Analyzing The Juvenile Justice System In The Stickup Kids

The video I decided to do for the extra credit video analysis video is actually a video that we watched in my Sociology 310 class, about social theory. When I saw the assignment though, the video immediately clicked in my mind because of all the connections that could be made, and exemplify many of the key terms from class. The Stickup Kid (2014), is the story of 16 year old Alonza Thomas, who was sentenced to 13 years in the California adult prison system, after he failed an attempted armed robbery of a convenience mart. Thomas was the first minor tried under, then, newly enacted Proposition-21, which was a zero tolerance youth crime initiative for violent crimes, aimed at the so called “super predator.” I think the key points from our class that this video exemplifies are racialization, dominant culture, state apparatuses, and social location. Although I could not find any statistical date regarding what the percentages of arrests and trials belonged to specific racial groups, it is fairly common knowledge that the arrest rate for African - Americans is higher than whites. This law being passed is an example of racialization because it has a dramatically larger influence on those that are minorities, and their

I do believe that the youths committing crimes should be punished, but there is a reason for the existence of a juvenile corrections system. Using the prison system to enforce this law is an example of the dominant culture using tools that they have to maintain their dominant position. Additionally, this is an example of social location having a large impact on ones day to day life. My friend got caught selling marijuana on school grounds, and only received probation, he is a white male, upper middle class, etc. But this is an example of treating those who are socially located in the poor, or minority groups, much harsher than those located in a different social