Deviant Behavior

Case: Matthew Shepard, a young homosexual man who was a student at the University of Wyoming, died on October 12, 1998, of severe injuries received from a brutal and prolonged attack by two other young men he met in a bar 6 days earlier. Shepard- two attackers were Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, to whom he admitted he was gay. Pretending to befriend him, they instead transported him to a rural area, tied him to a barbed wire fence, tortured and beat him, and then left him. Many hours later, a passerby found him clinging to life. He died in the hospital within the week. McKinney and Henderson, in possession of a bloodied gun and some of Shepard- possessions, were arrested following his death and charged with murder. At trial, they first claimed the gay panic defense (temporary insanity) and later argued that they had only intended to rob him but things go out of hand. Their girlfriends testified that the two men stalked Shepard and that both were sober. Each was convicted of felony murder and sent to prison. Shepard- parents became tireless advocates against gay bashing, a form of homophobia defined as verbal and/or physical harassment or assault of people who are perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered. The word perceived is important: There have been cases where someone makes a misattribution of another- sexual orientation based on the cultural stereotype of homosexuality and aggresses against the target erroneously. Assignment: Analyze this case using course concepts we have studied so far. Write an essay that contains at least these three components: how deviance occurred, what kind(s) of deviance occurred, and at least one theoretical perspective that you think has good explanatory power with respect to this case. • If you use the text or external resources, remember to use APA citations in the body of your essay and in the corresponding references section at the end of the essay. Reminder: You cannot use Wikipedia or the websites of other universities. • Create a Microsoft Word document, using double-spacing, paragraphs, and subheadings for each component. • There is no set length for your essay, although 500 words or more will probably be needed to provide sound analysis. • Carefully edit your essay for grammar and spelling errors and for presentation style.