Strain Theory: Juvenile Killer Maurice Bailey

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for JPS 405

Professor Lois Fuchs
Guilford College
Greensboro, North Carolina
May 4, 2015

For years the causes of juvenile homicide has drawn a lot of attention from the scientific
community and has become a widely studied topic. Many would like to know why the number of
homicides committed by youths are steadily escalating each year. Juvenile violence has been
considered an epidemic by professionals working in the field of juvenile justice as well as health
care professionals specializing in mental health. Many believe that the parents are to blame for
their childs deviant behavior, some proclaim that adolescents are mainly influenced by their
peers; while others would like to point the finger at the media, such as video games, television
and the internet. Research shows that children who are beat, abused or neglected are more likely
to have debilitating, long term psychological damage and more incentives for violence. Whatever
the case may be, attention to this issue is warranted.
Numerous incidents are being reported through the media from various cities across the
country. According to most studies, there are several possible contributing factors to blame,
which lead young people to violent behavior. During the last decade or so, many researchers
have begun seeking answers to this dilemma which has been lingering within our society. At this
point, no one can give any definite solutions to resolve the issues at hand because there are so
many factors that have to be taken into consideration. What is the main cause for youth violence
today? Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they never fail to
imitate them. (Baldwin?). This statement seems to have a certain degree of truth behind it.
Many adolescents who exhibit violent behavior learn those mannerisms from their parents; might
this be a key factor in children who commit murder? This paper will discuss the background of
juvenile killer, Maurice Bailey and the corresponding juvenile theory that offers a potential
explanation as to what caused Bailey to commit such a gruesome act of violence.

During the fall, on November 6, 1993, 15 year old high school student Maurice Bailey,
committed a disturbing and violent act of murder. Bailey killed his 15 year old girlfriend,
Kristina Grill, a classmate who was pregnant with his child. With a knife, Bailey stabbed Kristina
repeatedly in the neck and upper body and left her on the ground as he fled the scene. Before
leaving, he told the police at the time that he had zipped up her jacket in a vain effort to stop the
flow of bleeding. He hid the knife in the woods that day and went home. Maurice Bailey lived in
the town of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Sources say that Bailey was a good student, void of any
disciplinary problems. Statements from those who knew Maurice said that he was a popular guy
who almost everyone wanted to be friends with. Baileys father was an electrical engineer who
just so happened to have on-going tensions with many of his white co-workers at his job. As a
result, Baileys father strongly disapproved of his sons interracial romance with Kristina.
On the other hand, Baileys mother, Debra Bailey, who was a database coordinator at
Carnegie Mellon University felt differently than her husband. Debra Bailey had accepted
Kristina and had approved her sons relationship with her and even tried to make Kristina feel
welcome in her home. In fact, Kristinas 15th birthday was celebrated with a barbecue in the
backyard of the Baileys residence. Kristinas family did not show up to the event. Debra Bailey
told reporters that although, her son and Kristina, were too young to be doing what they were
doing, she would offer assistance to support by dealing with the situation if Kristina ended up
pregnant, which she did. It was said that Kristina Grill and Maurice Bailey were deeply in love
with each other. Kristinas father, who did not live at home, was a known bigot. Because of this,
Kristina kept her relationship with Maurice hidden from father out of fear of his response.
Unfortunately, one day Baileys father happened to come home early from work and witnessed a
shocking scene that deeply disturbed him because of his views. He had caught his son in bed,

having sexual relations with his girlfriend Kristina. Baileys father went into a fit of rage and
ordered Kristina to leave his home immediately. After Kristina left the premises, Maurices father
became angry and took out his frustrations upon him. He began to beat his son profusely,
knocking his head into a wall. When Kristina found out that she was expecting a child, the young
teenager was ecstatic and wanted to keep the baby but Maurice didnt. Not long after Kristina
found out the news that she was pregnant, she told a friend, Pamela Cheeks, the night before her
death, that she was about to tell her family about her pregnancy and that she was meeting with
Maurice the very next day to discuss their future together. In an interview, Pamela Cheeks told
reporters that she had access to Kristinas diary, and in that dairy, Kristina had written, that
Maurice better show up at their agreed location and time.
Unfortunately, Maurice did meet with Kristina on a Saturday afternoon at an elementary
school playground where he brutally murdered her on site. Young kids from the neighborhood
were out playing when they stumbled upon Kristinas body and shortly afterwards notified the
police. The investigation of course led police officers to first check Kristinas home, where they
located her diary. The diary was filled with detailed entries of her relationship with Maurice,
which led to the officials next stop, the Baileys residence. When the police went to the
Baileys home in the middle of the night and woke up Maurice, his mother recalls that he said to
them, I figured youd come. In Baileys defense, his attorney centered his plea on the fact that
the youth had faced various negative pressures. Additionally, Maurices father testified in court
that he had told his son that if Kristina got pregnant, he would kill him. Besides this, Baileys
performance at school was diminishing as he continued to spend more and more time with
Kristina. Although, Bailey attempted to end things with Kristina, he was not successful. As a
result, he continued to spiral out of control, growing more afraid each day that passed, which

later led to a devastating outcome. Ms. Jamriska, Kristinas sister, a 22-year-old, endured a heart
wrenching lost. She was out having drinks with her friends when she received the news about
her sisters death. Only ten months later, their mother died of complications from pneumonia.
Then, shortly after that, their grandmother died. Ms. Jamriska stated that, During that year, she
buried four generations of family, a situation that she claims completely wrecked her whole life
(cite here New York Times). Maurice Bailey was convicted of first degree murder and was

sentenced to a life sentence without parole. Bailey is now 37 years old, currently serving time in
Fayette State Correctional Institution in western Pennsylvania. In June 2012, many offenders in
similar positions as Bailey began to have hope that they would be given another chance at
freedom because they thought the Supreme Court had banned all mandatory life sentences
without parole for those under 18 convicted of murder.
As it turned out, there was an editing error misstating the courts ruling. The court did not
completely banish life sentences for such offenders. It had only banned life sentences that did not
offer parole. However, the news still sent Ms. Jamriska and thousands like her into shocking
uproar at the thought that the killers of their loved ones might be free to actually walk the streets
again (cite here). Sources said that Bailey had planned to petition for a new hearing, with the
argument that the pressures he faced as a 15 year old with a pregnant girlfriend and violentabusive father are unique to youth and should be covered by the Supreme Court ruling because
an adult would have reacted differently in that same situation. The United States Supreme Court
decision said that sentences of life without parole for juveniles failed to take account of the role
of the offender in the crime, the family background and the incomplete brain development of the
young. Recent research has found that youths are prone to miscalculate risks and consequences,
and that their moral compasses are not fully developed. They can change as they get older (New
York Times, 2012).

Statistics show that the actual number of juvenile homicides are low, but have been
gradually increasing at an alarming rate after reaching a high-time high a decade ago (cite here).
The murder arrest rate in 2008 was 3.8 arrests per 100,000 juveniles ages 10 through 17. This
was 17 percent more than the 2004 low of 3.3 and three-quarters less than the 1993 peak of 14.4,
according the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. In the most comprehensive
survey to date, "Children's Exposure to Violence," the U.S. Justice Department suggests that
most U.S. children are exposed to violence in their daily lives, with more than 60 percent
reporting exposure within the past year. As mentioned previously, the article went on to say that
most of the kids displaying violent behavior have seen abuse or seen abuse or violence in some
shape, form or fashion. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/kid-killers-child-murderers-rare-risepushed-violence/story?id=9818578
One possible notion to explain what happened in the bailey case can be defined by Robert
Agnew. Agnew began his theory of crime and delinquency in the year 1992. He came up with the
general strain theory; evolved from other previous strain theories. The strain theory gives
attention to presentation of negative emotions and relationships with others which may lead to
delinquency as a result. In other words, General strain theory argues that strains or stressors
increase the likelihood of negative emotions like anger and frustration. These emotions create
pressure for corrective action, and crime is one possible response. Crime may be a method for
reducing strain (e.g.; stealing the money you desire), seeking revenge, or alleviating negative
emotions (e.g., through illicit drug use). (Agnew, 1992). Crime and delinquency often times are
the results of negative stimuli from specific factors such as family, peer influences, poverty and
community structure. Agnews strain theory lists multiple types of strains under three main
categories to describe youth who exhibit deviant behavior. The first type of strain consists of not

being able to attain a positive or valued goal. This can lead a person to respond in anger which
gives more incentive toward delinquency. The second type of strain involves the loss of any type
of positive stimuli within a young persons life, such as the end of cherished relationship with a
family member or friend. Removing a positive influence in an adolescents life can cause the
juvenile to get mad and resentful, thus resulting in the possibility of delinquency as an act of
revenge.
The third type of strain is centered on the introduction of negative stimuli which can lead
to the presence of aggression and other violent behavior. This strain is based on the actual or
anticipated presence of negative stimuli (Agnew, 1992). For instance, some examples include:
rejection, neglect, abandonment, sexual and physical abuse, domestic violence in the home,
unsafe neighborhoods and negative school conditions to name a few. The pressure from these
types of strain can be diminished if the negative stimuli are removed and if hindrances to goals
are less, making achievements more easily obtained. Strain theory differs from social control and
social learning theory based off the definition of specific conditions that includes the types of
social relationships leading up to delinquency and the motivation for those delinquencies
(Agnew, 1992). The general strain theory is significant because it focuses on harmful
relationships, and negative emotions and situations that inhibit individuals from attaining
positive goals. In the previously mentioned relationships, the chance for delinquency is much
greater because individuals are not being treated the way they think they should be treated. The
general strain theory offers so many variations that exploration in those areas can be difficult to
narrow down and focus upon because each areas is so broad. Besides Agnew, there are other
theorists who give expertise in the area of strain theory such as, Merton, Ohlin, Cloward and
Cohen. All in all, these cultural theories build upon the established work of Merton. They

believe that deviance is the result of individual adaptation to the norms and values of a social
group to which they belong, if you belong to a social group whose norms differ from those of the
main society then you will become a deviant (revisesociology.wordpress.com). The theorists
mentioned above, Merton (1940), Cohen (1955), Cloward (1960), and Ohlin (1960) argue that
society influences individuals to pursue specific cultural goals, moving from one socioeconomic
status to the next and when individuals do not have equal access to meet desired goals of society,
they then turn to crime and other deviant acts in order to obtain their sought after goals
(http://www.drtomoconnor.com). Strainful events and conditions are most likely to lead to
crime when they (1) are seen as unjust, (2) are seen as high in magnitude, (3) are associated with
low social control, and (4) create some pressure or incentive for criminal coping (Agnew,
1992). In sum, (Talk about how Maurice bailey fits description of strain theory here).

REFERENCES
Birckhead, T. (2012, June 22). From Poverty to Stigma to Poor Health among Teens - Juvenile
Justice Blog. Retrieved April 20, 2015, from
http://juvenilejusticeblog.web.unc.edu/2012/06/22/from-poverty-to-stigma-to-poorhealth-among-teens/
Ercole, Jacqueline, "Labeling in the Classroom: Teacher Expectations and their Effects on
Students' Academic Potential" (2009). Honors Scholar Theses. Paper 98.
http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses/98
Theories of Deviance. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/deviance-crime-and-socialcontrol/theories-of-deviance