Criminology

With reference to competing theoretical perspectives within criminology, examine the utility of criminological theory in explaining the

murder of George Cornell by the infamous Ronnie Kray

Introduction
Ronald Kray walked into the Blind Beggar pub in East London on the 9th March 1966 where he calmly committed the cold blooded murder of

George Cornell with three bullets between the eyes he would exit having committed one of the most infamous killings in history and

cementing himself a legacy that people would portray him as perhaps the most ruthless gangsters in history.
By going deep into the notorious criminals past, lifestyle and state of mind then linking this with some criminological theories a better

understanding as to why Kray murdered Cornell all those years ago can be achieved. The theories looked upon will be biological positivist,

predominantly looking at Lombroso, twin studies and schizophrenia. Secondly the social learning theory and finally looking at the

labelling theory of crime.
Early Years
Stephen, V. (2012). Ronald Kray was born on the 24th October 1933, ten minutes after his identical twin Reginald. He had a brother seven

years older than him called Charlie and a sister who unfortunately died as a baby. He and Reginald suffered from a nasty bacterial

infection called diphtheria when babies. In 1939 they moved to Bethnal Green. His older brother Charlie was enlisted into the army at the

start of the second world war and deserted leading to the police and military calling regularly.
Robb BJ (2014) In 1942 during a fistfight with his brother Reginald, Ronald suffered a serious head injury and nearly died as a result and

seemed to spur on an amateur boxing career which saw both twins remain undefeated.
Pearson, J (2015:45-47). In 1951 Ronald and Reginald turned professional boxers, Ronald was seen as vicious and somewhat psychopathic in

the ring and loved to inflict pain against his opponents and was constantly reminded of this increasing his desire to remain brutal,

however a reputation outside the ring for being deviant, this hit Ronald hard as this somewhat ended his and Reginald’s boxing careers as

the promoters did not want violence linked with boxing.
Stephen, V (2012). When sixteen the twins were charged with GBH and when sentenced the judge referred to them as the Sabini brothers who

were infamous gangsters around the 1930s. This shows Ronald and Reginald at an early age already had a troublesome reputation. This seemed

to spur the Krays on more to want to be recognised in this sort of way and made a vow to be villains.
Pearson J (2010). When eighteen Ronald and his brother would desert from national service following in Charlies footsteps and also their

fathers. They were sent to the Tower of London where they would terrorise the guards. Being placed into punishment cells would be seen as

a challenge for them. This would be the time for the twins to learn about how to become criminals.
Broadmoor and homosexuality
Hobbs, D (2011). In 1956 Ronald’s aggression lead him to be sentenced for three years inside prison where it would be found that he was

severely affected with paranoid schizophrenia and was sent to Broadmoor Lunatic Asylum as it was then called.
Mcgrath, P (2012). Ronnie Kray would be allowed to associate himself with murders and psychopaths such as the ‘Teacup Poisoner’ who

poisoned up to seventy people and most importantly Frank ‘the Axe Man’ Mitchell, who it was said that he and Ron used to ‘teach’ one

another about crime and eventually Mitchell becoming an associate of the Krays. Ronald would be released in 1959.
Alleyne, R. (2001). It was also widely known that Ronald was a homosexual. According to Ron himself he was in somewhat torment himself

over his sexuality and pushed him to commit more rash acts. Ronald would cry himself to sleep everyday somewhat ashamed. In 1964 it became

apparent that Ronald was having an affair with Lord Boothby who was at the time a tory peer. This alone shows the power and status of the

Krays as they would associate themselves with high ranking personnel.
Fame and Murder
Helgeland, B (2015). The biopic ‘Legend’ shows the twins becoming cult figures in London by owning popular nightclubs across London and

having links to the Mafia increasing their reputation and deeming themselves as untouchable. One nightclub in particular ‘Esmaraldas Barn’

in the Knightsbridge area would become popular with celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin.
Pearson, J (2015:157-168). The club would become a gold mine for the twins as due to Ronald’s homosexuality, there was no prejudice and

anyone would be allowed into the club. Turner, A (2003). Many people would associate themselves with the Krays in the 50s and 60s

therefore increasing their high status.
Alleyne, R (2001). The increasing fame didn’t stop Ronald from committing murder. In 1966 Ronald’s torment for being gay would push him

over the edge, when he would walk into a pub in the Blind Beggar in East London and shoot rival gang member George Cornell to death for

calling him a ‘fat poof’. He would be convicted three years later and sentenced to life.
Biological Positivism
Ellwood, CA (1912) Starting with biological positivism which was first put forth by Cesare Lombroso in the nineteenth century he believed

criminals were born bad. Lombroso was a medical doctor and studied crime, he looked at physical features such as sloped foreheads and

heavy brow as markers of criminality.
Vertinsky P (2007). William Sheldon carried on this theory looking at body types and stated that mesomorphs who were seen to have heavy

bone and muscle mass and bigger bodies were likely to be criminal. Criticisms of biological positivism are that it looks at one single

trait and uses this as a direct cause of crime and it seems to be poor and biased research carried out.
Applying these early studies to Ronald Kray there could be a slight suggestion that Sheldon’s work can relate as Ronald was a large

character and had a large physique as shown below, but does this single element mean that he is a criminal due to this? Possibly not, due

to his state of mind…

Lovelace, W (1966)
(Ronald on right)
Twin Studies
Biological positivists also have done studies on twins. Lange J (1930) conducted a test where he found that identical twins were more

likely to have criminal records then ordinary brothers therefore suggests that heredity plays a vital role in criminal behaviour. Rowe and

Rogers et al (1989) also confirms this using 308 sets of twins saying they are more likely to offend. This evidence suggests this could be

a factor in why Ronald was a criminal however the studies on twins are slightly scarce therefore may affect the validity due to lack of

studies.

Schizophrenia
Cullen, FT et al (2010) Scientific breakthroughs have allowed biological positivism to grow. Studies of violence and schizophrenia has

been ongoing. Studies found that non hospitalised schizophrenic persons may engage in a full spectrum of violent behaviour including

murder.
Raine, A (2006). Further work about schizophrenia put forth by Adrian Raine in 2006 declares that schizophrenia and crime are related and

you are more likely to commit crime if affected with schizophrenia. He states that early risk factors for crime and schizophrenia are the

same. (Strick, F) 2015. Frank Strick a clinical research director somewhat confirms what Raine says. Ronald suffered from diphtheria as a

child and as stated declared by Strick, bacteria could be a major factor in chronic illness such as schizophrenia therefore increasing

Krays chances of becoming criminal.
Hansen, MB (2014) Danish scientists have also proven that head injury can cause mental illness increasing the chances of getting it by

439%. This further supports Raine as Kray almost died from a head injury in 1942 therefore increasing his chances to become a

schizophrenic and become a criminal. It may be also worth mentioning blows taken by punches during his boxing career and what effect that

may have caused Ronald. Looking at this theory and Ronnie’s background there is strong suggestion that schizophrenia may have made Ronald

a criminal. It can be also argued that the torment suffered for being gay could be down to his paranoid schizophrenia and being called a

‘fat poof’ may have tipped him to boiling point and due to his illness he may have not been aware of the implications of his actions.
Looking at what can be done to prevent this looks at morals. Perhaps the Criminal Justice System should have procedures in place to

monitor individuals who have suffered from bacterial infections or had a head injury so they can get the correct treatment early and

prevent violent behaviours but the question of morals is a huge factor, would it be right for people to be treated unwillingly in the

modern world questionably not. Feitschman A et al (2004) a study carried out in 2004 showed that people with schizophrenia were more

likely to commit violent crime and that schizophrenia needs to be recognised. This links with Kray too as he was a violent and aggressive

man therefore this could suggest that schizophrenia was a major factor of why he committed murder.

Learning theories
Behavioural learning theories came from the works of Skinner, BF (1938) he came up with the idea of operant conditioning and said that a

person must actively respond if they are to learn, for example if the reward was great you would do something for that reward. This was

accepted with by cognitivists but they shifted the focus towards mental rather than physical.
Bandura, A (1971). Albert Bandura showed a new theory through social learning. He stated that people learn from direct experiences, model

themselves on others are influenced on their surroundings and who they base themselves around. Bandura also states that the person’s

consequences of their actions are also observed this is called vicarious reinforcement. Nolen JL (2015). In 1961 Bandura would experiment

using bobo dolls. He would observe children’s behaviour towards the doll and found that if exposed to an aggressive model they would act

aggressively. Limitations however have been bought to attention such as it was conducted by children and not a broad range of participants

and the experiment was conducted in a lab therefore affecting validity of the results.
As a variation from the social learning theory, the differential association theory of crime would be developed by Edwin Sutherland

carrying on from Bandura. Jeffery CR (1965). Sutherland states that deviance is created via interaction with other people. Sutherland

suggests that people can act as reinforcers for criminal activities therefore can be influenced by the environment they find themselves

in. Some other flaws of Sutherland’s theory and Bandura’s theory are it doesn’t not take into account the mentality of the offender which

could prove vital when looking at Ronnie Kray
Applying these theories to Ronald Kray there would be some evidence to suggest these theories to be strong in explaining what he did. As

mentioned above Ronald watched as his older brother deserted from the army and he copied the behaviour years later with Reginald. The

Krays would also influence one another being held in the Tower of London in the punishment cells this would influence them both to learn

from their surroundings and familiarise themselves with various methods of crime. Ronald during his time in Broadmoor would associate

himself with various types of criminal and this would no doubt have an effect on him. Mentioned previously he and Frank Mitchell would

become associates and ‘taught’ crime to one another therefore the social learning and differential association theories could give reason

to why Ronald committed murder. Looking at how the criminal justice system and what they could do regards to prison perhaps tougher

sentencing could deter a criminal. Allowing criminals to mix could also prove a problem, maybe the dangerous prisoners should be kept away

from each other as they can’t learn from each other. Grierson, J (2013). The rates of reoffending seem to always increase in 2013 in

increased 0.5% stating that 1 in 4 reoffend. This is probably due to leniency and shorter sentencing but could also be down to the fact

that prison is like a school of crime. Linking this to Ron it could be argued that a hefty sentence the first time around could have

prevented reoffending and placing him with a similar type of criminal he learnt new methods and techniques to use on the outside. This

shows the criminal justice system somewhat fails with social learning and reoffending.

Labelling Theory
The final theory that will be looked at is the labelling. This seems relevant as Ronald was labelled as a gangster, lunatic and ruthless.

These are just some of the things he had been described as during his life. This theory indicates that a person reacts to social

responses. Tannenbaum (1938). Frank Tannenbaum at the early stages of the theory said that through a procedure of calling someone a name

and evoking the traits that are complained of that person then the person becomes what he is being labelled. The theory is simple and as

works done over the years the criminologists researching come to one conclusion as stated previously, label someone a criminal they become

criminal. Hughes, C (1945). in the 1940s the theory of labelling was said that to be labelled once is all you need and this status will

stay with the person. It is suggested that the labelling of somewhat and calling them deviant gives them some kind of higher status then

others which could lead them to commit more crimes.
Becker,H (1963). Howard Becker’s interpretation of the labelling theory is more modern, he says that motives of the person and the factors

of society as a whole doesn’t relate to criminal behaviour He however does go back to the point bought up previously that the label of

criminal will stick with the person being labelled. Taking this into account the limitations of the labelling theory can be that some

criminals become reformed and not everyone acts in a deviant way. It doesn’t ask the question of what the criminals aim and purpose is and

how it originates in the first place therefore leads to questions being asked.
Becker, H (1953) A study of the of marijuana use conducted by Becker is somewhat seen as limited as it does not focus on significant

crime therefore can be seen as insufficient enough evidence to use the study the people involved in the study could be already seen to be

drug users therefore affecting the validity of the results leaving some people to doubt the labelling theory as this looks at social

interaction rather than looking at the characteristics of deviancy.
In applying the labelling theory to the crime which Ronnie Kray committed it seems as if there is substantial enough evidence to say that

the labelling theory is a good theory which explains why Ronnie Kray was the way he was and committed murder. As explained above Ronnie

and his brother were repeatedly compared to gangsters and dubbed as ruthless and this no doubt rubbed off on them both as they would

follow a life of crime. There is also some evidence to suggest that being in a lunatic asylum may have been some sort of a catalyst that

Ronnie fed off as it seems as if he played on the title of lunatic and it was after his sentence in Broadmoor where he would become a

killer.
Looking at what the criminal justice system can do regards to the labelling theory is quite difficult. Perhaps decriminalising softer

crimes can lead to petty crime being prevented therefore leading to less labelling? This would be seen as a desperate measures and looks

at whether it would be acceptable to do so. The criminal justice system should also do more to try and stop the glorification of words

such as gangsters as this could possibly prevent some crime.
Conclusion
It is clear that the schools of criminology that have been are flawed in general however when applying to the case study of Ronnie Kray

these theories give insight as to why the crime was committed. With increasing studies and scientific and technological breakthroughs it

is understandable that in the near future there will be more evidence to back up modern positivism mainly, as well as social learning and

labelling theories of crime. The theories looked at do give clarity to why Ronnie committed murder with each of them giving good

explanation, but it is clear that there is no definitive criminological theory that can explain why he became a murderer.

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