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The Cocaine Kids: The Inside Story of a Teenage Drug Ring is an intriguing narrative of the experiences Terry Williams witnessed first hand while observing the lives of “The Kids” and their involvement in the cocaine trade. Throughout this piece, there are numerous behaviors displayed by the drug dealers that are each examples of and can be attributed to well-defined criminological theories. This paper will explore how such criminological theories are associated with how and why individuals are introduced into the world of drug selling, as well as, why they leave it. I will elaborate on this by revealing the motivations and conditions that seem to pressurize these individuals to be drug dealers. Although there are multiples shown, the specific theories I will explore are all based on the same idea that an individual becomes a criminal by learning how to be one through experiences, examples, role models, etc. Such theories include the theory of Differential Association, Subculture of Violence Theory, and the Social Learning Theory. The first criminological theory, that explains behavior of the drug sellers, is the theory of Differential Association. Differential Association, termed by Edwin Sutherland, argued that persons engage in delinquent behavior because they learn it from society and they engage in it when it benefits them. By this, he is saying that an individual will be a criminal if they experience an excess of criminal definitions over conventional definitions. Sutherland discovered that Differential Association is developed through various stages and he explains such development with the use of nine propositions. (Lily et al. 2011, 48) Such propositions are as follows: (1) criminal behavior is learned, (2) it... ... middle of paper ... ...haviors he so wishes to comprehend are those whom he labels as The Cocaine Kids. Now that examples of these drug sellers’ behaviors have been provided, the criminological theories that can explain such behaviors have been made visible to the unseen eye. Criminological theories including the theory of Differential Association, the Subculture of Violence Theory, and the Social Learning Theory can be viewed as methods for developing a knowledgeable understanding of how and why such behaviors introduced individuals to the drug-selling world, kept them submerge deep within it, and allowed for them to leave it. Works Cited Lilly, Robert J., Francis T. Cullen, and Richard A. Ball. 2011. Criminological Theory: Context And Consequences. 5th ed. California: SAGE. Williams, Terry. 1989. The Cocaine Kids: The Inside Story of a Teenage Drug Ring. New York: Da Capo Press.
Aker’s Social Learning Theory would be suitable for describing how individuals learned to begin dealing and smuggling drugs. By watching their comrades handle business deals, organize smuggling runs, and negotiate prices they learned the tricks of the trade, business associations with suppliers, and how to interact in social settings in order to procure more business deals. Through these intimate relations, they learned what it took to boost their level within the stratified system of dealers and gain respect in the business. They learned what it meant to be a dealer or smuggler and how to act in order to sell enough drugs to make a profit. All of the successful drug runs, extravagant parties, big houses, and materialistic things were perfect examples of positive reinforcement to up and coming dealers or smugglers of what was to come if they worked hard (i.e. sold a lot of drugs) and held out for that big break on the horizon. Of course, there were times when drug runs went bad or someone lost all their possessions to the IRS. These undesirable times served as negative reinforcement to others in the drug world, further teaching them how to avoid bad results. In theory, other’s failings essentially strengthened the group as a whole. As time passed, these individuals imitated the actions of dealers and smugglers they aspired to be like in terms of success, which reinforced the group's norms and values to individuals just starting out in the
Criminology. The. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print. The. Shakur, Sanyika.
“Just Say No!” A statement that takes us deep into yet another decade in the history of the United States which was excited by controversies, social issues, and drug abuse. The topic of this statement is fueled by the growing abuse of cocaine in the mid 1980s. I shall discuss the effects of the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 1980s from a cultural and social stand point because on that decade this country moved to the rhythms and the pace of this uncanny drug. Cocaine took its told on American society by in the 1980s; it ravaged with every social group, race, class, etc. It reigned over the United States without any prejudices. Crack cocaine was the way into urban society, because of its affordability in contrast to the powdered form. In society the minorities were the ones most affected by the growing excess of crime and drug abuse, especially African Americans; so the question was “Why was nearly everybody convicted in California federal court of crack cocaine trafficking black?” (Webb: Day 3). The growing hysteria brought forth many questions which might seem to have concrete answers, but the fact of the matter is they are all but conspiracy in the end, even though it does not take away the ambiguity and doubt. I will take on only a few topics from the vast array of events and effects this period in time had tended to. Where and who this epidemic seemed to affect more notably, and perhaps how the drugs came about such territories and people. What actions this countries authority took to restore moral sanity, and how it affected people gender wise.
The Cocaine Kids focuses on the lives of eight Latino and black young cocaine dealers in New York City from 1982 to 1986. This...
Hickey, T. J. (2010). Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Akers, R, & Sellers, C. (2009). Criminological theories: introduction, evaluation, and application. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
Drugs are not only a problem for older generations, but often times those in younger generations become involved in the drug trade as well. According to Anderson (1990), “Children who become deeply engaged in t...
Schmalleger, Frank. Criminology: A Brief Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., Publishing as Prentice Hall., 2011.
The study discussed in the text clearly shows that crime in Hamilton Park is much lower than in either Projectville or La Barriada. The reasons for this are clearly explained by Sutherland’s two learning theories, his differential social organization theory and his differential association theory. The other theories, Shaw and McKay’s social disorganization and Hirschi’s social control theory, do have some merits, but do not apply as clearly to the neighborhoods in the study. Clearly, Sutherland’s theories of learned behavior and favorable and unfavorable definitions offer clear explanations for the crime in Projectville, La Barriada and Hamilton Park.
Differential association theory was formulated by Edwin Sutherland; “Edwin Sutherland was one of the most revered figures in the history of sociological criminology” (McCarthy). Sutherland was born
. who murder, assault, rob, burglarize, deal deadly drugs, join gun-toting gangs, and create serious disorder” (Howell 4). The increasing levels of juvenile violence made about these youth as increasingly more violent, future repeat offenders, gained popularity in mass media. The media used the framework of increasing juvenile violence to create representations of juvenile offenders and “criminals” as “superpredators” that created a political climate in which the public almost blindly supported any “get tough on crime” legislation (Caldwell & Caldwell 61). Despite Delulio’s inflammatory language warning the public to prepare to contain and limit the expected damage to be caused by these superpredators, expressions of hopelessness, and claiming their arrival by the year 2000; they never arrived. In essence, the fear brought over the public by tying the issue with the “crack cocaine epidemic” of the 1980s and 1990s, prompted widespread panic among the public. Consequently, this caused an uproar or moral panic from the public, press, law enforcement, and politicians. The moral panic caused these different segments of a society to gang up against the perceived of “folk-devils” to demand more punitive measures against these
Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, Application. Akers Ronald L., Sellers Christine S. 2013. Retrieved from http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199844487/guide1/study_guide.pdf
Some subculture groups in the criminology field are "lower class" groups. (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Wolfgang described a second subculture as a subculture of violence. Delinquency has also been described as a subculture. In order to be categorized as a subculture 7 propositions have to be present. No subculture can be completely different from the society in which it is a part of. The
Williams, F., & McShane, M. (2010). Criminological Theory, (5th Edition). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Williams, F., & McShane, M. (2010). Criminological Theory, 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.