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Throughout one's life, one experiences many emotions and
undergoes many changes. Changes that are not always apparent,
changes that cannot always be reasoned or changes that reflect
greatest in behavior, ones that are dependent on the
environment. In Deanna Wilkinson's Guns, Violence, and
Identity among African American and Latino Youth, Wilkinson
studies the role of violence and guns in the construction the
social identity of minority youth.
Wilkinson studies 125 violent African American and Latino
males aged 16 to 24 in New York City, analyzing 306 violent
situations of which 151 involve guns. The social world of
these youths is characterized by violence, internalized street
codes, limited opportunities, and the availability of
firearms. Violent events are public social performances. These
performances often have serious consequences for social
identity and personal safety. Wilkinson shows how violence is
a resource for gaining/maintaining social identity
(masculinity) and status on the street. The dynamic of moving
from victim to victimizer is clearly understood in the
socio-cultural context of the street. She demonstrates the
role that guns play in "empowering" adolescents to engage in
conflict outside of age-specific groups
(http://www.lfbscholarly.com/criminal_justice/wilkinson_320094.htm).
In this book, Wilkinson identifies the reasons in the increase
of gun violence in the minority youth. Wilkinson trains
ex-offenders to be peer interviews to note the ways adolescent
males cope, adapt and in some situations overcome the hardship
of the streets. I think this was a great idea as it allows
Wilkinson and all reading her book to get a clear and accurate
picture of what's going through an offender's mind. Also, in
doing this, Wilkinson allows not only the common public to see
the cause and effect of crime and criminals, but allows the
offenders themselves to get a escape their reality and speak
their mind about them not being a born criminal. In addition,
Wilkinson referenced a number of different resources to her
own research in attempts to tackle this problem. Broad
surveys, social/economical statistics, hands-on research and a
myriad of different theories presented by a long list of
accredited criminologists in order to aid her in her study.
Wilkinson began her study on youth gun violence in 1994 in New
York City. Wilkinson hoped to answer some unsolved mysteries
of youth gun violence in this study. Some of' the most
striking questions Wilkinson sought to answer were: "What
roles do family background, peers, environment, school
involvement, and employment play?" "Why does it seem as if
they invite situations that provoke violence?" "How do you
determine which situations to use violence in?" "How do youths
balance consequences and quality of life?" Does their
fearlessness imply that they have nothing to lose?
Geoffrey Canada gives his readers a rare opportunity to look inside the life of a ghetto kid and what they have to go through just to survive. He also provides answers to the many questions asked of why certain things happen the way they do in the Bronx. He used his childhood experiences and turned them into a unique tool when helping the youth of today. Now that he works as a youth councilor he sees that the problem in the slums has gotten dramatically worse with the emergence of guns. It used to be about pride and status, now any thug with a gun can be feared in the community. This, to Canada is a major problem because guns gives kids a sense of power, a strong feeling that is often abused and results in someone, even an innocent person dead.
Observing masculinity: Masculinity affects the lives of these boys, from the expectation of violence. Youth Demographics: Neighborhood with high violent-crime rates and had sibling or friends who had been previously involved with crime. (Punished: Policing the lives of Black and Latino boys, PG 14&17) The purpose is for society to have a depth understanding to how these young boys try, so that there not punished as youth; rather create opportunity and understanding rather than constraining
Criminal justice institutions in Oakland challenge masculinity as a means of rehabilitation. For instance, from a boy’s perspective, being a man involves standing up to peers who challenge self-confidence. This results in law breaking and violent fights, which can create opportunities for arrests. On the other hand, probation officers believe that being a man involves obtaining an education to support your family. However, by living in a poor neighborhood where punitive social control is ratified, the boys can hardly find employment. Thus, it generates hypermasculinity, which “often influenced the young men to perpetrate defiance, crime, and violence, sanctioning police to brutalize or arrest them” (p. 138). To reiterate, probation officers tell the boys to “get a job, do well in school and stay out of trouble” (p. 139). But the odds of succeeding are low, because “most avenues of legitimate success were out of reach” (p.
In"Get a Knife, Get a dog, but Get Rid of Gun," Molly Ivins argues on gun control laws and how guns should be banned or restricted to some people. In the essay she argues how knife is more safer than guns to use, because more likely people die from cleaning or using guns in wrong way. Author main purpose is to let people know guns is danger, and should be ban. She also points out the 2nd amendment and it says clearly that guns are for those who form part of a well-regulated militia, that is armed forced, including the National Guard. I agree with Ivins about the guns control, because guns is for special training people only, and private citizens shouldn't have gun, also we don’t need to hunt for food to survive and killing innocent animal just for fun.
Geoffrey Canada shares his story about growing up in an inner city neighborhood of the South Bronx in the 1950s and 1960s. Geoffrey Canada is one of four boys who live with his mother after their father left them. Geoffrey Canada talks about the struggles of growing up in the inner city and facing many challenges. As Geoffrey Canada grew up he witnessed a lot of violence which included young children getting their hands on firearms. The prevalence of firearms among children has changed the nature of violence in the United States. Violent acts have transformed from fists, sticks, and knifes to guns. Guns have undermined the street code of honor, the OGs back in the day were ruthless but not killers, this new generation has no developed courage and fighting skills but relied on guns for protection.
Gun violence in youth has become much more prevalent. Today’s youth are more likely to turn to guns to solve their problems with bullies or to help them to fight a mental illness. Kids are taking guns from their parents or are just going to the streets and buying the guns from random people. Although there are jurisdictions that have started to use gun violence programs to help combat these issues the programs are not found everywhere and are not going to work forever. One such program that we will learn about later on is Operation Ceasefire.
I am so tired of the sickly platitudes: “our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims.” And I am sick to death of the rationalizations: “guns don’t kill people; people kill people.”
Pirruzia, T (2011).Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews. (n.d.). Chapter 1: Biosocial Theory. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volume5/chapter01_biosocial_theory.aspx
Today in this day and age the world is filled with hate and violence and other terrible things. People use weapons and other objects to cause terror on others for many reasons such as power and wealth. Firearms are one of the weapons someone may use to harm or rule over others because of the danger the weapon can cause. Over the years with gun violence and killings, some people want to get rid of the citizens right to purchase and own firearms. Although gun violence bad, by taking a person’s right to bear arms will not solve the problem with gun violence in todays society.
"Children, Youth, and Gun Violence: Analysis." Princeton. The Future of Children, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. .
The US is among the various countries that are having problems with enacting laws that control guns. However, what the world fails to understand is that controlling guns does not end crime. Controlling crimes is the only sure manner and way of maintaining peace and order in various states across the US and the whole world. The various administrations have been trying to address the issue of mass shootings and illegal owning of firearms to no success. Controlling guns cannot thus end crime. The solution lies with putting an end to the crime itself first before checking on guns.
Guns are very common in American society. Sometimes, dichotomization is associated with guns. For example, when white society dichotomizes African-American males as thugs or gang bangers this negatively affects the African-American male population. When a person is dichotomized they will eventually fall into a certain category at some point. In this case, it may lead to more gun related crimes especially amongst African-American males. Therefore, gun related crimes may be associated with dichotomization of certain groups. Also, gun related fatalities and suicide can result within from the LGBT community or even teenagers that often feel isolated due to dichotomization. Likewise, it is seen very patriotic for an American male to carry a gun with them. This is often shown on media and television where it is shown that the male must carry a gun either for protection or hunting. True men that don’t carry a gun wi...
Gun control has been around for many years and it has become a topic that has been talked about more and more often. However, gun control has created some differences on whether it is being used effectively and whether it is a good law or not. Gun control is the second amendment of the constitution and basically what it means is that it is the right to bear arms. The right to bear arms is a concerning topic for many people because now when a mass shooting occurs people immediately blame gun control but how do we know that gun control is the problem? People may think gun control is a good thing but in reality crime and violence are caused by many other things therefore gun control does not reduce violence.
One topic constantly blares on the news when the TV is turned on: gun control. Gun control is the regulation of selling, owning, and using guns. Although our right to bear firearms is protected by our Second Amendment, gun control has come under fire recently due to mass shootings at places such as Sandy Hook Elementary and Umpqua Community College. People argue that guns should be illegal since they are easy to obtain, which leads to countless shootings and deaths, while others argue that guns should be legal since the Second Amendment gives the right for protection. The best way to deal with this dilemma would be a median of both sides; make guns legal, but have very tight restrictions to obtain them. Strict gun control laws will lead to
In the United States there are more guns than there are people (Washington Post 1). Due to this it is virtually impossible for the United States to actually get rid of all their guns, and or successfully get them out of the hands of the people they want them to. This creates a huge divide in America with people looking at the situation from all angles. “What should the United States do on this situation?” is a common question that is heard on the streets of America almost daily. One artist, named William Warren, created a political cartoon about this titled “Gun Control for Dummies”. In the image Warren uses the example of the people (criminals) that pro-gun law activists get guns away from. Through his illustration the artist conveys the message that creating stricter gun laws would create more problems than it would solve by using elements such as irony, emphasis, and capitalization.