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The effect of hip hop on todays youth
General and classic strain theory
The effect of hip hop on todays youth
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There is a misconception regarding rap music content about how it predominantly focuses on the topics of drugs, sex and money. Various people do not understand that rap music is a valuable method of expressing one’s emotions and thoughts. The lyrics in rap music are able to strongly represent a broader story of someone’s story. Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise is a story of what it was like as an African-American male to grow up in the ghettos. Through his lyrics, Coolio explains the real-life problems of living in Compton, his hometown. His music describes how immense the amount violence inner city violence that occurred and what he had to become in order to fit into that society. The point of this song was to show those who had not experienced what he had gone through some insight. Coolio mentions how his deviant actions have affected his relationship with his mother. He attempts to justify that murder and violence were the only way to survive on the streets he lived in. The song devises numerous associations to the situation of class, socialization and the conflict subculture. In his …show more content…
song, there are several examples that support Travis Hirschi’s theories of social bond. The damaged social bonds have made it so that it is necessary to rely on violence and crime in order to integrate with the community. Hirschi’s social bond theory claims that when any of the four social bonds (Attachment, Commitment, Involvement, and Belief) are broken down, the individual may become involved in criminal activity. In Coolio’s song lyrics, he mentions that “[he] was raised by the streets.” This implies that the characteristics he learned, was influenced by the people involved with him. This relates back to the “Attachment” aspect of social control theory stated by Hirschi. Hirschi defines attachment as the level of values and or norms that an individual hold in society. Coolio claims that he “cannot live a normal life.” This indicates that the norms and values of Compton are significantly different from those of a normal society. Violence is the foremost norm of the community. Coolio believed that in order to fit in with his society, he needed to become tough and assert dominance over others. Through drugs and violence, one could achieve a higher status in the society. These behaviours were learned at an early age, beginning from when they were young teenagers. Relating back to Coolio’s description of how he needed to assert dominance over the other members of his community, this is a prime example of belief, the second social bond declared by Hirschi.
When the majority of the individuals in the society have a shared belief, it becomes a social bond. In the normal society, crime is viewed as destructive and immoral. In the society that he lived in, the members believed that by being tough, and joining a gang, one would be able to obtain greater power and a higher social status. Crime in the ghetto is justified by those in the society, because people believe it is the only thing they can do. This idea of justification is known as strain theory. Coolio implies in his song that the core values in his community is achieving a high status/class. It did not matter what the means were, and the only thing that mattered was that it could be
obtained. These methods of obtaining power and status relates the idea of commitment, another element of Travis Hirschi’s social bond theory.
When listening to rap music we get to experience the environments that the MC lived through. Most MC’s use music as a way of coping with reality, their violent and hard life. In this way they find a kind of shelter in their songs even though these songs describe their life and how hard it is.
Boyz N the Hood is a classic film for African American culture and depicts juvenile delinquency in the tough streets of L.A. They can relate all too well to the situations these three best friends went through. To apply this movie to the life-course perspective and strain theories we have to analyze these three boy’s realities from a structural, social and cultural level to determine why they ended up deviant and they way they started off. Sampson and Laub’s theory was, criminal activity as well as elements preventative of crime, change throughout the life-course. While all of the criminals have some form of a shared beginning. While Merton’s strain theories revolve around five different types, that puts people into certain categories; conformity,
The four parts in Travis Hirschi’s theory are attachment (“being connected with those around you”), belief (“sharing values with those with whom you associate and care about”), commitment (“a desire and understanding that abiding by the norms and values of society are the right way to het where you want to go”) and involvement (being involved “or other forms of interactions that reinforce beliefs and behaviors”). The reason why this theory goes with the documentary is because the people who join gangs lack some or all the factors that according to this theory prevent crime involvement. Some examples include when it is mention how most the teenagers who join are always left alone because their parents work. Instead of relying on their parents, they seek affection and sense of belonging somewhere else. Apart from that, the belief and commitment part of this theory comes into play when the members share their belief of wanting to protect their turf from their enemy gang rival and reinforcing their limit lines. Meaning they avoid crossing their “turf’s” dividing line into enemy territory. Lastly, the lack of involvement is seen as they –the people who became gang members— are not involve in healthy activities such as volunteer programs/ clubs and instead are attracted to the gang
Kershaun, Kody’s younger brother, joined while Kody was serving time in prison. Although he was not the one to initiate Kershaun, it could be suggested that Kody provided an image for his brother that appealed to him. Many juveniles join gangs because they see the rewards their older siblings are receiving, because they too are in gangs (Lilly et al., 2015). Other juveniles join because their friends have joined, to fit in, or because they need some type of security and stability. A gang provides both of those things, but only for members of their set. A gang is similar to a family, the original gangsters (OG’s) such as Kody could show new members the ways of the streets. There are traditions, rules, and expectancy for each gang. Those in their set should always have one another’s back. If a Blood shot and killed one of the Eight Tray Gangsters, several members of the Eight Tray Gangsters would find that Blood, or someone important to that Blood, and get retribution for their deceased member. This creates a distorted sense of security and stability. However, it also creates a new generation of delinquents. From the gang perspective, if their new recruits were correctly taught the criminal values of the gang, they will be able to defend the streets while other members of the gang are incarcerated. The youth living in this environment, or zone in transition were much more susceptible to join gangs and engage in criminal behavior. Criminal acts and deviance is considered a social norm in this area. Kody’s mother was dumbfounded by how her children got tied up in gangs. She questioned Kody once by saying, “I wonder if that’s how I lost you and Shaun to the streets. You guys have turned from my darling little ones into savage little animals and I just don’t know what to do no more, I really don’t (Shakur, 1993, p 332).” However, Kody knew it was not her fault or their absent
Gang violence is a complex issue with many causes consisting of; lack of jobs, dysfunctional schools, and a biased judicial system, these things have shaped and molded the social structure of this South Central society into something dark and perverse, it has given rise to violence and death, and the inconvenient truth of the matter is it’s our societies fault. References Anderson, Elijah. 1990. The. The Code of the Streets.
Strain theory suggests that crime is a result of people’s goals and the means available to achieve them. Nino Brown’s ultimate goal is to obtain the American Dream which means having a lot of money. It is implied in his criminal behavior that he does not view the legitimate means as a way of achieving that goal. As a man who is undereducated and Black, the normal means of achieving the American Dream are pail in comparison to the illegal means. In fact, he sees the illegal means as more effective; this is the Anomie. The Anomie theory holds that socially defined goals are mandated, but the means to achieve them are stratified by class and society. The Cash Money Brothers program The Carter is built on a culture of poverty that has developed abnormally as a result of crack cocaine, and crime becomes the answer as a result of a breakdown in family, school, and employment. The Social Disorganization theory, in New Jack City, would mean that the criminal behavior demonstrated by the Cash Money Brothers is direct result of a serious degradation in the quality of capable guardians, the school system, and the absence of legitimate jobs stemming from Raegonomics. Therefore, the drive for material wealth dominates and undermines social and community values, thereby, providing room for criminal behavior to become more appealing and effective
As he exclaimed, “Gangs are not alien powers. They begin as unstructured groupings, our children, who desire the same as any young person. Respect. A sense of belonging. Protection”(pg. 250). Gangs represented power and trust to many of the teenagers because each gang was in charge of an area of territory and the trust within the gang gave protection to its members, thus symbolizing a second family. Many of the new members had to do something illegal or immoral in order to initiate into that particular gang. Some had to allow the gang members to beat them up while others had to go to the extent of violating a law. Once someone was in the gang, the member could not opt out and was considered a recidivist because the gang member was continuously falling back into criminal habits. In continuance, the social structure at that time period was based on racial oppression, and prejudice. Rodriguez felt the needless choice of being associated with a gang. He had to make a decision of which gang to join in order to survive the discrimination and the maltreatment presented by the society he lived in. Once he joined a gang, he became limited and forced to commit criminal actions. He described his wanting to resist one of the situations as the following, “I didn’t want to do this. But once you’re asked to do a hit, you can 't refuse, can’t question or even offer an
In a reputable rap album an artist must tell a real-life story. The following three artist come from different but similar backgrounds. One artist from Detroit, one from Compton, another from Brooklyn. Sada Baby along with other Detroit rappers share their experiences living in different parts of the city. Throughout D.O.N. by Sada Baby, he references a lot of weapon use, gang activity, and drug use in his neighborhood. The songs on this album go into so much detail about these things, because this was the life he was born into. This is what he knows first hand. In Sada Baby’s song, ‘Guatemalan’, he goes through the steps of his daily life and even goes on to justify why he is the way that he is based off his experiences.
Songs are one way of expressing feelings and emotion, many artist do this constantly in their music. To some it is why they make music. There are endless signs and verses that hint at many things such as problems, politics, living in racist era’s also places. I chose to focus on one main rapper and his music only. I chose to examine, review, and study a few of his songs. Kid cudi grew up in cleveland, Ohio. His father passed away when he was a young age which affected the kid ever since. He writes about living his life and having to go through many obstacles
Differential association theory states that, “[P]eople who associate with some groups learn an ‘excess’ of definitions of deviance, increasing the likelihood that they will become deviant.” (Henslin) To put it in layman’s terms: “Tell me who you hang out with and I’ll tell you who you are.” The first example of differential association theory can be seen at the beginning of the film when the boys encounter the “gangsters” near the dead body. There are many factors that could have contributed to their unification as a group. It can range anywhere from age similarities to the fact that they live in the same neighborhood. What ever it may have been this group of men now share common deviant behaviors that are associated with gang affiliations. The following example of differential association theory deals with Ice Cube’s character “Doughboy.” As the years went by and the boys grew up “Doughboy” did not really amount to anything and began to hang out with the wrong crowd. They presented with deviant behavior that society tends to frown upon such as them not going to school, drinking and hanging out with the wrong crowds, gambling, selling drugs, etcetera. This crowd was very similar to the gangsters he and his friends encountered at the beginning of the film. Lastly, due to his relationship ...
The gang and the community are intertwined as the gang encompasses many of those that live in the area, as presented in the ending of the film. The ending is important because it sets up the permanency of label theory, and when the role of delinquent becomes evident. Throughout the movie the main character Montoya Santana speaks of respect and his gang, until the end where it states how he regretted his role, as a kid turning to gang culture for respect. In the movie it states,” You know, a long time ago, two best homeboys, two kids, were thrown into juvie. They were scared, and they thought they had to do something to prove themselves. And they did what they had to do. They thought they were doing it to gain respect for their people, to show the world that no one could take their class from them. No one had to take it from us, ese. Whatever we had... we gave it away” ( ) This quote connects of labelling theory because it relates the role of gang members they had to play at juvenile detention and extended to that identity being the basis of them growing up. Proving themselves became the bases of their identity being labelled as criminals at such a young age created a need for a role to protect themselves the only way they knew how. They come from a place where gang was the only prominent role in their
George covers much familiar ground: how B-beats became hip hop; how technology changed popular music, which helped to create new technologies; how professional basketball was influenced by hip hop styles; how gangsta rap emerged out of the crack epidemic of the 1980s; how many elements of hip hop culture managed to celebrate, and/or condemn black-on-black violence; how that black-on-black violence was somewhat encouraged by white people scheming on black males to show their foolishness, which often created a huge mess; and finally, how hip hop used and continues to use its art to express black frustration and ambition to blacks while, at the same time, refering that frustration and ambition to millions of whites.
These gangs tend to hang out in certain places and claim it as their territory. Many of the gang members are drawn together by similar interests, and are brought up in similar neighborhoods. The Social Disorganization Perspective The social disorganization perspective follows the substance users to their living era and environment. Social disorganization perspective examines why individuals move from one environment to another and how they struggle to adjust to a new environment, and how they are lured or forced into substance use, deviance, or criminal activity in the face of difficulty in the new environment or due to their individual maladjustments. On the other hand it studies how a particular environment causes stress, disillusionment, and disorders among individuals who live in it, and why substance abuse, deviance, crime, and other social problems tend to increase in a time when or in a place where change occurs abruptly.
In the late 1970’s hip-hop/rap music emerged as one of the most popular musical genres, and it remains as one to this day. However, there is a big difference in the content of a song like Sugar Hill Gang’s 1978 single “Rappers Delight” and a modern day rap song. When hip-hop music first began it served as a type of party music that was made primarily from African American men. The music quickly gained popularity, and before long, members of all races were enjoying it. However, in the early 1980’s hip-hop music became more of a mirror into ghetto culture rather than just upbeat enjoyable music. Rappers began to write edgy lyrics celebrating street warfare, drugs, and promiscuity. Unfortunately this style of hip-hop never died off, and now it
Among the most common subjects of rap and hip-hop is violence and misogyny. They emphasize these two as inevitable regularities of the life lived in the streets. Their music reflects this fact by promoting violence and misogyny, which poses adverse influences on not only children and teenagers in the ghettos and urban cities but also other people affected by them.