Essay about City of God

City of God is a movie that takes place in Rio De Janerio beginning in the 1960s. It is a story of a young Brazilian boy named Rocket who observes and experiences the shift in power and how that power is gained and maintained in the world of drugs. It can be said that unsavory choices are made in order for L’il Ze to get to the top, however it could be argued that he is just playing by the rules of the street. This is how macro-subcultural theories apply to the movie City of God, leaders take and maintain power through force as they have been taught and continue to teach others to do.

Another important theory of deviance is the structural strain theory. The structural strain theory is defined as when the goals in which society sets for an individual are not met, that individual will defer to deviance. A perfect example is throughout the entire movie of the images of the streets, the hopelessness in each frame express what the strain theory is based upon. It is the idea that crime and violence are an immediate result between people's goals and the means to accessibly achieve them. They cannot overcome their deviant behavior because it is necessary to survive. Another example is in the beginning of the film Doughboy had said he was going to store. Ricky asked him why, as he did not have any money. Doughboy yelled, "aww I don't care."(Singleton) Instead of conforming to how Middle American youths obtain money, such as chores, Doughboy has to find alternate methods of achieving. Doughboy robs a store and is arrested. In a society where economic status is held on a pedestal, change is very difficult. This shows there is an unequal distribution of wealth which is a major cause of violence and robbery. A common theory among Americans is that society wants what it cannot have. It there was an equal distribution of wealth the strain theory would not exist as people would be satisfied with what society gave them, there would not be selfish ambition to obtain all you can. Another

Each of these theories had led to many new theories used today, such as the Rational Choice theory, Biosocial and Psychological Theory, Critical Theory, Cultural Deviance Theory, Life Course Theory, and many more. The one thing in common with every theory is that they all explain at least one behavioral factor that leads to crime. Today, all these theories, and more, are researched and taken into account when trying to understand why a criminal does what they do.

This essay will outline how crime theories are able to assist in recognizing the causes of criminal activity, as well as demonstrating two criminological theories to two particular crimes. Overviews of trends, dimensions and victim/offenders characteristics of both crime groups will be specified. The two particular crimes that will be demonstrated throughout this essay are; Violent Crime (focusing on Assault) being linked with social learning theory and White Collar crime (focusing on terrorism) being linked to General Strain theory. In criminology, determining the motive of why people commit crimes is crucial. Over the years, many theories have been developed and they continue to be studied as criminologists pursue the best answers in eventually diminishing certain types of crime including assaults and terrorism, which will be focused on.

The Forbidden City is the world largest surviving palace in China. It, first, built by Han dynasty. Later after collapsed of the Han dynasty, the first emperor of Ming dynasty moved the capital to Nanjing, but it then moved back to old palace in Beijing and the constructions began again in 1406 A.C. The Forbidden Palace was a Chinese imperial city during Ming and Qing dynasties. It was a home for twenty-four emperors. The palace consists of nine hundred buildings and nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine rooms. In additional, the palace was not only the center of politics, but it also the center of culture, the arts, poetry, history and science. Furthermore, Chinese people, in Ming and Qing dynasties,

Two different subculture theories link racial differences in crime to racial differences in social class: the subculture of violence theory particular the one proposed by Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti and various theories on subculture of poverty. The subculture of violence is a theory that states that high rates of violence in inner-city communities existed because the people who live in the area carried pro-violence values and norms. The idea behind this is that people living in violent areas will become very use to the violence, allowing for people to normally carry the norms and values behind violence, therefore the people will be more violent. With that in mind, the subculture of poverty thesis says that the values of the poor directly cause crime because people with a certain kind of characteristics tend to engage in crime rather than patiently wait for opportunities. In addition to the subculture of poverty theory, people in poverty indirectly cause crime because their values do not hold education and hard work as high as those in more well off

Sociological theories of crime contain a great deal of useful information in the understanding of criminal behavior. Sociological theories are very useful in the study of criminal behavior because unlike psychological and biological theories they are mostly macro level theories which attempt to explain rates of crime for a group or an area rather than explaining why an individual committed a crime. (Kubrin, 2012). There is however some micro level sociological theories of crime that attempts to explain the individual’s motivation for criminal behavior (Kubrin, 2012). Of the contemporary

There are many theories that attempt to explain crime; some focus on why people commit crime, others focus on why people do not commit crime. A major flaw with the existing criminological theories is the fact that every theory attempts to explain a large number of criminal acts. In fact, crime cannot be explained by one theory alone; it is the combination of several theories and ideas that explains why crime exists, and these theories cannot be applied to all crime as a whole; rather, they are best used when applied to certain crimes in combination with certain types of offenders. The idea that crime only exists because there is an excess of ideas that are more favorable toward law violation than not dates back to Sutherland’s differential association theory (Sutherland, 1947). Essentially, if ideas unfavorable toward law lead to crime, then the laws themselves are what causes crime; therefore, processing through the system and contact with law enforcement officials leads to more crime. One concept that criminological theories do not greatly expand upon is the idea that the criminal justice system and law enforcement not only perpetuate but directly cause crime, and that concept is a major contributor toward criminal activity. The idea of law, in regards to creation and enforcement, causes crime as well.

"When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw," (Kazi, 2017). The modern societies around the world put a high importance on preventing criminal activity and rectifying behavior that leads to crime. In an ongoing struggle against corruption, many sociologists, and psychologists have done in-depth research to understand what is the cause of crime in our society. Initially, in 1893, Emile Durkheim first came up with the idea called Anomie Theory to explain why offenses take place in our communities. Durkheim reported that crimes took place in our society because there was a lack of ethical norms and social standards within our communities (Walsh, 2018).However, almost half a century later, Robert K. Merton developed Merton's Strain Theory to thoroughly explain why some people in our society are more likely to commit crimes than the others who don’t. Merton’s Strain Theory argues that corruption not only occurs in our communities because we lack norms in our society, but are also caused by the strains that are present among us as individuals which influence people to commit the crime. In his explanation, people will resort to achieving success through illegitimate means when they are blocked from acquiring success through legitimate means (Walsh, 2018). After studying the classical strain theories, I think that Merton’s Strain Theory explains street crimes such as robbery, theft, assault, and drug dealing better than

Moreover, City of God is a favela built in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro for the less fortunate and deprived. The film is demonstrated from Rocket’s perspective, a teenager from City of God who struggles to escape the nightmares of the slums. He starts with the first generation of hoods back in the sixties and explains the thrilling involvement of violence displayed in the favela. Throughout the decades to come, Rocket showcases the cruel and ruthless truths surrounding the City of God. Besides the film City of God being a

In the same way that audience becomes captivated by the highly stylized introduction, Rocket’s depiction of the early years of the favela and the Tender Trio. His recounting of the story takes form through a series of flashbacks, in which the story dissolves into his personal memory enhanced by the persistent narration, in which the juxtaposition of his character amidst the developing plot further serves to justify his burning desire to become a reporter. Given the introduction of the primary characters of the Tender Trio and their accomplices, Rocket reflects that “I was always too chicken to join my brother.” In these moments of self awareness, Rocket again foreshadows his secondary role as an observer in the larger narrative, leaving his character quite static throughout while the world around him develops for better or worse. Through Rocket’s youthful eye, these memories retain an almost playful tone further enhanced by Meirelles’ deliberate use of high-key lighting palleted by warm yellows from the sun. As these memories prolong in length, Rocket’s use of narration extends past what his character remains present to witness creating complexities in the unfolding chronology of events. As the story moves past the Tender Trio, events such as the Miami Motel become pivotal to both character and narrative development.

Criminological Analysis Robert Merton’s strain theory is based on that crime is a result of a strain between economic classes. His theory assumes that people are motivated to gaining the American dream of a comfortable lifestyle but some people find it hard to go through traditional means to achieving that lifestyle. Society sets these high standards through the media and marketing that are unrealistic to the average American. Merton has 5 key different characteristic categories that society adapts in setting the goal and achieving the goal. The first is conformity.

The second theory I would like to discuss is the Strain theory. The strain theory basically states that crime breeds in the gap, imbalance, or disjunction between culturally induced aspirations for economic success and structurally distributed possibilities of achievement. The theory assumes fairly uniform economic success aspirations across social class and the theory attempts to explain why crime is concentrated among the lower classes that have the least legitimate opportunities for achievement. It is the combination of the cultural emphasis and the social structure which produces intense pressure for

City of God is a depicts the reality of the narrator’s life growing up in the slums on the outskirts of Rio. What was meant to be a small film project became a success in many ways. Although it quickly became an international sensation winning numerous awards the filmmakers were also successful with their use of various components of cinematography. One critic said that “City of God is a wildly entertaining film. The sheer energy of the movie is never less than compelling. Meirelles pulls out every filmmaking trick in the book, utilizing freeze-frames, montage, flashback, quick-cutting, and even strobe lights” (Millikan 1). I will analyze various scenes from the film and explain how each successfully applied film techniques. “The

Every human is called to own two identities. The people of Rome, known to have had their feet planted firmly in materialism and worldly pleasure, believed their empire fell due to the punishment of their gods upon the converted/increasingly Christian nation. Augustine, a bishop of Hippo, recorded his thoughts into his book The City of God to answer questions the Romans, including Christians, had been asking about the momentous fall of the Roman Empire. Orosius, Augustine’s pupil, contrasted with his teacher on certain viewpoints of the City of God and the City of Man. While Augustine believes that the City of God is misrepresented on Earth, Orosius believes that God chooses certain nations to represent Him in the City of Man. The work of Augustine and Orosius provide proper context for the “dual citizen” by recognizing failure in representation, understanding the meaning of being “chosen”, and realizing the true meaning of a “dual citizen” in the City of God and City of Man.