What Makes Someone A Criminal?

Crime is one of those things like you said is an ever changing definition. As our culture and opinions change we see what is considered to be a criminal act and what is not. An example is marijuana, we can see how the opinion is starting to change while it is still restricted there has been a topic for debate. The media is quick to manipulate statistics and brainwash people into believing what is aired to be true. Especially crimes that are rare and not likely to happen to you.

Gang Violence             Youth violence is a problem among young teens because it causes a division, which unfortunately result into gangs. Moreover in the past, gang violence results into youth crimes such as robbery, and drug sales. In this new generation, the youth resort in selling marijuana and heroin, even more than crack cocaine now, this means where the drugs are is where the gangs are, also the weapons to protect to their territory. While writing his article Michael Blanding quotes a young man of 16 years of old named Sharodeny Finch, who said, “People get tired of wearing the same damn jeans”. This young man was referring to the fact that he gets tired of the gangs, and tries to do the right thing by finding an actual job. But when he got turned down his response was, “ You try to do the right thing, find a job to earn money, and you can't. You got a block right here, you know what I'm saying?” Basically Finch is explaining that, sometimes young people will try to escape the gang life, but when they try and do not get what they intended for, they go back to the gangs. This overall shows in order for the youth not to resort back to the gangs, they have to be dealt with in the proper format. Gang violence does not have broaders, however in the urban areas of Boston it tends to receive the most attention. This problem causes emotional stress, group tensions in communities, and many other troubles. This issue tends to thrive in communities that already have drug addictions, and low property rates.Moreover, gang violence influences these other issues to worsen over time. Therefore, youth violence should be a priority to resolve for it causes and affects many other issues in Boston.

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

The sad reality is that society does not take a minute to step out of their shoes and try to understand why someone becomes a gang member. Throughout Barking to the Choir, two common themes that arise is the lack of love, and growing up with a rough childhood. For many, survival becomes the priority, especially if they have siblings to look out for. Thus, gang life is not an ideal choice but rather a lucrative option. Through Rational Choice Theory, it is easy to place blame on the gang member, but the reality is that for a plethora of gang members there was no other

Many times individuals turn to a gang to escape a life of poverty or financial uncertainty. A sense of hopelessness and desperation can result from being unable to provide the basic necessities. “Young people living in poverty may find it difficult to meet basic physical and psychological needs, which can lead to a lack of self-worth and pride” (Lee, Dean, and Parker 1). Individuals who are faced with a lack of money many times turn to crime if they cannot earn enough at a legitimate job to support themselves or their families. “This partly explains why gangs exist in poor, rundown areas of cities” (Grabianowski 1).

There are some people part of a gang in the neighborhood like southside or O block. Who didn’t choose what they are right now. They wanted to be successful in their lives and they also wanted to achieve their goals but the atmosphere in those neighborhood wouldn’t allow them to be successful. In this article “Addicted to guns”, Chicago reader reporter Mick Dumke tells the story of Tony Wade.“Wade's grandfather did what he could to keep his grandson out of trouble—he sent Wade to Catholic schools, pushed him to excel in his studies, required him to attend church on Sundays, and taught him to work in his carpet business. Wade became a

Throughout the beginning, he is faced with overwhelming problems, discrimination against himself and his family and also poverty. He was a shy kid who wasn’t defensive, until he got ganged up on and beaten down. Ever since that day passed he wasn’t the same he fought back and learned how to kick some ass and defend himself from others who tried to test his gangster and not. After that, no one wanted

Gang affiliation has taken a vital step into our society, flooding into streets in every corner struck by poverty. 9 out of 10 teens in detention are in some kind of gang affiliation. Statistics have proven that every city in the US that have more than 250,000 people has also gang activity in it. People in gang involvement have a high risk of low income, failure on education, even to committing crimes. This quote from the book helps support this. “The Tribe is preparing for war but clavo loses an eye in the shooting, he may of even.lost a nerve as well.” Luis J Rodriguez pg 132” This is what the gang life can do to you, as a friend of Luis almost lost his nerve and his life.The author is showing what the gang life did to him and his fiends, the message and importance of this quote were the danger and risk of the gang life that he and his fiends deal with on a daily basis. To try and warn us readers the danger of a gang. This quote is basically the danger of a gang, and that's why this quote helps my point and supports my thesis. Fiction could’ve prevented this gang fight, if fiction is not in our curriculum who is to say that I wont go join a gang and hurt or even kill someone. Fiction allows us the reader to open our mind with creativity to access our thoughts and explore a world that is not that of ours. “ They dragged us handcuffed to the local

Continuing on the next chapter is drugs, violence, and street crime. Now this chapter actually gets into the discussion of how the people become involved with drugs and mainly the selling of them. The main theme is youths and their involvement, most of these youths get involved with the drugs because they are a part of a neighborhood peer group. Most of these peer groups potentially started out as groups of friends, or youth groups and then turned into gangs of some sort. Also it discusses that youths from decent families are very resistant, but the ones who are supposed to be bread winners but have very little

The predominate theory of the social structure perspective that will be applied to Boyz N the Hood is Robert Merton’s Anomie/Strain theory and Robert Agnew’s General Strain theory which closely applies to Merton’s. The strain theory holds that crime is a function of the conflict between goals people have and the means that they can use to obtain them legally. Most people desire wealth, material possessions, power, prestige, and other life comforts. Although these social and economic goals are common to people in all economic standings, strain theorists insist these goals are class dependent. Members of the lower class are unable to achieve these goals of success through conventional or legal means. In return they feel anger, frustration, and resentment, which is referred to as the “strain.” Lower class citizens can either accept their conditions and live out their days being socially responsible or they can choose alternate means of achieving success illegally. These means can include but are not limited to theft, violence, or drug trafficking.

When was the last time you were able to turn on the news and not hear about some sort of violent act? Crime is a growing concern amongst most cities, and street gangs are behind a lot of the trouble. Street gangs have plagued the streets for centuries and

SOCIALOGICAL THEORIES and GANG VIOLENCE Abstract The sociological analysis of gang membership explores the different types of effects that arise due to criminal involvement. Because of the social conflicts that are associated with gang membership, this paper will explore the different theories of social learning and both personal and control issues that relate to the recent surge in crime across Chicago. As we open the doors of a crime ridden society, the truth begins to unfold. It isn’t just the thought of helping, it is the action that remains the barrier between living a life of crime or a life that carries hope.

The question, why do people become criminals raise a lot of views when it comes down to personal, social and environmental factors. While many think that people become criminals due to the environment and people they have grown up around, other’s think it is due to mental illness or just

What determines criminal behavior? Are they born to be a natural born killer, is it in their genes, or is it a learned behavior? There are multiple factors resulting in criminal behavior, from genes to environmental factors. Although it is said and believed that criminal behavior is biologically determined there are even more learned or environmental factors that play a role in criminal behavior.

Throughout history people have tried to explain why a person would commit crimes. Some consider a life of crime better than a regular job—at least until they are caught. (© Bettmann/Corbis)