Tracy Thurman Case

516 Words3 Pages
Felisha Khooblall Criminology – Reaction Paper “Tracy Thurman Case” The Tracy Thurman Case was in the 1980s. Between November of 1982 and June 1983, Tracy Thurman was stalked and attacked by her estranged husband Charles Thurman. She was brutally attacked by Charles, stabbing her multiple times, kicking her and stomping on her skull. Due to the amount of damage done to her, she was turned into a quadriplegic. During the attack, the police allowed her husband to wander around for 25 minutes and watched as he continued to attack her. When the ambulance arrived and took Tracy away, then they proceeded to arrest Charles. Tracy went to court against the police department of her home town, Torrington, Connecticut for failing to provide her with protection since she was married to her attacker. The court found that Tracey was discriminated against because the violence was a Domestic dispute. She was awarded 2.3 million dollars by the court. (D.Conn, 1985). From my understanding of this domestic abuse case, Tracy Thurman fits under 2 out of the 4 victimization theories. These theories would be the Lifestyle theory and Routine Activities. The lifestyle theory is based around high risk, college, and criminal surroundings. The routine activities theory is based around the victim’s everyday factors. When Tracy was dating Charles, they were always gambling and surrounded by alcohol all the time. I believe Charles “Buck” Thurman’s actions were a result of Psychological/emotional issues which made it difficult for him to control his behavior. During the film based on this case, Buck would always tell a story of what his mother would do to him. Saying his mother held a gun to his head just to embarrass him and had stabbed his hand as a child. (A Cry For Help, 1989) These incidents in Charles life has played a major part in his psychological development and

More about Tracy Thurman Case

Open Document