Pottstown Violence

Heroin and opioids have grown in appearance in communities. Since, 2008 in Allegheny County alone there was more than two thousand overdose deaths, with one hundred-seventy-seven deaths in this year alone (Pennsylvania). Furthermore, in 2015 there was only one -hundred-twenty-six;

It truly is a shame that it took any extended period of time for the admittance of a gang problem to be made. Ignoring a problem in no way makes it go away; if anything, it could easily make it worse. According to an article from the Time Free Press, efforts to reduce the gang problem that Chattanooga is currently dealing with, and has been dealing with for a while, have been made, but they simply do not last due to a major lack of cohesion. In my opinion, I do think that there are small things the community could do together, coupled with the efforts of law enforcement, that could improve things; slowly, but surely. Stated in the article, “There are at least 780 social service programs within a 30-mile radius that are potential resources to

This book written by Bert Todd R. Clear, a distinguished Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, was published in 2007 at the Oxford University Press being a summary of a number of sources. Clear is an accredited source because he is the founding editor of the journal Criminology & Public Policy and an author of eleven books, numerous articles, and book chapters on criminal justice. The intended audiences are for people that are in interested in the justice system but you do not need to be knowledgeable to understand the context of this article. This text is very argumentative, Clear makes the claim that mass incarceration effects poor neighborhood in negative ways. The date that this book was written is not that many years ago so will still have usefulness towards the research.

One of the main economic problems that many people, particularly gangs, in Robert Taylor faced was the fact that they didn’t want to trade in their status for entry-level jobs because in many cases, gang leaders made far more than they would have if they worked minimum wage jobs (72). Many of the gang leaders such as J.T. held the false belief that the drug economy was “useful for the community, since it redistributed the drug addict’s money back into the community via the gang’s philanthropy” (115). However, the drug economy is not a stable or lucrative economy compared to your average jobs because it was clearly very hard for people to get ahead in gangs, thus no one ever had a fair shot of earning more money in their life span. Nevertheless, the situation can tend to be a grey area of debate since a lot of the residents did attempt to hold blue-collar jobs but continued to get laid off (60). In this case, the underground economy of drug sales may have been the only choice for residents looking for an income. Another way the gangs play into the economic situation is when there are drive by shootings, in which case parents

A critical theorist would explain an increase in the juvenile gang population are from peer groups, school, and the community. First, peer groups can be delinquent peers, gang members in class, friends that use drugs, etc. The more kids who are surrounded more often by these groups are more likely to be involved in gangs, especially if these friends are their support group. Second, children who are doing poorly in school because low aspirations, no motivation, or few role models (e.g., teachers, police, and parents) may impact the child to be surrounded by negative peer groups. As a result, there are higher chances of dropouts, change of behavior, and a different lifestyle. Third, the community—where children are raised. A very poor neighborhood

The 1960s was a time for change. It promoted on going expectations of equality for all races. This proved to be difficult for minorities. In August of 1965, civil unrest broke out, which lead to six-day revolt called the Watts Riot. Nearly thirty years later another riot broke out which caused even greater damage and left an even greater impact in our history, the Rodney King Riots. Both of these events share similar qualities and devastating damages, however, their meanings are much harder to decipher from one another. These impactful events in our society demonstrate how much there needs to change in our society, especially when dealing with minorities.

Before I get into the strategies put in place to reduce gun violence, I want to touch on the things that contribute to gun violence in New Haven. According to the “Selected Strategies for Community Gun Violence Prevention” report, violent crimes contribute to and are exacerbated by economic disadvantage (City-Wide). The main area in New Haven where gun violence occurs is in areas of low-income and poverty and the gun violence are being executed by the youth ages 15-24. In this day and age, we are living in a society where your income level determines your life expectancy, whether it is homicide, suicide or another form of violent activity. Living in New Haven and experiencing this first hand, I was able to see how the power and the struggle of poverty, low-income, gang wars and even drug activity can exacerbate gun violence. New Haven has as many as 2,500 people who are in gangs. These gangs lie in six neighborhoods in New Haven. The gangs being, The Ville, The Tre, The Tribe, The Jungle, The Island and The Hill hold responsibility

In my community, we have a bad case of drugs. In the community of Chambersburg, there is lot of heroin. Not only is there heroin but there is many other drugs that the people of Chambersburg sell and make. A few of those drugs are marijuana, cocain, and meth, ect. But it is very difficult to find out who is dealing, and who is using. Here are some article I found about drug use in Chambersburg.

The greatest problem that the society faces in the inner city black community is the interpersonal violence and aggression created by the troubled youth in their society. By simply living in this kind of violent, innocent people are affected by crimes such as burglaries, carnapping and drug related incident and shootings.

Crime is something that happens every day. Many people fear it, but it is a factor that people cannot escape. In places, like Detroit, people are surrounded by violent crime. Either they are the victims of it, or the committers, but it was not always like this. During the sixties, Detroit was one of the most lucrative cities in the country. Many people moved there to seek jobs in the automotive factories which increased the population to 1.85 million. (Padnani, 2013) However, this is not the case now. Many of the factories have moved, putting people and their families at a disadvantage. A numerous amount of workers relied on these jobs to feed their families. Since then, Detroit has faced a significant amount of hardships that has caused the city to deteriorate effecting education, employment, and the crime rate each factor acts as a chain reaction. The lack of diversity in the city can be a factor of the crime rate as well because Detroit is filled with a large population of minorities. Many politicians have looked for ways to solve the problem, but nothing has been proven to work.

In the video Law and Disorder in Philadelphia the policemen said they are able to tell right away who is a criminal and who isn’t. This is blatant discrimination. The video also shows that the police are concentrated in poorest parts of Philadelphia that have the most crime. These projects are filled with minorities. If the police are concentrated in the poor areas with minorities and not in the predominantly white suburbs there will obviously be more minorities being arrested than whites. The culture of the inner city greatly helps to perpetuate crime. Thomas Winston in the documentary Life and Death of a Dealer talked about how growing up he felt that there was no option besides crime. He started selling drugs at the age of 13. He also said that a dealer can make $15,000 a week but working minimum wage only yields about $110. (1) In the book Code of the Street by Elijah Anderson he describes how the culture in the streets is accepting of drug trafficking. On page 110, subchapter THE CULTURAL ECONOMIC CONNECTION, Anderson says that the lack of jobs has made the underground economy an easy and lucrative industry to enter. He talks about how a family whose main concern is paying bills wont let the criminality deter them. If you can’t find a job you are going to find some way to make money. This acceptance of criminality creates many problems. In Law and Disorder in Philadelphia the cop says that he couldn’t point out one house in the

Chicago has the highest gang population in the United States (www.huffingtonpost.com) and the highest amount of gun related murders to boot. As an effect of these crimes, many of the targets are not the rich and the powerful but instead are the weak and the poor. Those that cannot defend themselves to a great extent, they are seen as easy targets that will soon give up if it has taken too long to find the culprits. Since the underclass is the primary target for crime from the underclass it is like they are just undermining themselves in order to gain some type or upper hand on the next man that holds no real bearing. Even when taking “good moral” individuals some have turned to crime because they see no other way to make means for themselves or their loved ones. Some of these people have been laid off and have no other source of income, their back is against a wall and they want out. They want so badly to have money again so that they survive and not live on the streets like they see others, so they commit crimes for others that will pay. It is because of this desperation that violent crimes still thrive and until people realize this then violent crime will still keep the underclass suppressed. (www.clombia.edu)

The process of colonization in the Americas was a complex and complicated series of events, each driven by the varied interests of an array of European empires. For some, the Americas were a world of untold riches, while for others, this discovery allowed for missionary efforts to convert Native Americans to their faith. Regardless of the reason, violence against the many Native Americans who inhabited this “new land” was a common colonization tool to achieve these means. Direct violence is the most well-known approach, one that Spain wielded so effectively that the Black Legend was created to attest to their cruelty. Yet, the violence used was not all direct in nature. Cultural violence, which England employed itself, was used just as often. Overall, though the Black Legend has led to Spain being viewed as the most violent colonizer in the Americas, England’s use of indirect violence through engagement in the fur trade and missionary efforts was just as destructive to Native Americans.

One main cause is drugs being a big use and huge demand in the inner city.(Detroit: The Last Days) “Law and order has completely broken down in the inner city, drugs and prostitution are rampant and unless you actually murder someone the police will leave you alone”(Detroit: The Last Days). Drugs were brought into the Detroit city very early and have never left; in fact the problem has just gotten worse. Many in the inner city turn to drugs either for money or to ease the pain of their problem lives. These people think it will help but instead it is causing more problems instead of helping. Therefore it keeps going, many young children now days are getting involved younger and younger because they are forced to believe it is the only way of survival in such a corrupt environment like the projects in Detroit. If drugs stay such a constant problem Detroit will have a harder time getting back to its true roots.

Drug abuse, teen pregnancy, imprisonment and unemployment all bring income to communities. Populations, educated workers are faded due to negative results of different gangs. Drugs and teen