Cloward and Ohlin’s differential opportunity theory can be used to describe the behaviors and events in the book, The Stickup Kids. Cloward and Ohlin’s theory is an integration of anomie and culture conflict theories. It states that delinquency is caused through strain, which is categorized by a sense of social injustice which is derived from blocked legitimate and illegitimate opportunities for success. In their theory, kids from lower socio-economic status families, especially marginalized groups, still buy into the idea of the ‘American dream’. However, coming from potentially rundown, crime ridden neighborhoods can block their access to legitimate opportunities to succeed, such as getting a quality education or getting to participate in …show more content…
While they probably tried to follow conventional methods, at some point their opportunities were blocked which left them with a feelings of injustice which then turned them onto their illegal pursuits. For example, in high school Pablo showed great athletic ability in football. He was given a partial scholarship to play in college. However, he had grown up in the New York public schools system which didn’t have the resources that suburban schools did because they rely on money from property taxes. Because of this, Pablo was not able to keep up with his school work in college. His legal opportunity to make a living was blocked. This, plus the economic strain he felt showcase his overall strain and sense of injustice which led him to start selling drugs. He knew he needed money, and he saw how profitable it was for his friends. However, he was soon arrested which lost him his scholarships and ability to make a career out of …show more content…
They decided they could make better money on their own. Eventually they teamed up with some other neighborhood kids and formed what seems to be something between a criminal and a conflict gang. Conflict gangs are typically made up of unskilled criminals who don’t have legitimate or illegitimate opportunities to succeed so they partake in risky, petty crime like gambling, robberies and other violent crimes. They are also not as organized as criminal gangs. Gus and Pablo, along with some others, later formed a stick-up, or robbery team. However, I argue that the drug robberies that the kids partake in is not unskilled or unorganized. For example, the robberies were always planned in advance. They had ‘the girl’ who would open the door for the guys, either literally or figuratively by getting close to the drug dealer and making him feel comfortable. Then the guys would use the element of surprise to shock and restrain the dealer. The dealer would often be tight lipped about the location of his drugs, so the guys would often have to resort to torture in order to get the information. However, it was not just random, violent torture, it was thought out. There was a code between drug robbers to never kill someone. They knew the best torture techniques, like ironing someone’s back, but they agreed never to go as far as killing the dealer. While not all drug robberies went this exact way, they all seemed to
Whenever you do not own something that everybody else owns, what can you do not to feel left out? I’ll answer that, most teens decide to steal. Delinquency results among these teens because lower-class values, or focal concerns, encourage behaviors defined as deviant by middle class standards. The delinquent teens do not know better, and sometimes do it to fit in. Also, once they can finally own something they never did their whole own life for free, they go for it. For many people living in poverty, crime is seen as the only opportunity for achieving a higher level of socioeconomic status. Delinquency rates rise daily due to poverty and the only ones we can blame is
In the 1980’s crack cocaine hit the streets of Los Angeles for some it brought quick fortune but for many doom. Crack cocaine had become a major source of income for those who had been locked out of mainstream America. Heavily armed the Rolling 60’s were one of the most violent, active gangs in Los Angeles. The Rolling 60’s gang members no longer fought over neighborhood rule but, profit endeavors. Gang members had became both a slave to the business, doing whatever the drugs demanded them to do. Crack cocaine had erased those codes of res...
In the 1970’s Patricia Adler and her husband infiltrated a large drug smuggling and dealing ring located in Southwest County of southern California with the intent of learning more about the covert group. In Adler’s book Wheeling and Dealing: an Ethnography of an Upper-Level Drug Dealing and Smuggling Community, she delves into the multifaceted lifestyle and activities of those in the Southwest County drug world. In this paper, I will look into the factors that initiated their entry into the drug world, their activates that facilitated their smuggling and dealing of drugs, and their exit from the drug world, while applying multiple theories to explain their illegal behavior.
The drug dealing process went from distributors, who were the Colombians; the supplier who was Max; and the dealers who were all of the other drug dealers that helped with the cocaine industry. The drug dealers were situated in Washington Heights, which was an area known as the “hot spot” for the war on drugs. The crew learned how to make quick money, and ways to get the most out of their money. This is a reason why the kids went from trying the cocaine out before the purchase to it being prepackaged. The members resorted to this lifestyle hoping to have a better life for themselves and their
Some teenagers are part of drug cartels because of poverty. With this current issue, teenagers are being killed and arrested every day for smuggling drugs and weapons across the border in the United States. Drug cartels started in 1980 led by Federal Police agent Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo also known as “The Godfather”. Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo increased his power by affiliating with the Colombian cartels in the 1980s, he hid out in his hometown with his family as his partners in crime however, his family was arrested for murdering
The Cocaine Kids focuses on the lives of eight Latino and black young cocaine dealers in New York City from 1982 to 1986. This...
As more and more immigrants began to spread throughout the US, more and more gangs of people began to emerge. Gangs were usually made up of people of a common ethnicity, whether it be Irish, Italian, or Hispanic. These gangs were usually victims of anti-immigrant policies and looked for strength in numbers. As gangs became more and more sophisticated they realized they could make profits from the power they were accumulating. One of the most recognizable examples is the bootlegging of alcohol during the Prohibition. When federal officials attempted to enforce legislation such as the Volstead Act, there was a surge of illegal sales and profits. In 1927, Al Capone and his gang racked up over $60 million from bootlegged alcohol. With all of this money came tons of violence, people were getting murdered in broad daylight just so others could have a sum of all of this wealth. Soon Mob families would own clubs or casinos to increase their wealth. The attendees weren’t only made up of rich mob bosses, the alcohol, dancing, and gambling attracted many ordinary
Alex Kotowits’ book, There Are No Children Here, follows two young boys over a course of two years. The environment that the children are raised in is a lower income area that is surrounded by violence, gangs, and crime. The best theory to explain this novel would be strain theory, followed by social disorganization theory. Being raised in poverty generates many issues, which then makes children rebel later in life. Many families experience different types of strain such as experience strain, vicarious strain, and anticipated strain. This not only affects the person who is experiencing strain, but also affects other people who are around them. The novel presents a good example of both general strain theory and early social disorganization theory
Laub, John and Robert J. Sampson. 2003. Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives: Delinquent Boys to Age 70. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Individuals generally join a gang as young adults but, are sometimes recruited as early on as elementary school. Society generally sees gangs as dangerous groups to stay away from, but for a young person on the street, a gang offers a sense of family. Gangs present the benefit of protection and being part of a pack. When Latin Americans came to the United States as illegal immigrants they had very few resources and were essentially homeless. A simple solution was to join a gang. Mara Salvatrucha 13 profited from this scenario, exponentially growing in strength and size (Illegal Immigrant Gangs Commit Most U.S. Crime, 2009). An initial reason for the formation of Mara Salvatrucha 13 was for the immigrant’s protection from other gangs, but eventually ended up greatly surpassing their competition in both size and strength (2009).
The Frontline video of “The Stick Up Kid,” is a good example of the effects that can occur in terms of both manifest and latent functions. The video is about the story of Alonza Thomas Jr, who was one of the first people in California to be tried as an adult for his crimes, despite him being a minor. Proposition 21, which made it easier to charge minors as adults for specific violent crimes, had been passed in California months before Alonza committed his crime. Alonza attempted to rob a convenience mart when he was only 15 years of age, and even though his attempt was foiled by the shop owner, who kept him at the store at gunpoint until the police arrived to the scene. After his trial, Alonza was sentenced to 13 years in state prison, an
The study of Juvenile delinquency and the theories pertaining to it are vital for several reasons. In order to more effectively engage with youths and foster positive behavior and schemas, the individuals must first be understood. The study of theory provides a means of understanding adolescents and the factors that lead to or detract from delinquent behavior. In the case of juvenile delinquent, Jordan Brown, theory helps to provide insight into why an eleven-year-old boy murdered his stepmother.
Laub, John H., and Robert J. Sampson 2003. Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives: Delinquent Boys to Age 70. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
In the 1960’s, they were smack in the middle of the civil rights war. They were pushing themselves, as a whole community, to vote and to get educated. What changed the course of the Latin Kings and became the motivation for the violent gang they are now was heroin. They saw the money in the drug trade business and money that came with addiction (The Latin Kings, Chicago’s Hardest Gang et al.). Drug trafficking became their major “go-to” operation and has blossomed today into an even greater
The fact that poverty is self-perpetuating is a documented fact. Criminal and delinquent activity may also be an accepted part of the total picture for deprived kids. It's h...