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Hirschi describes crime as, "acts of force or fraud undertaken in pursuit of self interest" (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990:15) It is easy to find that people like Ma have low self-control and thus an inability to restrain themselves from committing crimes in order to get the short term gratification, Ma engaged in out bursting behaviors. Such kind of action is really dangerous since it requires little skill and preparation and is unpredictable, so the results are normally destructive and action to prevent it can''t be taken in advance.
Some experts state, “Their perspective, unlike many others, is not meant to predict any single type of activity since most deviant behavior, by its very nature, is impulsive and opportunistic.’
The tragedy of Ma is caused by low self- control and a weak bond to the society. These two factors can lead to deviant and criminal conduct. The circumstance, which Ma is in, may partly explain the reason why he would take deviant action.
b. Life with strain
Strain from the outside environment can cause many negative feelings in an individual including defeat, despair, and fear, but the feeling that is most applicable to crime is anger (Agnew, 1992:59). People suffering this kind of mental dysfunction usually have a distorted perception of reality and lack a sense of security. Even a minor incident, like looking bad in friendly competition, can precipitate aggressive and destructive behavior.When Ma Jia jue was laughed at by his roommates, he related it to many other things. He thought the other classmates looked down upon him because of his poverty. Agnew asserted that individuals become angry when they blame their negative circumstances and relationships on others (Agnew, 1992:59). Anger was found to incite a person to action, lower inhibitions, and create a desire for revenge (Agnew, 1992:60). Ma suffered a lot of anger and frustration since he was a top students in the senior high but just an average student in the university and besides he is from a comparatively poor region which he perceived made him be looked down upon sometimes by his classmates. Also it was time for him to find a job, but the job is really difficult to find. The repetitive frustration may have contributed to incite him to aggressive action. We quite agreed what the general strain theory proposed that an increase in strain would lead to an increase in anger, which may then lead to an increase in crime.
Surprising statistics from the National Center for Mental Health of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that, according to conservative estimations, 16 to 25 percent of college students on the Chinese mainland currently have mental problems such as anxiety, phobia, neurasthenia, paranoia and hypochondria.
Yet few of them seek the professional help of psychiatric counselors after they have thought they may have a mental problem. A questionnaire survey of 100 students, half male and half female, at Nanjing Economic University conducted in early Oct shows that when students suspect they may have a mental condition, a mere 8 percent choose to talk with someone or seek psychiatric consultation; 12 percent choose to take care of it themselves; 20 percent (of which two thirds were male respondents) said they choose to physically vent their rage. 34 percent said they it was nothing serious. 26 percent said they would come to their friend for help.
Another survey on mental health conducted by Nanjing Economic University concluded that more than 10 percent of the students surveyed suffered from at least minor psychological disorders. Students from poor families were generally less healthy mentally, according to the survey.
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