Always Running, by Luis J. Rodriguez, is an autobiographic book that tells about the struggles of young adulthood, gang violence, and poverty. The main message of the book is to send his son a message and “save” him from going down the same path that he went down as a young adult. The story starts off with Rodriguez telling a story from when he was nine with his family on the way to the train station to go back to Mexico. His father refuses to leave, while his mother is angry about his decision, she also decides to keep the family together and stay in East Los Angeles. He has one older brother, José René, and two younger sisters, Ana Virginia and Gloria Estela. He grows up in Watts in a primarily Mexican section called La Colonia (The Quarter). …show more content…
Shepard describes conflict theory as something that “emphasizes conflict, competition, change, and constraint within a society” (Schellenberg, 1982; Giddens 1979, 1987) (Shepard, p.22). This theory related to Always Running can be analyzed on two levels: microsociology and macrosociology. Microsociology studies the interaction of people within groups and macrosociology studies the interaction between groups (Shepard, p.5). Microsociology in the book involves Luis’ role in the gang and his relationship to his other gang members, while macrosociology relates to the gangs interaction with school groups, the rival gang, Sangras, and the …show more content…
When Rodriguez joins a gang, his social structure within his family changes and it also changes with his involvement in the gang. “You have to work, to help us out here,” Mama said. “You’re a big man now. There’s got to be something you can do” (Rodriguez, p.169). In his family, he was expected to set a good example for his younger siblings and work to help out with bills. Instead he chose to join a gang and live a dangerous life. In the middle of the book we see that his actions have influenced one of his younger sisters to join a gang. After finding out about his gang involvement, his mother makes him move into the garage instead being able to stay in the house with the rest of the family. In his gang, the older members have an achieved status because of how long they have been in the gang and crimes they have committed, which helps them move up in status. “Clavo, Wilo, Chicharrón and I were the peewees, the youngest set, who stood outside the Tribe meetings held in the fields or in the baseball diamond of Garvey Park, looking in until we could collect more experience and participate wholly with the others” (Rodriguez, p.109). Luis is a newcomer, so he and his friends are forced to watch from the outside at what the older gang member are doing. As he
Nonetheless, his self-consciousness still persisted and was notably revealed when it came to social intercourse with others outside his close group of friends, especially females, in the Tribe. Rodriguez tells about one incident were a group of Tribe members went to the beach. While others did very easy at approaching the girls in the group, Luis was too shy to talk the girl he liked. When the guys started to tease the girls by throwing them into the waves, Luis did not participate and just watched; even though he was respected as a member of the gang, he still had inner inhibitions that discouraged him from participating in the social activities.
1-The story tells, Real facts occurred in the 1940s, where it was a racist society. Gangs were scattered throughout the cities, and regions, and the streets. To live, you have full get away, or belonging to one of them. You should help the gang members that they were right or on falsehood. Also, it is a kind of bigotry, not much different from intolerance, national, ethnic, and sectarian That were prevalent in American society. in fact, it is the inevitable result of this society. When the corruption becomes prevails, injustice and lawless prevails too, and justice will disappear.
Michael Sierra-Arevalo received his B.A. in sociology and psychology (high honors) from the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include urban sociology, race and ethnicity, gangs, social network analysis, violence prevention, and policy implications of gang violence.
Living in poverty brings high tensions and people tend to lose it. The use of alcohol is a contributor of the excess violence in the favelas. Many men and women begin to fight about the littlest thing, but it expands to a large issue as a result of the alcohol. Carolina recounts whenever a fight breaks out, “I was giving lunch when Vera came to tell me there was a fight in the favela” (de Jesus 63). These incredibly common vicious fights are entertainments to people living in the favelas. It is so familiar that whenever a fight breaks out people just enjoy it as if it were a show. As Carolina being the great hero she is, she regularly breaks up the
For centuries now, gangs have been all over America, causing violence and ruining the youths opportunities. Children's lives can be ruined joining a gang leading into violence and substance abuse. From the earlier 20th Century, to now, gangs have been an issue in low income cities and neighborhoods. In Jacob Saenz’s poem, “Evolution of My Block”, written in 1982, Saenz describes to the readers how the gang life was in his neighborhood and on his block. Throughout the poem, he talks about the pressure of gangs and how they functioned. His poem speaks more than what is actually said and hides many of his thoughts through the words and rhymes. The poem conveys many messages and specific aspects which have to deal with culture and race. The narrator
Tobin, Kimberly. Gangs: An Individual and Group Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Many have attempted to explain gang involvement in today's society. However, there is an underlying activity of youth joining gangs that does not seem to have enough media coverage or thorough explanations. As the name suggests, youth gang membership is about the juvenile population creating and joining gangs. Research indicates that youth gang membership exists in contemporary north America (Bernburg et al. 2006; aLilly et al. 2011; Maclure and Sotelo 2004; Sims 1997; Wiley et al. 2013; Yoder et al. 2003). This paper will examine the factors associated with youth gang membership using Karl Marx's conflict theory and labeling theory in comparison. Although conflict theory helps explain why a troublesome economy and coming from a low-socioeconomic status contributes to gang involvement, the theory has its limitations. On the other hand, labeling theory is unable to fully explain youth gang involvement based on the aforementioned factors. That being said, it can give a better explanation based on the factor of government intervention in the lives of citizens such as the context of stop-and-frisk which lead to unwarranted searches.
His gang is subcultural; they have a shared defiance and delinquency to where they reject normal values. The interactionist
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.
This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.
Family is one of those words that have a significant meaning to various individuals. Family may be viewed one way to an individual and another way to someone else. Family consists of those who have played a particular role in one’s life, whether it is positive or negative. In this paper, I will assess Reymundo’s family both nuclear and extended and speak of how his family has become significant in his life and how they have played a role in his decisions. I will also speak of my personal reactions to the story as well as address ways that as a social worker I could work to impact the gang problems in Orlando.
parallels go much further. The family represents the average American family chasing the average American Dream; The Misfit and his gang represent the growing hostility of crime threatening those families. Growing paranoia conflicts with families’ quality of life.
In Robert Newton’s novel, Runner, Charlie Feehan shows to the reader the importance of having a positive attitude and even through the hard times. Charlie is growing up in the working class slums of Richmond in 1919. Charlie’s father died when Charlie was fifteen and now in Charlie’s family there is his Mother and younger brother. Charlie feels he has the need to look out for his family, as his family is poor, cold and live in the slums of Richmond. Not only does Charlie look out for his family, his friends and family mean a lot to him. It is evident that Charlie cares about his family, as he starts working for Squizzy and as for his friends, he helps Alice’s father out with money as the money was needed for Squizzy.
Conflict Theory is a theoretical orientation emphasizing the opposition among individuals, groups, or social structures. In the movie, the conflict theory was the black community verses the white community. For example, in the movie, Vernon Johns decided to enter a restaurant that was labeled whites only. As a black man by law he was not allowed to enter. At his own risk, he went inside anyways. As he entered, the white people inside suddenly stopped what they were doing. They all stared him down with an unwelcoming look. They shouted racial slurs at him as he sat down at the counter. There was a conflict between the two communities all because of the color of their skin
Hallswort, S. And Young, T. (2004) Getting Real About Gang. Criminal Justice Matters [online]. 55. (1), pp 12-13 [Accessed 10 December 2013]