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Disadvantages of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design
Disadvantages of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design
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Émile Durkheim constructed the important criminology statement of anomie. "Anomie is a state of normlessness where society fails to effectively regulate the expectations or behaviours of its members; it occurs when aspirations are allowed to develop beyond the possibility of fulfillment" (textbook, chapter 4 - anomie/strain theory, page 133). Robert K. Merton had expanded on Durkheim's anomie theory and further added that anomie is a result of cultural goals; however, every individual part of this culture does not have proper access or connections to fulfill these common goals. (chapter 4 page 134). The song "Ghetto" by artist Akon can be represented by anomie/strain theory since many individuals and groups in the ghetto have high expectations …show more content…
for their dreams but do not have the legitimate means to carry out their goals. This essay will discuss the criminal behaviour and deviance represented in Akon's song "Ghetto" and relate it to Merton's take on anomie/strain theory. The commonly known R&B artist, Akon, released a popular 2004 album Trouble, which included the song "Ghetto". This song illustrates the struggles of living in the impoverished towns of the United States, known as the ghettos. Often due to the cause of racism, many people don't help out those living in these low-class areas and Akon describes it as "quicksand" (song) because you cannot often come (move?) out of the lifestyle created in these poor neighbourhoods. Akon also describes the violence and illegal drug trade that occurs in these common neighbourhoods, which, often leads to imprisonment. The song illustrates that there is a great deal of gun violence, corrupt police, constant fights, and illegal drug trade, all of which is caused by a lack of money and food which results in death being a common instance in these neighbourhoods. as Akon describes all of these issues in this song. This rough lifestyle portrayed by "Ghetto" can be described through Merton's take on Anomie/strain theory. Timothy Brezina describes Merton's point of view by stating, (that?) "the opportunities required for monetary success are unevenly distributed in society, with large segments of society lacking prosocial means to achieve the ends they have been encouraged to pursue" (Routledge pg. 99-100). These disadvantages of low-income neighbourhoods result in unachievable cultural goals because the legitimate means to achieve these aspirations are not present. These unattainable goals result in higher rates of crime so low-wealth families and neighbourhoods can pursue the culturally set limitless goals of the United States. Akon describes this struggle of gaining wealth through illegitimate means when he states these troubled individuals are "on the corner with the toolie on the waist line". This line emphasizes that to make a living and to achieve these monetary goals that individuals living in the ghetto will be influenced to sell drugs on the corner. However, Akon also states that these individuals must carry a "toolie", which, is a slang term for carrying a gun. This gives us the input that not only are these individuals selling illegal drugs but they also fear for their lives so carrying a gun illustrates the danger and violence that occurs in these neighbourhoods. In the next line Akon describes that he or the individual he is speaking for had "just got up out the thing doing state time" which indicates that these crimes to achieve cultural goals only set them further from these wealth-fulfilling dreams. These impoverished neighbourhoods lack a proper means of education and job opportunities; these obstacles make it difficult to live up to the success everyone dreams to achieve using legitimate means. Therefore, this leads to strain and can result in deviance and criminal behaviour (pg 134 - textbook). Opportunities to achieve success are limited in low-income communities which Merton believes could result in five general adaptations to anomie: conformity, this is when individuals accept cultural goals and try* to attain* them using legitimate means; innovation, which is when cultural goals are accepted but illegitimate means are used to achieve them; ritualism, this adaptation is when cultural goals of success are abandoned but an individual continues to use legitimate means to have an attainable lifestyle; retreatism, this is when cultural goals are rejected along with the legitimate means; and rebellion, which is the most* severe adaptation as these individuals not only deny the goals of society but also replace it with their own goal and achieve these goals through legitimate or illegitimate means (textbook, 135).
Since, "Ghetto" describes money being gained through selling illegal drugs, these individuals would be a part of the adaptation of innovation, (;or:?) where they desire success and wealth (.) but these goals are unattainable through legitimate means so they resort to crimes such as drug dealing. Especially in impoverished neighbourhoods gaining money through crimes such as robberies, theft from other individuals, illegal drug dealing, and prostitution are very
common. Robert K. Merton's extension of anomie/strain theory can be used to explain the song "Ghetto" by Akon. "Ghetto" explains the lifestyle of individuals living in impoverished neighbourhoods in the United States. Using Merton's take* on anomie/strain theory it is explained that these low-income neighbourhoods known as the ghettos have a high rate of crime and deviant because they do not have the legitimate means to fulfill the cultural dreams of wealth and success set out by society. According to Merton's five general adaptations to anomie, neighbourhoods such as the ghettos usually carry individuals who become a part of adaptation of innovation which are people who accept the cultural goals set by the rest of society but do not contain the legitimate means such as education and job opportunities to fulfill those goals. Therefore, they attempt to achieve these goals through illegitimate means such as theft and drug dealing.
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rouge Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh is the ideologies rooted in the African American community. The ideal facts cannot be denied here. The idea of being black and poor is not a simple answer of, very bad, somewhat bad, neither, somewhat good or very good. Being black and poor is a lifestyle. Being black and poor is a community. This book will give you understanding how structural racism among blacks is installed throughout history. The system is created to make sure the subject matter, blacks, in this case are subjected to fail. The crack epidemic in a Chicago neighborhood was only the beginning.
The first major concern is the high incidence of crime. Much of the crime is related to the illegal drug trade. The off-the-books culture comes into play, too. And the deep divisions between rich and poor means t...
Over the past 60 years there has been a recent phenomenon in the development and rise of gangs and gang violence. This is exceptionally apparent in South Central Los Angeles, where the Bloods and the Crips have taken control of the social structure and created a new type of counter culture. Poverty in this area is an enormous problem caused by a sheer lack of jobs; but just because there is a lack of jobs doesn’t mean that there will be a lack of bills to pay, so sometimes selling drugs in order to keep a roof over your head seems like the most logical option. Crime often times flourishes in these regions because the inconvenient truth is; crime pays. Senator Tom Hayden stated “It’s been defined as a crime problem and a gang problem
“I was a true hustler - uneducated, unskilled at anything honorable, and I considered myself nervy and cunning enough to live by my wits, exploiting any prey that presented itself I would risk just about anything. Right now, in every big city ghetto, tens of thousands of yesterdays and today's school drop outs are keeping body and soul together by some form of hustling in the same way I did And they inevitably move into more and more, worse and worse, illegality and immorality. Full time hustlers never can relax to appraise what they are doing and where they are bound. As is the case in any jungle, the hustler's - every waking hour is lived with both the practical and the subconscious knowledge that if he ever relaxes, if he ever slows down, the other hungry, restless foxes, ferrets, wolves, and vultures out there with him won't hesitate to make him their prey. (Autobiography, pp. 109-110)
In the 1980’s crack cocaine hit the streets of Los Angeles for some it brought quick fortune but for many doom. Crack cocaine had become a major source of income for those who had been locked out of mainstream America. Heavily armed the Rolling 60’s were one of the most violent, active gangs in Los Angeles. The Rolling 60’s gang members no longer fought over neighborhood rule but, profit endeavors. Gang members had became both a slave to the business, doing whatever the drugs demanded them to do. Crack cocaine had erased those codes of res...
In the 1950’s, Cohen (1955) acquired Merton’s theory of crime further by concentrating on gang delinquency within the working class demographic. Cohen used the dominant knowledge of the anomie theory but narrowed its emphasis on this precise subculture and particularized it in order to clarify the features of gang delinquency. Comparable to Merton and Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin (1960) tried to clarify why certain individuals or groups are more likely to involve in criminal activities. They contended that people are strained when they fail to attain financial achievement through legitimate means. Cloward and Ohlin remained in...
When a child is growing up he is frequently asked what he is going to do for money when he gets older. The more this question is asked to them, the more they feel like they have to have money to be happy in life. After many tries of trying to make a stable life at a low paying job, a criminal life maybe more appealing to them at they may start living life under the gun. As stated by William Wilson in When Work Disappears, “Neighborhoods plagued by high levels of joblessness are more likely to experience low levels of social organization, they go hand in hand.” In Chicago for instance, in 1990 there was only one in three in the twelve ghetto communities that had held a job in a typical workweek of the year. When there are high rates of joblessness bigger problems surface such as violent crime, gang violence, and drug trafficking. (Wilson P356-362)
The author begins his ethnography by giving us insight of the crime rate in the 1990s. He described this subject as the “age of drive-by shootings, drug deals gone bad, crack cocaine, and gangsta rap” ( ) that dominated the talk of the time. This type of ideology led our society to believe that we should put massive
Robert Merton’s Theory of Anomie It is rightfully argued that crime, whether or not in a contemporary society, is an extremely complex and multi-faceted Phenomena that has puzzled academics for many years. Theories that aim to rationalise the causes of crime and understand the origin of criminal behaviour are often criticised for being too biased or deterministic in their research studies. Many have been of great influence and seen to explain (to an extent) the cause of crime but none has fully decoded the mystery of why people commit crime. Merton’s anomie theory aimed at explaining deviance from a sociological perspective as opposed to previous academic theories on crime and criminals.
Robert Merton (1938) argued that members of American society are socialised to want the culturally defined goals such as the ‘American dream’ where success is attributed to material wealth. When they are denied access to the legitimate means, they resort to illegitimate means such as criminality and deviance to attain what they have been taught to want. (Lanier&Henry,1998) It could be argued that America is organised for crime due to its overwhelming significance placed on material success. This may explain why America has the highest rate of imprisonment, in 2000 approximately two million men and women were serving prison sentences. (Fleisher&Decker,2006) Similarly, Toy and Stanko (2008) identify that being part of a society that attributes achievement with material wealth are other factors which may influence becoming gang affiliated. (Harris et al, 2011)
In the 1920’s there was a study conducted by Fredric M. Thrasher. Thrasher studied 1,313 gangs in Chicago and revealed the issue of gangs. He considered the poor in poverty as the area increasing in gangs. This area was known as the “zone in transition” and was referred as in his studies. Thrasher has many law reinforcement and social workers helping him bring a stop to this madness. According to Thrashers studies “Important variables such as the age of gang members or the organizational features of the gangs were not related in a straightforward way to differences in the behavior of gangs” (Cummings 6). Thrasher has analyzed these gangs in many ways to the extent or romantic life in gangs. He helped us distinguish the difference in stereotype gangs and then the actual facts involving them.
Echoing the structural strain theory is the differential opportunity theory, which states that learning environments and opportunities are not equally distributed in the social system and gender, class and ethnicity affects conformity and deviance (Deutschmann, 2007). Taking both theories into account, those susceptible to joining gangs would be people that are deprived of opportunities and resources to succeed, mainly people of the lower class and racial minorities as exemplified by the high volume of emergence of racially exclusive gangs in the past. In the 1970’s, the United States of America lifted its quota on immigration based on nationality and this saw the influx of immigrants from Asia and the West Indies coming into the USA in hopes of getting rich or simply to flee from their war torn native lands. Instead of assimilating into the American culture, these immigrants brought along their own cultural practices and religions, which were rejected by the Americans and resulted in resentment between both parties. Racial discrimination was rampant and these once hopeful immigrants soon found themselves being isolated in the outskirts, jobless and helpless. Members of racial minority groups like the majority aspire to possess material success in life but are void of the means to achieve those (McNulty & Bellair, 2003). The same can be said of the lower class, whose low socio-economic status limit their opportunities for tertiary education which could potentially be imperative in securing lucrative jobs (Curry & Spergel, 1988). Therefore, to satisfy their appetite for success, these people adapt to strain by treading the path of innovators- using illegitimate means to actualise their positively valued goals. Moreover, with global...
The social strain theory also known as Anomie theory was developed by Robert K. Merton, who stated that social structures mainly influence individuals to commit crimes. Anomie is a state of dissatisfaction illustrated by the possible discrepancies between culturally defined goals and the institutionalized means available to achieve these goals ( Thompson 148). Merton proposal was based on a person 's motivations to cultural goal, and a person 's belief in how to attain his goals. Merton observed that many internalize the culturally approved goal of “getting ahead” which means high social status and money. For example, in the film Lil’Ze is constantly seeking power and money throughout the film. He strives to be the most powerful criminal seeking wealth and fame. He becomes frustrated with his low-status and lack of opportunity and seeks another a way of poverty. Carrot, another character in the film is known to of obtained this goal of wealth and status in the City of God. Carrot is a drug dealer with nice clothes, jewelry and car. Lil’ Ze and Benny idealized his lifestyle and discuss how they start to deal drugs to achieve their goals. Merton discusses that some people , particularly those disadvantaged lower class unhappily realize that they will not be able to achieve those idealized goals through legitimate means. As a result, the resort to illegitimate means to reach
Robert K. Merton is a widely respected sociologist who has offered much insight in the field of criminology. In efforts to understand why the U.S has disproportionate levels of crime in comparison to similar countries Merton retouched Emile Durkheim’s form of Anomie theory (Lecture, 2016). Merton’s theory is grounded in the belief that the norms of society and their culturally defined goals (for example: The American Dream) place great pressure (or Strain) on individuals to either conform with the socially accepted behavior to attain those goals, or in its place become a player in a nonstandard subculture in attempts to achieve the same underlying goals of society (Cullen, Ch.13). With this, Merton’s Anomie theory was a macro-level approach
The term underground economy may be used to refer to transactions that are based on illegality and characterized by noncompliance with the law in economic activities. As such, it involves the illegal sales of goods and service through transactions that do not comply with the government requirements. Such an economy is community-based, and while it is not easy to measure its size, it relies on crime, drugs, and prostitution as well as other illegal activities to generate money. This paper delves into the ideals of such an economy based on an in-depth analysis of the Chicago underground economy in Sudhir Venkatesh Gang Leader for a Day.