Final Thoughts

One thought that came to me through my research of this crime was why was Lionel Tates mother not charged in relation to this crime? Tiffany was under her care at the time, but instead of babysitting her like she should have been, she was upstairs sleeping. I feel she should have at-least been charged with neglect.

In the American Crime video I watched, several of Lionel's teachers mentioned his inappropriate behavior in the classroom, and that his mother responded by blaming other kids for Lionel's actions. It seems to me that she was unwilling to see the signs that her son may have needed some form of help (American Crime, 2016).

The behaviors Lionel's teachers described leads to be believe he may suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder. According to the Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(p.645) a personality disorder is: 

"the essential feature of antisocial personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood."

According to Taylor & Fritsch(p.105), some of the other characteristics of antisocial personality disorder are:

• deceitfulness
• impulsivity
• irritabiity and aggressivness
• reckless disregard for safety of self or others
• lack of remorse
• repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest

Through my research, I've been able to identify at least 5 of the 6 characteristics listed above.

1. Deceitfulness - he lied to his mother about what happened to Tiffany
2. Irritability and aggressiveness - Teachers mentioned that he was easily agitated, and was known to bully and intimidate the kids in his class.
3. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others - His behavior that led to the death of Tiffany Eunick.
4. Lack of remorse - This was shown through images of the trial.
5. Repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest -  The murder of Tiffany, violation of his probation, and the armed robbery of the pizza delivery man. 







American Crime . (2016, November 24). Retrieved September 09, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtksaQopdyY&t=50s

Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). (1952). Washington: American Psychiatric Association.

Taylor, R. W., & Fritsch, E. J. (2015). Juvenile justice: policies, programs, and practices (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.