Film Report On 'American Me': A Therapeutic Perspective

1263 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Prison rehabilitation theory

Film Report on American Me: A Therapeutic Perspective "American Me" is a fictional film having a factual basis, starring and directed by Edward James Olmos. Released to the national theater circuit in 1992, "American Me" depicts the life of Rodolfo Cadena, a ranking Carnal (gang member) in the prison gang La Eme, also known as the Mexican Mafia. To therapeutically approach the salience and pervasiveness of gang membership, including its allure and reinforcers, would be a challenging task for any human service practitioner involving accuracy of assessment and effectiveness of treatment. However, endeavoring to find and implement such therapeutic methods and procedures for positive outcomes, while preserving Latino cultural identity and integrity, is precisely the purpose of this paper. One of the parallel themes of “American Me” is that prisons are far more than warehouses for society's outcasts and baneful. They are, instead, recruiting stations and training camps for future generations of criminals and gang members. “American Me” reveals how a major portion of the crime syndicate came to be hosted from the “inside,” from within the many prison walls of the U.S. Department of Corrections (Baumgarten, 1992). Knowing the destiny of Montoya Santana, the character played by Edward James Olmos, in growing up and into a revered and lifelong membership in the Mexican Mafia, including 18 years in Folsom Prison, the development of a comprehensive, although hypothetical, human service intervention plan is in order. This hypothetical, culturally appropriate, therapeutic intervention is to take place at the point young (16-year-old) Santana is first institutionalized in (juvie) the juvenile d... ... middle of paper ... ...idual human service needs would ideally involve not only cognitive, behavioral, and emotional approaches, but familial and cultural too. The potential for therapeutic success rests on the extent of effectiveness in all of these areas as the practitioner takes a holistic approach to Santana within the contexts of his external and internal environments. References: Atkinson, D.R. (2004), Counseling American minorities, 6th Edition, Boston: McGraw- Hill Companies Baumgarten, M. (1992), American Me, Calendar: Film Listings, Austin Chronicle, Retrieved March 29, 2008 from: http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3A139162 Bohmer, P. (1998), African-Americans as an Internal Colony: The Theory of Internal Colonialism, Retrieved March 29, 2008 from UOP Database, EBSCOhost: http://academic.evergreen.edu/b/bohmerp/internalcolony.htm

Show More
Related

  • John Rennie Short Summary

    496 Words  | 1 Pages

    Michael Sierra-Arevalo received his B.A. in sociology and psychology (high honors) from the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include urban sociology, race and ethnicity, gangs, social network analysis, violence prevention, and policy implications of gang violence.

    Read More

  • Mike Sager's Death In Venice

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Mike Sager’s Death in Venice, Sager creates a vivid story about the gang in Venice as well as their addiction to cocaine. What I enjoyed about this article, was that it told a story in the perception of the gang members. It allowed me to see a glance through the lives of the gangs in the late twentieth century. Throughout the story, I felt multiple emotions, it ranged from disbelief to anger. It is astounding how Sager documented the lives of young males in Venice. As a Chicana, I was surprised by the actions in the article, I grew up in an environment where my daily life was not surrounded by gangs and drive-bys.

    Read More

  • Rios Punished Summary

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Punished: policing the lives of black and Latino boys author Rios, victor. Victor Rios grew up in the ghetto in the Oakland, California in the 1980s. Rios, a former gang member and juvenile delinquency. Rios managed to escape this trend of gang violent as a teen; he managed to escape the gang violent lifestyle from his peers. He provides us a with a depth overview of a three-year study of 40 minority youths, 30 of whom were previously arrested. The study was done in Oakland, California. Rios give us a clear overview inner city young Latino and African American. Rios emphasize on the difficult lives of these young men, who are faced with policies in their schools, communities, and policing. Importantly, he gives us a clear understanding

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Punished By Victor Rios

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    Victor Rios is a previous gang member, whom “was given the opportunity” to get out of the youth control complex. In his book “Punished”, he analyzes the experiences of young black and Latino boys in Oakland, California. Rios gives us an intimate description of some of the everyday forms of “hyper discrimination” these minority boys experience. This book review will focus on the main concepts explained in chapters one through three from the book Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Stateville: The Penitentiary In Mass Society

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    Relations during this time with the prison and the outside world are discussed, as well as how these relations dominated life inside of a prison and developed new challenges within the prison. After Ragen left, Frank Pate become his successors. Pate faced a problem because he neither sought nor exercised the charismatic authority of Ragen. The Prison remained an imperatively coordinated paramilitary organization, which still required its warden to personify its goals and values. Jacobs goes on to discusses how what Pate did, was not the same direction or ideas that Ragen was doing or had. Jacobs’s counties this discussion with the challenges and issues that prison had during the time of 1961 through 1970. Jacobs blames that the loss of a warden who could command absolute authority, the loss of local autonomy, it heightened race problems among blacks, and the penetration of legal norms exposed severe strains in the authrotitarian system, and says pate cant control

    Read More

  • Book Review: Policing Gangs in America

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.

    Read More

  • Homicide In Hoinsbeck Analysis

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    CNN presents the documentary, Homicide in Hollenbeck, spotlighting gang activity in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollenbeck. This documentary explores the subculture of gangs existing within Hollenbeck from a several perspectives. The people documented include a mother who lost both of her sons to gang violence, a priest that has tried to help rehabilitate gang members, a police officer that has worked in Hollenbeck for five years in the gang unit, and a current gang member. For a conclusion, Homicide in Hollenbeck focuses on a juvenile exposed to gang life on the cusp of decided where they want their life to lead; gangs or freedom. Problems attributed to the high rate of gang activity and number of gangs in Hollenbeck are the high poverty rate, low employment rate, and broken families that make up the majority of Hollenbeck. The crime most discussed, as per the title of the documentary, is homicide The number of gang related homicides has risen even though the criminal behavior of gangs has ultimately decreased in the neighborhood. In order to fight the overwhelming gang presence, the police believe in increasing the amount of gun power on the streets and number of jailed gang members. The priest who runs Homeboy Industries stated that he feels most gang members are just young men who can’t get out of the gang life. With more funds and opportunities, he thinks the problem could be decreased. In the end, the documentary mentions that the FBI has formed a gang center where local law enforcement agencies can share information to gain more knowledge and to better fight the presence of gangs.

    Read More

  • Jeff Jacoby’s Bring Flogging Back

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jacoby uses many claims about how crime in the United States has grown and the how faulty America’s justice system currently is. One claim said that citizens pay around “$30,000 per inmate each year” (Jacoby 197). This grasps the reader’s attention by connecting their life to the problem; it is their money, a lot of their money, being used to imprison these criminals. The rates have increased on inmates since the 1980s by over 250% (Jacoby 197). Jacoby declares that the prison system is terrible; he uses accurate and persuading evidence.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Wildest Show In The West

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    Adams’ research into the Angola prison has given insight to the different races inside prisons. Through her exploration, it has become evident there are more people of color behind bars, than white people (Adams, 104). Analysis of execution has proven that more men than women are executed. Adams’ highlighted in her research that when the museum at Angola opened its showcased eight six mug shots of men and only one of a woman who were executed (Adams, 101). Over her research of the prison and the rodeo, Adams’ reveals that the large inequality of economic power within the prison system. Investigation on the inmate cowboys’ winnings and profit from their “hobby crafts”, show that it is funneled back into the prisons economy, when prisoners purchase cigarettes, food, and gifts for their family (Adams, 97). Over the course of the article there were many interesting facts and images shared with the readers. Adams’ in depth account of the rodeo as well as the execution chambers were interesting. However, what stood out the most in the article was how the inmates desired to take part in such a gruesome event. Prisoners explained that being apart of the rodeo offers a moment of freedom from their sentence (Adams, 99). The idea of the rodeo being a release for inmates is an interesting notion. The time spent in the right is not only providing entertainment for outsiders, but also fosters an environment where those who are held captive can achieve a brief moment of freedom. Although many of the inmates endure physical pain in their time in the ring, they believe it eases their mind from their sentence. Questions that may arises during and after reading Adams’ article are: Do all prisons in the United States suggest and advocate a social order similar to Adams’ findings in Angola? By critiquing the way that prisoners are treated as subordinates to outsiders, and

    Read More

  • Gangs in America

    2717 Words  | 6 Pages

    This paper will cover issues that young minorities encounter in the movies; Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008), Gran Torino (2008), A Better Life (2011). Movies will be summarize, and compare and contrast youths experienced. Criminological theories shall be utilized to further elaborate issues. Finally steps and theories will be utilized towards solving issues, also possible methods to correct the issues will be addressed in the end.

    Read More

  • Prison Gangs: Gangs and Security Threat Group Awareness

    2816 Words  | 6 Pages

    Ralph, P.H.(1997). From Self Preservation to Organized Crime: The Evolution of Inmate Gangs. In J.W. Marquart, & J.R. Sorensen (Eds.). Correctional Contexts: Contemporary and Classical Readings (pp. 182-186). Los Angeles: Roxbury

    Read More

  • Causes Of Racial Disparity In Drug Discrimination

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hispanic drug use is one of the highest amongst the US population, due in part to the large growing population group as well as poor economic conditions, low educational rates and high drug availability. The impact of racism on self-esteem also makes Hispanics vulnerable to alcohol and other drug use and abuse (Delgado 1995).... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment: A Necessary Part of Justice in the United States

    1745 Words  | 4 Pages

    3. Herivel, Tara and Paul Wright. Prison Profiteers: Who Makes Money From Mass Incarceration. New York: The New Press, 2009. Print.

    Read More

  • Mass Incarceration Essay

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Oxford Index, “whether called mass incarceration, mass imprisonment, the prison boom, or hyper incarceration, this phenomenon refers to the current American experiment in incarceration, which is defined by comparatively and historically extreme rates of imprisonment and by the concentration of imprisonment among young, African American men living in neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage.” It should be noted that there is much ambiguity in the scholarly definition of the newly controversial social welfare issue as well as a specific determination in regards to the causes and consequences to American society. While some pro arguments cry act as a crime prevention technique, especially in the scope of the “war on drugs’.

    Read More

  • Prison Rehabilitation

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shelden, R. G. (1999). The Prison Industrial Complex. Retrieved November 16, 2013, from www.populist.com: http://www.populist.com/99.11.prison.html

    Read More

More about Film Report On 'American Me': A Therapeutic Perspective

Open Document