The Movie Serpico Essay

The film Serpico, created in 1973, tells the true story of New York City police officer Frank Serpico and how he struggled to deal with police corruption. Serpico is a dramatic crime movie that displays the culture of police corruption that once was in New York in the 1960’s. At different points in the film you start to understand why some of the officers were corrupted. The film also displays the treatment that Frank Serpico received due to his reluctance to become corrupted himself. Ultimately the decisions that Serpico made nearly led to an untimely death. When watching this movie one theory surfaces which is Robert Merton’s “General Strain Theory.” I believe this theory partly explains some of the corruption, and why Serpico never

Unlike his fellow officers, Serpico does not have any children or a wife, and because of this he has less strain. One officer who urges Serpico to come aboard and accept the money explains how he sent his daughter to San Francisco to be in the opera, and that it cost a lot of money. This is an example of how family responsibilities put a strain on some officers to provide for their family. I believe this strain led many officers to innovate and accept a culture that included stealing from drug dealers and local gambling establishments in order to obtain what they wanted regardless if it was in an unconventional or illegal way. However, since Serpico did not have the same strain I think he was able to respond to strain in his own way. Serpico conformed to societal pressure and chose to obtain his goals through honest hard work unlike so many of his fellow officers. Serpico’s conforming adaptation to strain leads to the film’s main

This loyalty in turn is creates and environment for corruption to exist; officers will either participate or turn a blind eye to unethical behavior instead of turning against their fellow officers. This is why police corruption still exists today and in my opinion will always exist. However, I do not think it is as severe as when Serpico served in law enforcement where cops will wish ill towards others like when Serpico received cards in the hospital stating hopefully he