En Assignment 2014

Comparative Essay Name Institution Lecturer Date Comparative Essay The use of affluenza in a court ruling has raised a lot of controversy. A judge in Texas used this word when sentencing Ethan Couch (Graaf, 2013). He was charged with killing four people and critically injuring two others while driving under the influence of alcohol. His alcohol level was close to three times the legal limit. He had initially been sentenced for 10 years imprisonment. However, his defense argued that his actions resulted from affluenza i.e. it was a result of poor parenting. His psychologist argued that his materialistic upbringing is what made him unable to control himself. This made the ruling be changed to a 10-year probation period (Graaf, 2013). Numerous people are in opposition of this ruling arguing that if his parents decided to take the blame, then they should also serve their sons sentence. It was a clear illustration that the rich usually go unpunished for the crimes they have committed. According to John de Graaf, the word affluenza was close to meaningless two decades ago. However, its use in a ruling by a Texas judge on Ethan Couchs case made it popular. He dates the origin of