Going To The Ghetto

For this book analysis, I read the book A Piece of Cake by Cupcake brown. It is a memoir told by Cupcake about her life. She starts the book at age 11, when she was living a normal and pleasant life with her mother in San Diego. She was quite close to her along with her step father (who, at the time, she thought was her biological father), and her uncle. Then out of nowhere, she finds her mother dead in her room and her life is shaken into disaster. The court system had to turn both her and her brother over to her biological father whom she never met, instead of giving her to the man she was raised by. Her father then sent her to a foster home where she was raped and beaten constantly. When she

He doesn’t want to join gangs, he wants to stay and school, and he wants to get out of the ghettos. But after awhile his friends join the gangs and have a bunch of money and his family starts getting bigger and they start getting more

The neighbour remembers that the mother informed her that her, “child smacks his cheeks on the floor” (15) yet he does not look clumsy. It is not possible for both cheeks to be hit on the floor at the same time while falling on the floor therefore the mother is lying. It represents her dishonest and how she would neglect her child to fabricate a suitable image of herself and family in front of others to protect her reputation. Not to mention, the mother veils her son’s burns by stating, “sparks burn starts in his skin” (22). Sparks cannot burn star shapes into skin and it shows the destruction of a vulnerable life. The abuse does not benefit anyone and will influence the child emotionally and physically yet she is not doing anything to support him. Moreover, things are not always the way they seem, which is proven through, “the cast that holds his small bones” (24-25). The injuries that the mother utilizes to conceal the abuse would not break his bones, but damage his skin. The mother does not give her child the proper care to heal from the abuse nor does she show concern. The description portrays his weakness and innocence because he does not deserve it yet other children are supported by their kinds mothers. His mother chooses to act as if there is everything is perfect and ignores her child and mistake of abusing

The article “The Ghetto Made Me Do It” comprises of context and analysis of the criminal case of Lisa Morgan. Lisa Morgan, a progenitor of the harsh ghetto is being convicted with six armed robberies and a murder, but this article questions if this happened because of her personal responsibility, or society’s responsibility, or lack thereof, to effectively handle young, black, and poor children. One particular attorney, Robin Shellow, goes into detail about exactly what Lisa had to go through. Her Mom shot her dad, her uncle was murdered, her sister’s boyfriend was shot and paralyzed from the neck down, she was raped at aged 12 (1). These are all things that Morgan had to face growing up. The author then introduces the idea of the “ghetto defense” The “ghetto defense” basically states that (in regards to Morgan’s case) “… violence is a norm, an occurrence so routine that Morgan’s 17 years of exposure to it have rendered her not responsible for her actions” (1).

Gangs originated naturally during the adolescent years of a child. They started from small play groups that eventually found themselves in conflict with other small groups of youth. Due to the conflict between the two small groups of youth it became a part of a child’s mind set to come together as a gang and protect their rights and satisfy the needs that their environment and families couldn’t provide. There are about 24,500 gangs in the U.S and out of those gangs 40% of them are juveniles (Hess, Orthmann, Wright, 2013). There are numerous reason why a child would join a gang, and the

In the movie Precious, a 16-year old girl named Claireece Jones also known as Precious is physically, sexually, and verbally abused by her parents. Precious has one child and is now pregnant with her second child which causes her to be kicked out of school. She transfers to an alternative school. Precious is illiterate; however, she learns to read, write, and to gain self-respect from her teacher at the alternative school. In the end, she becomes a woman, learning to stand up for herself and she raises two healthy children. There are three different types of abuse Precious faced from her parents. An example of how Precious mother physically abused would be when her mother would get out the chair and beat her daughter by throwing things at her, because she did something minor or nothing at all. Precious mother verbally abused her daughter by calling her “stupid, fat, and she will amount to nothing”. An example of how Precious father sexually abused her would be he raped ever since she was three years old, impregnated her with two children, and he also gave her HIV. The movie faced several biological and environmental issues in the family. One example of a biological issue faced in the movie would be when Precious was hungry, needed water, and sleep. She needed to have this because she was pregnant with her second child. In the movie, it shows Precious goes into a restaurant, to order some food, and runs out without paying. She stole the food because she was starving and her mom did not give her any money. An environmental issue would be Precious was from Harlem, New York. During that time, Harlem was a city in poverty, so she grew up with hardly any money. The income her mother got from her welfare check, she did not give Precious anything.

Furthermore, the book, Youth Gangs in American Society by Randall Shelden, Sharon Tracy, and William Brown (2013) discusses several theories about why people join gangs. One theory that I think especially fits the explanation as to why people join gangs, with regards to this book, is the control/social bond theory. Shelden et al define control/social bong theory as “when a youth’s, bonds or ties, to society are weak or broken, especially with family, school and other institutions, when this occurs, a youth is apt to seek bonds with other groups, including gangs, in order to get his or her needs met”(p 193). I think so many groups in society let this boy down in My Bloody Life, including his family, the school system and even the police. Consequently with his ties to society so weak, he reached out to a gang that gave him a sense of comfort and belonging.

Mrs. Yates should have snapped out of her so called “own world” and realized her son was pleading for his life because of her wrong doings.

‘It is injustice with innocent people and she can’t forgive them. She is angry at them’. She also added that, ‘this cannot happen to any other person like his child, as she feels for everyone.’

"[rock's] mother of course, took him back home where she could treat [him] as her little boy" (page 11). ms Ranson is not wrong to try and help her son, that is what society expects her to do. it is tough for ms Ranson to have her young 25 year old son in a 'crazy'

There are kids that one might consider a bad crowd, which are the wrong kids to become friends with. These kids are just beginning to start a life of crime, although some won’t grow up to be gang members others will and they will try there hardest to take you with them. It’s also very hard to stay away from these kids because the can be very deceivingly friendly and fun to be around but that’s just a mask to hide the evil underneath. It’s really sad to see some kids that never fit in become recruited by the bad kids because it will only be a matter of time before the kid that never fit in soon becomes the kid that sells drugs.

the boy .she was a friend of the boy's mother, she sees herself responsible for the

Many of the welfare recipients have little education; therefore, they obtain a job that the income is not sustainable but it is enough to disqualify them for government assistance. These types of recipients have doubled since the reform came in to effect. (Institue)

First, she isn’t afraid to get involved with the kid who wanted to rob her. As soon as she was being “attacked” she took action into her own hands and stopped the kid, “The large women simply turned around and kicked him square in his blue-jeaned sitter.” Secondly, she wasn’t afraid to bring the kid

Then in the next line there is no mention of the woman speaking to the child or acknowledging that the child ever spoke to her. The purposeful shunning of the child by the woman is appalling and baffling at the same time. The child in the story is an innocent, wanting to please and gain acknowledgement and love from the very woman that is sickened by the very sight of the child. The mysterious reasons for the shunning of the child can be guessed at in committee, but without more history as to reasoning: the idea of the woman seeing the child as the one reason for her illness is the most conclusive idea to be had.