In Green River, Running Red, author Ann Rule describes a remorseless killer who is the product of both personal and social influences, effectively forcing him to kill women and continue doing so for over a decade as a fulfillment of his fantasies. When attempting to rationalize the causes of such a mind, theories of deviance, if separated into two distinct categories, positivist and constructionism. Positivist theories, such as the general theory of crime, allow individuals to reconstruct events in the life of Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, which would undeniably lead him to a distorted sense of reality, combined with sexual fantasies and a tendency to justify perverted acts of murder. Constructionist theories, particularly conflict theory, are able to shed light on the lives and decisions made by victims, who were all led to such lifestyles through external sources. In determining the causes and motivations of both the offender and the victims, theories of deviance leave little to speculate about when they assign blame to psychological or social factors. The positivist vision of deviance places emphasis on the behavior of the individual manipulated by external forces (Goode, 2007, p.23). Individuals are unable to contend with these external forces that are beyond their control. Criminals and other deviants are created through biological defects responsible for their behavior, as it was something inherently organic and passed down through birth. The self-control theory of crime was developed by Travis Hirshi and Michael Gottfredson, two famous criminologists. The self-control theory, also known as the general theory of crime, describes deviance as arising from the lack of... half of paper...... in Ridgway's actions, which were in some sense directly his. own, even if formed by his parents' lack of direction and action. Ridgway's deviance is not limited to one aspect of the deviant theory, but seemingly draws from both sides, as he has the mental desire to commit a crime but in retrospect was trained at an early age to despise personal well-being. On the other hand, conflict theory helps define the lives of victims as created solely by the breakdown of societal boundaries. Thus, while Ridgway's deviant behavior is adequately explained by both theories discussed, the victims are solely the product of external stimuli that led them to a miserable lifestyle. Gary Ridgway will likely remain America's most prolific mass murderer, and behind his name lies a deviant individual created by an influx of problems, both personal and social..