why they did what they did.

The General Strain Theory was first adopted by Robert Merton

who was a sociologist. This theory had many sociologist’s arguing that there are more sources of

strain that Merton did not realize. The one sociologist that made sence of the theory was Robert

Agnew. Agnew says that there are three types of strain which are Stain caused by failure to

achieve positively valued goals, Strain as the removal of positively valued stimuli, and Strain as

the presentation of negative stimuli. The General Strain Theory links delinquency to the strain of

being locked out of the economic mainstream, which creates the anger and frustration that lead

to delinquent acts (Juvenile Delinquency p.89).

When things happen we ask why? Why did Dillon Clebold and

Eric Harris want to hurt many people? The theory that most explains why they wanted to hurt



others is Strain caused by failure to achieve positively valued goals. They wanted revenge on

others because they were not being treated fairly. These two teens were victims of bullying

because others did not accept them for who they were as millions of teens are victims of these

heartless actions of other teens. These other classmates also teased and threw stuff at them for

being in a gang called the trench coat mafia. This teasing caused Dillon and Eric to become very

depressed because they wanted to be respected...