The Street Chapter 2 Summary

This essay will discuss the historical-, philosophical-, and theoretical background of House and Street by Stuart Davis created in 1931. This art is a typical example of the look and feel of the Modern Movement style.

In the book We Beat The Streets by Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt with Sharon M. Draper, the tree doctors had to overcome the ghetto projects in Plainfield and Newark while growing up. First, They had to overcome money problems; money problems where a problem all the time for example in the chapter “ How much do you need?” His grandma gives Rameck, one of the three doctors money for a portfolio to be in a play. It was $150 that his grandma gave him to become an actor, but when he got to his house his grandma told him not to give the money to his mom. Ramecks mom did drug, she spent all of the money on drug and their power was out and his little sister needed food. His mom asked for the money to turn the power on but Rameck

Culture in urban communities, also referred to as inner-cities, are growing increasingly violent. In the article, The Code of the Streets by Elijah Anderson, he begins to take an in-depth look at the root of the evil. He deduces that economic factors, parenting and the troublesome environments largely influence the violent norms within this culture.

The theme of the book, We Beat the Streets, spins around collaboration and determination. The three characters, Sampson, Rameck, and George experienced childhood in a unpleasant neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. Even at a young age they were confronted with risks. Some of these risks included prisons, gangs, and drugs. They needed to choose at a young age to stick together and make it out of the ruined neighborhood they grew up in.

By concentrating on an ethological approach, Dickerson also makes her family disconnect from stereotypes. In first person point of view, she is able to describe her situation through her knowledge and background. For example, Dickerson describes Johnny with a settled and calm tone of voice. She writes, “Johnny speaks little, never cries, never complains, works diligently to become independent” (225). Because he is black, most people would associate Johnny with violence and gangs. In Black Men and Public Space by Brent Staples, a black men strolling down the avenue was assumed to be a criminal. The color of his skin, in correlation to his environment, evoked a sense of danger. However, through an educated voice, Johnny is not that dangerous black kid who got shot. Johnny is a sensitive victim of an unfortunate shooting. It is very easy to label an individual according to racial status. For this reason, Dickerson is required to inform the reader of elements that do not support these stereotypes. The disconnection from stereotypes satisfies her objection, and broadens the perspective of society.

In Neon Vernacular, Yusef Komunyakaa brought to the forefront the struggles of African American soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War. They fought for the freedom of the very ones that denied them their freedom to be equal and the same as their white counterparts. The collection of poems delves into the everyday matters that were a constant reminder for the African American soldiers that they were free to fight, but not free to be as the white soldiers. An analysis of Komunyakaa’s work opens the eyes of those who felt that the Vietnam War zone was an equal opportunity for all those who fought for America. In addition, the realities of racism that existed in the Vietnam War are highlighted.

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.

Men and women alike are often afraid to venture out into the streets at the dark hours of the day. It could be argued that this is a byproduct of the ever-increasing US crime rate, yet it may also be due to the natural fear that accompanies walking alone in public spaces, familiar or not. Although any shifty figures lurking on the sidewalk can be the source of this fear, it is no doubt that the gross misrepresentation of black people as perpetrators of violent crimes has given them “the ability to alter public space in ugly ways,” as so proficiently stated in “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples (205). Through this short essay, Staples uses a variety of rhetorical devices, namely anecdotes, in order to present the fact that these preconceived racial notions can make certain individuals increasingly susceptible to societal scrutiny. This forces many individuals to make concentrated efforts to present themselves as less threatening because “where fear and weapons meet -- [as] they often do in urban America -- there is always the possibility of death” (206).

In fact, the environments are filthy and dangerous. According to Concentric zone model, this area will be classified as Zone in Transition because it is an “urban rundown slum or just ghetto” in general (Cartwright, 2015, p.276). This area mostly consists of poor people who cannot afford to move out to affluent area because the rents are so much cheaper in there (Cartwright, 2015, p.276). One time when the author received a call about a fire in an apartment, when he arrived; he saw the 2-bedroom home were filled with unused and used syringe everywhere. The children’s bedroom was tied with electrical cord to lock the kids inside; cleaner and chemicals were all on the floor, which the kids can easily reach them (Louttit, 2013, p.36) All kinds of accidents could happen there with all those hazards. This home is definitely not safe for children to grow up in. As social disorganisation theory suggest, Zone in transition is highly associated with juvenile delinquency because it composed of: poverty, overcrowding, ethnic and cultural heterogeneity, residential instability and broken homes (Cartwright, 2015, p.276). This area is lack of informal social control (supervision form parents, teacher and neighbours) to supervise children and teenagers (Cartwright, 2015, p.276). Thus, making them more vulnerable to be exposed to gang and criminal subculture. For example, some teenage girls are

Throughout the article “The Code of the Streets,” Elijah Anderson explains the differences between “decent” and “street” people that can be applied to the approaches of social control, labeling, and social conflict theories when talking about the violence among inner cities due to cultural adaptations.

In this paper, I plan to first describe the “Code of the Street” which is a term coined and a book written by Elijah Anderson. I would also summarize and describe two journal articles that test Anderson’s idea of the “Code of the Street” for a more definite explanation. I will tell how the two articles that I have chosen relates to some of the concepts that Anderson talked about in the book. I will then define general strain theory and social learning or differential association theory. Lastly, I will explain how general strain theory and social learning theory or differential association theory explain some of the behaviors that were seen by the individuals in the book published by Anderson. I will point out some of the individual’s behavior and demonstrate whether it may lead to crime or whether the behavior was learned in any way.

Chapter 1 of Character and Cops, Delattre writes, that the police are essential to society, the police are required to be the ones who keep law and order. Delattre explains that throughout the book he uses his twenty five years of experiences working with people in criminal justice, to explain and answer moral questions that arise working in the criminal justice field. He then outlines what he will elaborate on in each chapter later on, such ethics pertaining to individuals leading all the way to problems from society. Delattre, at the end of the chapter, reinforces his experience, by writing that he has worked with and seen many honorable and ethically good cops, but at the same time, he has seen his fair share of corrupt and ethically bad cops.

Within essay one, Black Men in Public Spaces by Brent Staples it describes the life and experiences of a young African American man living between Chicago and New York City over about a ten year span. Due to stereotypes on his race, society assumes he compliments them resulting in being viewed as dangerous

Adolescents experience a multitude of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social, and mental changes during a short span of years in their developmental journey to adulthood, and this transition period is full of many developmental changes and milestones. Some typical changes and milestones in an adolescent’s life include puberty, learning to drive, dating, developing new social relationships and social roles, cognitive changes, becoming sexually active, obtaining employment, and graduating high school. In addition to all of these changes in this tumultuous time of life, adolescents are identifying, developing, and coming to terms with their own sense of self, and learning about their identity becomes a priority. Teens and young adults must also address certain challenges that may arise in their lives such as bullying, drug and alcohol use, violence, sexual abuse, eating disorders, depression or other mood/mental health issues, and issues concerning sexuality, and gender identity. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an engaging story that deals with many of the challenges that all adolescents face, and this novel also addresses challenges that are unique to those teens who may be grappling with issues that face minority cultures and communities as well.

This was the work done at the ‘Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS)’ which was within the University of Birmingham. The work they carried out here looked primarily at ‘troublesome’ individuals who were categorised by society in that way. One example of this found in Cohen (1972) was the idea that working class boy’s behaviour was seen as being troublesome. An idea of this could be ‘the mods and rockers’. The culture in which they were surrounded by was related to violence.