Short Paper Assignment 2 Throughout the article “The Code of the Streets,” Elijah Anderson explains the differences between “decent” and “street” people that can be applied to the approaches of social control, labeling, and social conflict theories when talking about the violence among inner cities due to cultural adaptations. Anderson’s theory examined African Americans living in America’s inner cities that are driven to follow the “street code” and work to maintain respect, loyalty, and their own self-image. The “street code” Anderson is referring to is “a cultural adaptation” which is the cause of violent crime in America’s inner cities (Anderson Article PDF, 3). Since these people are living in mainly impoverished neighborhoods with easy access to drugs and guns, as well as high rates of crime and violence, “everyone feels isolated and alienated from the rest of America” (Vold, 187). Anderson continues to distinguish between “decent” people and “street people.” Those who are “decent” families live in accordance with a “civil code” that upholds values in comparison with the rest of society such as maintaining a job, obtaining an education, protecting their children and following the law. Additionally, “street” families tend to fend for themselves, and when young, grow up without adult supervision and are often abused. This alone causes a dangerous environment because children then, “learn that to solve any kind of interpersonal problem one must quickly resort to hitting or other violent behavior” (Anderson Article PDF, 5). When brought up in an inner city “street” family, racism is a leading factor that causes the youth to construct a negative outlook on the rest of society. When these inner city, lo... ... middle of paper ... ...y residents would most likely be categorized as a cultural theory because he focuses more on “the roles of ideas in causing criminal behavior” (Vold 184). Not only would I classify Anderson’s theory as a cultural theory due it its prominent argument crime is learned through association, but I would constitute “code of the streets” as a cultural control theory. One assumption Anderson is able to conclude is how “street” people justify their criminal behavior, such as the denial of responsibility as seen throughout the article when the criminals claim the victim should of known better. This directly correlates with the control theory concept that people naturally commit crime and it is the bonds we make and restraints we form which will inevitably categorize our behavior as “street” or “deviant”.
The street code is a very important concept when talking about the world of the inner city. In Anderson’s words, the code of the
Harding, D. J. (2010). Living the Drame: Community, Conflict, and Culture Among Inner-City Boys. Chicago, IL: The University Of Chicago Press.
...ctivities they do. The theory looks at how the lack of regulation in a community results into crime. Further, it alludes that when an individual faces great strain or pain in the achievement of his or her goals and needs in life, he or she is forced to either give up all together or apply force to accomplish them. This motivation to achieve the needs and objectives of the community, led the other Moore deep into the life of crime (Moore, 2011).
The vicious cycle created by the code of streets that Elijah Anderson discusses is never ending. Anderson brings up many different factors in the cycle that keep it going, only inhancing crime. Every example the author brought up were actions used to gain respect in the streets. Kids are raised around the violence and are then encouraged by their parents to keep the cycle going. The kids are taught to defend themselves and always win the fight. They have to win fights, be violent and act tough to gain respect. Their accomplishments in violence hold their respect status in the streets. Learning to fight like this and continue the violence cycle then gives people on the streets low tolerance. They are easy to lash out. All of these examples
This movie was very sad but depicted the many social problems of struggling black communities in the early 1990’s. We learned in Adler, Mueller, & Laufer how criminal behavior as a result of frustrations suffered by lower-class individuals deprived of legitimate means to reach their goals are
In today’s age, African-Americans are still viewed as the lower race. There are entire ghettos associated with housing only African-American individuals and cities are divided among racial lines. For example, our hometown of Chicago, the north serves as residence to the “whites” while the south end of the city home to “blacks”. There is a wide-spread belief that African-Americans are not as smart as the rest of the population, are in some way related to a criminal background, and/or do not care about their betterment in any way and are lazy. This is because, Mills argues, racial realists associate racial characteristics to the “peculiar” history of that race. This makes argument makes logical sense given the oppressive history of African-Americans in
Victor Rios is a previous gang member, whom “was given the opportunity” to get out of the youth control complex. In his book “Punished”, he analyzes the experiences of young black and Latino boys in Oakland, California. Rios gives us an intimate description of some of the everyday forms of “hyper discrimination” these minority boys experience. This book review will focus on the main concepts explained in chapters one through three from the book Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys.
The inside look of Jeff Ferrell’s urban experiences in his book Tearing Down the Streets: Adventures in Urban Anarchy gives a unique perspective of resisting how traditional urban environments are shaped and practiced from a radical standpoint. He concentrates on the nonconformist’s population in public spaces that ranges from the homelessness, street musicians, skater punks, base jumpers and more that constitutes an “act of political resistance” (Ferrell, 95). Ferrell explores new terrain in the anarchist street world by participating in battles for cultural spaces and then examines the intentions and meaning behind their cause. That urban engagement from Ferrell’s experience reveals a massive reflectance on “anarchist practice” and “spatial
There is a deep seated hatred between rival gangs, which makes it difficult for the gang’s members to let go. Gangs became a source of income for some people, which made it difficult for many young African Americans to escape the gangs. Significance: This film shows how the police saw activist groups such as the Black Panthers and the U.S. Organization as a threat, which led to repression despite the Civil Rights Movement. This repression leads to anger and hatred and the need for a sense of belonging amongst the African American community.
Ghettos, low-riders, hip-hop, rap, drugs and crime, it has got to be a Black man right? Saggy pants, unintelligible language, lazy, and the lists continue to both stereotype and describe Blacks. Do Black Americans perpetuate their own discrimination? Are Black Americans creating their own low status in society? Black people around the world have been hypnotized into believing all their failures in life are due to discrimination, but are they correct? Blacks are often their own worst enemies, often the cause of their own disasters, and many don’t see that until it’s too late, if ever. Discrimination and prejudice are imposed upon Blacks, often because the culture they live in is not “acceptable” to the dominant society. On the other hand, an understandable reason for Blacks actions is often due to unattainable opportunities towards the American Dream.
From my sociological point of view, the article “Code of the Streets,” demonstrates urban problems, poverty, analyzing class inequality, perspectives on gender inequality, and diversity in families in the United States.
Throughout, the documentary one can come to the conclusion that most of these African- Americans who live in this area are being judged as violent and bad people. However this is not the case, many of them are just normal people who are try...
...ual, collective, and socio-political factors concerning violence among inner-city African-American male adolescents). Based onthese themes, the program goals are to help inner-city African-American male adolescents: a) apply critical thinking to their world and behavior (e.g., causes and solutions for violent behavior today in society and media); b)adopt positive perspectives on manhood and male identity (e.g., salient characteristics of being a “man” that maycause and prevent violence); c) develop cultural awareness (e.g., knowledge of African-American icons such as Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Harold Washington, Maxine Waters, etc.);and d) increase understanding of social processes and social change (e.g., develop themselves and their society by raising consciousness and changing conditions that contribute to violence)".
For much of the history of the United States, men of color have continuously faced negative portrayals from the white dominated society, often through the use of negative stereotypes. However, it was not until the 1980s that negative portrayals of youths began to appear with academia and the government. Since the 80s, California police have steadily seen their power in poor urban areas grow with the passage of laws in order to combat the many gangs operating within its borders. Of the laws passed, none has been more influence than the California Criminal Street Gang Offenses and Enhancements Act. In short, the act states that if someone were to commit a crime while being related to gang activity, additional charges would be added in addition to the original crime. Additionally, police departments are given access to gang databases that are used to help identify (or misidentify) people that could be gang affiliated. Within academia, the negative portrayals could be traced to the Princeton Professor John Dilulio’s 1996 “Super Predator” thesis. Within this thesis, Dilulio argues that there is a new breed of juveniles had begun to emerge from society with what could only be described as an
Even the most noble of societies can’t escape crime. Most choose to ignore the fallacies of urban youth be it in the ghetto or the suburbs, our children are becoming victims of their own ignorance. The lure of “street” life out weighs the yearning for a competent education. The media, audio and visual glorify a lifestyle that average people lust for. Most children compare the lifestyle of entertainers to their own creating a yearning for riches, and begin to emulate the behaviorism of their favorite wrestler, rapper, or movie actor unfortunately these characters are not all positive roll models. Society stands by; few do anything to stop our innocent children become victims as well as offenders.