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Final Paper Outline - Presley
Criminal Justice Research and Writing (Liberty
University)
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FINAL PAPER OUTLINE 1
NAME: Zachary Cushman
Thesis Statement: Multiple reasons why Charles Manson killed and started a cult have sufaced
because of various sociological, civilizational, and religious theories.
I. The cult, their killings, and their persecution
II. Literature review
III. Sociological theories (Atchison & Heide, 2011)
A. Labeling theory
B. General strain theory
C. Social learning theory
IV. Civilizational theories (Nielsen, 1984)
A. Purelism
B. Anomism
C. Transmoral consciousness
V. Religious theories (Sutton, 2018)
A. Durkheim theory
B. Totemism
C. Luhmann theory (Weaver, 2016)
VI. Biblical worldview
VII. Conclusion
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FINAL PAPER OUTLINE 2
References
Atchison, A. J., & Heide, K. M. (2011). Charles Manson and the Family: The application of
sociological theories to multiple murder. International Journal of Offender Therapy and
Comparative Criminology, 55(5), 771–798. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X10371794
Nielsen, D. A. (1984). Charles Manson’s family of love: A case study of
anomism, puerilism and transmoral consciousness in civilizational perspective.
Sociological Analysis, 45(4), 315–337. https://doi.org/10.2307/3711297
Sutton, D. (2018). Durkheim, Totemism, and The Manson Family: Theorizing on the
relationship between religion and violence. In M. Deflem (Ed.), Homicide and violent
crime (Vol. 23, pp. 63–79). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1521-
613620180000023005
Norman, P. (2019). Reflections on the Charles Manson case. Bulletin (Law Society of South
Australia), 41(7), 26–30.
https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.568274062249170
Weaver, W. N. (2016). Saturnalia in the theory of Niklas Luhmann: The terror program manifest
through Charles Manson’s family with reference to additional groups such as Aum
Shinrikyo and ISIS. Soziale Systeme, 21(1), 240–277. https://doi.org/10.1515/sosys-2016-
0010
Nielsen, D. A. (1984). Charles Manson’s family of love: A case study of
anomism, puerilism and transmoral consciousness in civilizational perspective.
Sociological Analysis, 45(4), 315–337. https://doi.org/10.2307/3711297
