The world’s first homicide is documented in Genesis 4: 8. It involves two siblings, Cain and Abel, and may be suggested have been inspired by jealous. Abel was the victim following previous act of offering burnt sacrifice to their deity. It is perceived that Abel’s offering was pleasing as compared to his elder’s siblings; hence the concept of jealous being the motive behind the commitment of the crime. Besides, Genesis 4: 6-7 points out that the deity scorned Cain over his livid reaction to the credits accorded the offering of his younger sibling (Hendel, 2013).
The competing theories
Comprehending the world’s first homicide may involve reflecting on various criminology theories. Among them includes the Biological, classical and neoclassical theories. The biological theory suggests that criminals are born with such instincts. Therefore, their acts of crime are simply a manifestation of their congenital qualities. Classical theory, on the other hand, identifies motive as being elemental in committing a crime. The impression of motive provides that the criminal will have direct or calculated gains from the commission of the act. Regarding the neoclassical theory, the environment upon which the suspect is exposed is considered an instigator to the crime (Sampson & Laub, 2016). For example, an arsonist may tend to torch property if accelerators are availed to their environment.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Reflection On The World’s First Homicide".
Opinion on the applicable theory
The world’s first homicide may be best explained by two of the criminal theories, namely classical and neoclassical. In accordance with the classical theory, Cain developed motives to commit the crime as a measure that would be the elimination of future competition in relation to the provision of offerings. Without the existence of his younger sibling, the deity would lack samples to contrast his offering; thus, he will be entitled to all the credits. It may be assumed that he developed the motive during his period of anger following the dismal reception accorded his offering. While reflecting the neoclassical theory, the act took place at a distance away from the dwellings of the two siblings. Cain convinced his younger sibling to tour the fields where he committed the crime. In essence, he had the motive to commit the crime, but they were accelerated by the availability of open isolated field. It may be difficult to associate biological theory to the crime since both the suspect and the victim were siblings. In such case, it would be difficult to configure the offence along the impression of biological theory.
- Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (2016). Turning Points and the Future of Life-Course Criminology Reflections on the 1986 Criminal Careers Report. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3), 321-335.
- Hendel, R. S. (2013). The book of genesis: A biography. Princeton University Press.
