at their local church. Since this was their only legit activity, the boys had a lot of time available for deviant activities. Since the boys had free time they ended up getting a job for King Benny. King Benny was a man in the neighborhood who owned a restaurant and was involved in criminal activities. The boys worked for Benny delivering packages to other people and dropping off money to police officers. The boys knew that what they were doing was wrong but they felt nothing wrong with it. Another reason they committed the act of stealing the hotdog was because of their Involvement and Attachment bonds. If the boys had affectionate relationships at home or if they had a legit job, then they would not have been on the roof doing nothing. Instead they decided to sit around all day and do nothing. The main reason the boys decided to steal the hotdog was because none of them wanted to go home to eat and deal with the frustration of their families. The boys also did not really have much respect for authority. They grew up in Hells Kitchen which was known for its criminal activities. The boys did not respect authority which made them more likely to commit these deviant acts. When the boys stole the hotdogs they talked about how they didn’t look at the vendor as a man but rather as a way to get free food. They didn’t know the man came to America to work with the hopes to later bring his wife and two children. If the boys had respected this man and respected the laws then they probably would not have stolen from him. Another theory that shows why the boys were deviant is the Differential Association Theory. This theory states that people learn deviance from other people in which they have close association with. These people that you have close association with teach you deviant definitions. Deviant definitions are an attitude, rationalization, and motivation for being deviant. Differential Association suggests deviance is more li...
