On The Run Philadelphia Ghetto Analysis

In her article, On the Run: Wanted Men in a Philadelphia Ghetto (2009), sociologist Alice Goffman uses data collected from her six year ethnographic study to explain how incarceration and threat of incarceration impacts daily life within a Philadelphia neighborhood. Her work focuses primarily on how policing and supervision in the neighborhood, referred to primarily as Sixth Street, impacts the lives of its poor Black residents. Gossman focused on the many men in the community that had warrants out for “minor infractions” including failing to pay court fees or breaking curfew, and the daily struggles they faced while trying to avoid identification and imprisonment. Using evaluation guidelines from Creswell (2013) and Anderson (2010), I have provided a critical review of Goffman’s research methodology and practices. I have highlighted many major flaws in her work, yet I have also recognized the promising advancements to sociological understandings that could come from her findings.

Without a doubt, black men in the United States continue to be excessively “incarcerated, policed, and sentenced to death at significantly higher rates than their white counterparts (Kerby 2).” Portrayals in the media have depicted black men as thugs and common criminals; these negative stereotypes demoralize men of color and allow society to believe and internalize this destructive thinking. The racial disparities that exist in the criminal justice system are an indirect consequence of the portrayals of African American men that circulate in society. Because of racial disparities that occur in the United States it consequently threatens communities of color by “disenfranchising thousands by limiting voting rights and denying equal access to employment, housing, public benefits, and education to millions more (Kerby 2).”

The Black youth is over represented at every stage in the United States juvenile justice system. Ten years ago, Black youth were more than two times more likely to have a delinquency case before the juvenile court than white youth. Dr. Shook and Dr. Goodkind examined three possible avenues to prove if black youth, are more likely to be detained than similarly situated white youth. “Three possible avenues have begun to be examined—the first is related to youths’ attitude and character as assessed by justice system personnel, the second is related to judgments about adequate parental supervision and/or school and work involvement, and the third is related to what some have called ‘‘justice by geography.’’ To conclude Dr. Shook’s and Goodkind findings, Black youth are treated

The past quarter century has seen an enormous growth in the American incarceration rate. Importantly, some scholars have suggested that the rate of prison growth has little to do with the theme of crime itself, but it is the end result of particular U.S. policy choices. Clear (2007) posits that "these policy choices have had well-defined implications for the way prison populations have come to replicate a concentrated occurrence among specified subgroups in the United States population in particular young black men from deprived communities" (p. 49).

While both sides of this deeply entrenched controversy substantiate meaningful claims, neither of their arguments is exhaustive, although Walker, Spohn, and DeLone’s case is much more convincing. African American arrest statistics are best understood as the convergence of both a somewhat higher incidence of crime as well as racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. Although higher incidence of crime may initially appear to justify higher arrest rates, there is significant evidence demonstrating that not only is African American crime exaggerated by a racially discriminatory criminal justice system (one of the products of which is disparate arrest rates), the greater crime rates in and of themselves are a result of economic inequality.

• Offenses by blacks are more likely to lead to arrest than those of whites. While the self reported involvement of adolescent males represents a 3:2 black/white differential, the arrest

The sociological issue depicted in the video The New Ghettos of America is deviance. This is any belief, characteristic or action that members of a societal group consider a violation of group norms and that the person who violated these norms will be punished. One example of deviance from the video is the increase in crime in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. There are two cops in the video that talk about having to take twenty-four hour shifts most of the week to at most keep the crime under control because they haven’t even made a dent in solving the problems with drug and gang violence crime. Another example is the woman in Los Angeles who lost her son because gang members came into the house and shot him in his bed while he was unarmed.

In the novel “Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City” written by Elijah Anderson, Elijah discusses how the environment and the economy affects the choices that youths in the inner-city make. Elijah argues that the inner-city black America is extremely violent, but he also asserts that there is this “code” individuals in these areas need to understand in order not to be harmed. Elijah supports this code using interviews and personal stories from individuals living in the inner-cities. An important key point to remember from this novel is that violence happens because of the socioeconomic issues that surround these cities. In order for Elijah to explain what life in the inner city is like, he engaged in participant observation, direct observation, and conducted interviews in the state of Philadelphia. He used these methods to support the

The modern American ghettos are a problem that is prevalent in society today. A variety of methods have been proposed and enacted in order to uplift these ghettos, but the ghettos still remain despite the development and growth of the United States. Tommie Shelby, the author of Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, And Reform, proposes a unique method to help improve the conditions in the ghettos. He states that a major reason why the ghettos persistently remain despite all efforts to eradicate them is due to the cultural divergences between mainstream society and the ghettos. To combat this, Shelby proposes that the government and society should “make an appeal to the self-respect of the ghetto poor” (Shelby 115). This theory, though untested,

“The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. In Washington, D.C., our nation’s capitol, it is estimated that three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison” (Alexander, 2012). The numbers tell the story better than words can: black people are more likely to go to prison than any other race in the United States, shown by the fact that more than 60% of the prison population is composed of people of color (The Sentencing Project, 2016). These statistics can be traced back to several different cause, including the Era of Jim Crow and the War on Drugs, both of which led to higher policing in minority areas.

In light of experiential data ascertaining that African Americans are beyond probably to be detained for particular crimes, and the equivalent probability that, once detained, they are beyond probable to be convicted. Incarceration has turned out to be the reaction of the primary course of action for exceedingly numerous societal problems for inconvenience individuals whom are entrenched in poverty. Though these problems are indirectly being suitably classified collectively underneath the classification crime and through the involuntary ascription of illegal acts to individuals of color. Vagrancy, joblessness, insanity, and drug infatuation are merely an insufficient number of troubles that vanish from the opinion of the community as soon as

At the end of WW2, many films ended up found in a hidden concrete vault located in a forest. The film marked "Ghetto" was one of the many films of Hitler's propaganda machine found in this archive. Out of all the films found only one film showed the Jewish life in the Ghettos. This film turned into the documentary called A Film Unfinished. The footage from the film corresponds with the class lectures about the ghettos in regards to conditions, underground secretes, and the Judenrat.

Being under-policed for serious crime, but over-policed for minor incidents, leads to exacerbated outcomes for black people who due to discriminatory enforcement by police are inevitably labeled as a ‘dangerous class’. Adam Silver (1967:4) states that this ‘tag’ has been attributed to alienate these groups of ‘offenders’ and acts as a aggravating circumstance, which allows the labels to become ‘justified’ under the guise of ‘security’ and ‘protection’. These stereotypes of the black community plays a profound role in their treatment as the practice of stop and searches have just become a ‘regular’ patrolling

Living in what is considered the “ghetto” there are always various types of crimes around me every single day. People from outside the neighborhood come frequently to try and change the happenings of the community by creating different types of organizations. However the organizations that are created by outside people do not usually last. I believe that if the community comes together to solve the issue it will be resolved.

Never thought living outside of the ghetto was peaceful and fun. Spent most time of my life in a ghetto made by our government covered by big, thick wall to divide my countrymen from others because our dark history. The government oppressed us for what our ancestors had done. We had to bear their sins until now. To live outside of the ghetto was everyone dream but it was possible until one day our government named Marley decided to strengthen their army. Living outside the ghetto was indeed peaceful and fun but no, not for me. It was a hefty price that I need to pay in order to achieve that.