How well Wes Moore describes the culture of the streets, and particularly disenfranchised adolescents that resort to violence, is extraordinary considering the unbiased perspective Moore gives. Amid Moore’s book one primary theme is street culture. Particularly Moore describes the street culture in two cities, which are Baltimore and the Bronx. In Baltimore city the climate and atmosphere, of high dropout rates, high unemployment and poor public infrastructure creates a perfect trifecta for gang violence to occur. Due to what was stated above, lower income adolescent residents in Baltimore are forced to resort to crime and drugs as a scapegoat of their missed opportunities. On the other hand the Bronx, also had a crumbling sense of community, because of violence that was brought into its area. The repercussions of this as is similar of Baltimore, most adolescents resorted to the streets for money. Lastly the reason why both cities young men found it attractive to go to the streets, is because it gives them pride, money and a way to escape from the missed opportunities from their communities. …show more content…
Having the example above shows society or mankind in general thrives under expectations for a better life. A primary example of this is in World War Two, where new weapons technology was developed for the drive of nationalistic country 's expectations of success. To what extent we should hold ourselves accountable for our actions, depends on the person. With different individuals holding themselves to a higher standard than others creates more accountability for good and bad actions. This can, also happen in vise versa of the sentence above. Overall mankind most of the time does best under high expectations and, accountability for oneself 's actions lies upon the
Mona Ruiz was raised in the middle class neighborhoods of central Santa Ana in a household of two parents, and seven siblings. Although Ruiz had family members affiliated with gangs, her father despised gang members. Both of them would have talks about how proud he’d be if she furthered her education and became a police officer. He had said to her and her sisters, “gangs promise only shame and danger for a young girl.” (Ruiz 27).
This essay, largely drawn from Elijah Anderson's forthcoming book, Code of the Street, offers an ethnographic representation of the workings of the code of the street in the context of the trying socioeconomic situation in which the inner-city black community finds itself, as jobs have become ever more scarce, public assistance has increasingly disappeared, and frustration has been building for many. The material presented here was gathered through many visits to various inner-city families and neighborhood settings, including carry-outs, laundromats, taverns, playgrounds, and street corners. In these settings, Anderson conducted indepth interviews with adolescent boys and girls, young men (some incarcerated, some not), older men, teenage mothers,
In No Way Out, Waverly Duck examines an urban neighborhood referred to as Bristol Hill, where the drug trade is prevalent among the residents. Duck challenges the popular misconception that these communities characterized by the drug trade, crime, and violence are tumultuous areas with no social order. Duck argues that the residents of this community have created an interaction order that is a complex social organization that allows for survival in such dangerous conditions. For seven years, Duck lived on Lyford Street in Bristol Hill, and his theory is built on his personal experiences and information gathered from residents in this community. Through residents’ personal narratives of their experiences and detailed observations, Duck validates his theory and shows how social order exists in these communities.
Since the beginning, humans have been held to certain standards regarding morality our rights as humans. History shows us leaders and rulers who, in their reign of power, have misused their power and attacked human’s rights to agency and liberty. By looking at all the wars, violence, criminals, and acts of immorality that humans have accomplished, many assume that humans are not good at fighting for the rights of others. However, in every war, and every act of violence, there is an opposing force. There will always be someone fighting for the good of others, whether it be one person or a whole army, which comes to show that humans are essentially good at fighting for the rights of others.
However, in cities where this is not the social scene, violence is active and occurring. Once violence is a part of someone’s daily life respect and family reputation become important (Matsuda, Melde, Taylor, Freng, & Esbensen, 2013). Gangs become a sense of security and a mindset of toughness and revenge become normal. In the social realm of gangs and violence, a community would create their own “Code” like Anderson talks about. They create their own rules, morals and expectations that are reinforced by gang group members (Matsuda et al. 2013).
In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers, who are getting involved in some dangerous things very early in life. In the novel The Outsiders, the “Greasers” which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one.
Chapter one of the book opens with an in-depth explanation of the methods and the inspiration behind the study. Rios goes into great detail of how he recruited the boys for the study and proves additional information about their history with the criminal justice system. However, most the chapter focuses on the patterns of punishment that are observed in Oakland that the boys experienced on a routine basis. The chapter covers the police brutality and negativity on the streets that leads to continuous victimization.
Urban ethnography, a systematic method used to examine culture developing in everyday life, let Rios discern the difficult aspects, unfortunate circumstances, and social relations of the young men’s lives. Victor Rios observed, shadowed, and interviewed delinquent inner-city youth males to answer his question of the effect of the punishment on the boys. As Rio studied the life of these males he discovered a youth control complex where punishment was present in everyday social life, and the behavior of these marginalized young men were criminalized, pointing them to incarceration, disgrace, and exclusion. Racialization, harassment, punishment, surveillance, and detention by all adult figures were all pieces of the pattern of the social order in Oakland that shaped the way the young men created worldviews about themselves and the deeply rooted social stances in their community. Rios found social incapacitation present upon these marginalized males.
Informal controls once again act in a manner that supports the idea that when neighborhood adults interact in terms of obligations and expectations, they are able supervise and control the activities of children. When this is not present in neighborhoods, such as the one shown in the documentary The House I Live In, the result is the participation of youths in the drug trade and other aspects of criminal life. The destruction of the neighborhood has already been underway as a result of spatial mismatch, but worsens when the war on drug is factored in. These neighborhoods often suffer from the result of the policy known as broken windows policing that doesn’t make situations any better. The policy is predicated on the notion that where there are a few broken windows, there will be more if the windows are not repaired.
Within the intricate tapestry of "Seven Seconds in the Bronx," a vivid portrayal of the systemic issues that plague our society emerges. Embedded within the captivating narrative of "Seven Seconds in the Bronx," we find ourselves immersed in the inner workings of the New York Police Department's Street Crime Unit. This specialized division shoulders the weighty responsibility of patrolling the crime-ridden "hot spots" that permeate the city's most impoverished neighborhoods. As we embark on a captivating expedition within the confines of these pages, we are confronted with a poignant reflection meticulously woven by the perceptive intellect of Malcolm Gladwell: "They were part of what is called the Street Crime Unit, a special division of the New York Police Department, dedicated to patrolling crime 'hot spots' in the city's poorest neighborhoods" (Gladwell). This profound and contemplative assertion acts as a compelling prism, allowing us to peer into the intricate inner workings of social systems.
Luis wrote this book for his son who started to get involved with gangs and who was later incarcerated. Despiste the school board recent sentiments regarding the lack of value that fiction provides, fiction should remain in the schools curriculum due to they can bring to light real world problems, they can influence the reader to take the right path, and they help the reader to use their imagination.
During his time studying these boys, he found that most cases of conflict were resolved without the use of weapon(s), but rather with “harsh conversation”. This observation highly contradicts the typical view of gang members who are commonly stereotyped by their local community and justice system in Oakland. Rios describes how the boys “Conversations often involved references to guns as analogies for resolving conflict and demonstrating manhood”. The fact that most conflicts are dealt with in non-violent ways, highlights the negative role
“[What goes] into the making of a young thug?” (Staples 242). In his short story, “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” Brent Staples shares what it is like to grow up as an African American male in America. Staples suggests that a person will become “a young thug” as a repercussion from their home life (242). Staples was raised in a neighborhood with “a backdrop of gang warfare, street knifings, and murders” (242).
Human nature is not necessarily as pleasing as some may think because many people are controlled by their
Documentation proves that social values make a commitment to criminal behavior, but that the presence of a genuine elective culture in out society has not been found. In any case, a few subcultural pockets, especially with respect to inner-city gangs, certainly exist and gives a few legitimacy for this point of view of deviance. With respect to social disorganization, we’ve established that neighborhood crime-fighting organizations are the hardest to set up in high-crime neighborhoods and the easiest to construct in low rate crime. With all that being said, there have been a few victories. Looking into intervention and outreach programs based on the cultural and subcultural perspectives might be a way to help lower-class, middle-class, or even inner-city