The idea of being a part of a bigger group or simply recognized, to fit in is what a lot of juveniles and teens desire. But to what extent are they willing to go? The group of teenagers in the movie The Bling Ring were willing to steal and lie their way to the top, each with their own motives but still overlapping in the fact they want to be popular and famous, in their own way. The persuasion of some, the boredom, the opportunity, rebellion, and the desire for notoriety drove these teens to commit these crimes as proved in the movie. The one seen as the ringleader of the group, Rebecca, was the initial driving force and instigator for the teens to become a part of their criminal ring. She uses the status she already has, but wants to heighten, and makes the other teens believe that to be like her they need to do certain things. The theory that connects this is Differential Association, which is …show more content…
The desire to be stimulated can also be a driving force to do something unlawful, which the teens in the movie ended up wanting and doing. Arousal Theory goes to show that individuals look for experiences that lead to arousing sensations but at times they are not always the best driving forces, “in general, people attempt to maintain an optimal level of arousal. Too much stimulation causes anxiety and fear, while too little stimulation leads to boredom and depression” (Government of Ontario). When talking about their crimes to their peers, they would speak about it in a bored tone to express that what they were doing was nothing out of the norm. In some instances for them it had lost its thrill, because they could easily go back to the houses as if it were a shopping mall; where is the fun in going to the same place over and over again with no change? Their rebellion against their social class was boring
The different groups of friends were completely different from each other. There was the group that wanted to be popular and get all the girls with a party, and there was a group that had all the music records that the other needed. That was the group that was trying to make money as well. Both parties also wanted girls. The fact that these two groups had seemingly presented themselves as gangs shows how much they wanted to be apart from each other. The gangs symbolized the separatism of the youth. The catch to their separateness is that they really needed one another to get what they wanted. The one group needed music and the other group needed money. They ended up making a deal with each other, which was conspired by Bacc. The fact that they were able to come together like that symbolized that they really should be together.
The book emphasizes the idea of how difficult it is to leave the gang lifestyle. There are frequent cases of relapse by individuals in the book, who were once out to again return to gangs. This case is brought by what gangs represent to this in the book and what leaving entails them to give up. The definition of gangs presented to the class was, three or more members, share name, color, or affiliation, or must exist in a geopolitical context. To members associated with gangs, this definition can include your family members, neighborhood, everyone that they associate with. Take for example Ronnie from Jumped in by Jorja Leap it states,” Ronny’s role models are gangbangers. His family is a hood. His mentors are older homies in county jail.”(102). Ronnie and other gang members like him do not
Hanser and Gomila (2015) states, “For many younger juveniles, adult gang members serve as role models whose behavior is to be emulated as soon as possible to become full-pledge gang-bangers because of the prestige, respect, and sense of belonging that the gang-banger role provides them” (341). Other reasons why female juveniles join gangs was due to lack of family support and various types of violence in their lives. Hanser and Gomila (2015) noted “The involvement of juvenile females in sexual activities, substance abuse, and violence was clearly related to membership in gangs” (p. 348). Sexual abuse was among the primary reasons why female juveniles join gangs. Female juveniles living in urban ghettos are more likely to be sexually abused, and they join gangs as a way of coping and to escape the realities of poverty. Female juveniles will experience more hardships as compared to make juveniles, before they are fully received as full pledge gang members. As previously stated, sexual abuse was among the primary reasons why female juveniles join gangs; however, sexual abuse does not end there because it continues to occur throughout their gang life (Hanser & Gomila,
Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring is a nonfictional based movie portraying the infamous activities of a group of California based friends who burglarize celebrities houses looking for fashionable accessories. Mrs. Coppola’s main message throughout the movie examines the power and values their friend group possesses. Examining the scene where Rebecca convinces Marc to rob Evan’s house helps us to break down the movie’s main and underlying messages. Looking at this robbery through Crary’s lens helps the reader to see how her underlying message trumps her more obvious main message. This scene appears to test the values and power of two criminals, but it’s main underlying message addresses the overconsuming lifestyle that Rebecca and Marc possess.
The theory is based on the assumption that crime can be committed by anyone that has the opportunity. Let’s say that the family remains stuck in poverty as the brothers reach adulthood. One day, Jimmie Lee, the head drug dealer of the area, proposed the idea of having the boys deal drugs to earn more money. The brothers can be viewed as motivated offenders, given their prolonged financial hardship and limited means to make a brighter future for themselves. The boys have easy access to drug gangs, such as Jimmie Lee’s Conservative Vice Lords (p. 34), as well as many potential buyers living in the housing projects. Their criminal behavior is also enabled through the absence of guardianship. As Kotlowitz explains, “Residents so feared and respected the gang’s control that they refused to call 911” (p. 34). The police did know about Jimmie Lee’s criminal history and intent. However, this fear within the community, along with the lower social control that it brings, makes it easier for the Lafayette and Pharoah to commit criminal behavior such as this without getting
Jeannette kind of found a boy her age that likes her, but he did cause a few issues with her. Like when he felt all up on her and invaded her personal space. Lori, Jeanette and Brian had trouble fitting in because of how they looked so it was really hard to make real friends. Eventually they got used to it but people were cruel to them and they got into a lot of disputes with neighbors and other people. This place made them toughen up and made them realize how they were living needed to change. The whole family came to the conclusion that they need to fight back so people don’t walk all over
The theory explains how people could be labeled a certain way which would follow them and encourage them to act within the confines of said label or be unable to be perceived as anything but that label. These apparent role models participated in deviant behavior almost equal to that of the Roughnecks and yet they went on to be remembered as good kids. They were allowed to act like delinquents but were never perceived as such because they maintained appearances (good grades, healthy interactions, and lots of participation). The Roughnecks on the other hand took no steps to help with their reputation (they skipped school, made their actions public and attracted a lot of negative attention) thus insuring their label. Regardless of each student’s involvement with certain activities they obtained their labels and kept them through
Gangs have been in existence since the beginning of the Roman Empire. There were speeches made by Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, which references groups of men who constantly fought and disrupted Roman politics (Curry, 2013). The history of street gangs in the United States begins with their emergence on the East Coast around 1783, as the American Revolution ended. Though many believe the best available evidence suggests that the more serious street gangs likely did not emerge until the early part of the nineteenth century (Sante, 1991). Although our country has had their share of feared gangs like in the 1980’s with the turf war between the Bloods and Crips, back in the 17th and 18th century the Mohocks of Georgian, England were one of the most feared gangs. What draws juveniles to the gang lifestyle? Many people will say that most gang members are children from impoverished communities, single family homes where there was no father present, or maybe there is a more psychological/sociological answer? By appearance and presence most gangs cause fear, crime, and disillusionment in the communities they occupy. Throughout history joining a gang has been perceived as a life without any reward, yet by joining this lifestyle many juveniles are able to gain the needed stability and security in their lives.
Kids that get into gangs are seeking identity and recognition. a gang
No one knows exactly how many children and youth nationwide are gang members or join a gang in an average day, but the numbers are astonishing and increasing. What is it about gangs that is so appealing to children? Gangs offer identity which a child may not have felt he or she had before. Gangs also offer belonging, protection, money, sex, and status. The majority of the children who become involved in such groups as gangs usually don't have a sense family or belonging to anyone, are lonely, and are looking for friends. Some may think that gangs are actually a good thing in that they offer so many positive things to a child's life. That is where some go wrong, and make the biggest mistake of their lives.
Albert Cohen’s book Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang was the first attempt for Cohen to solve the problem of how delinquent subcultures could begin (Williams & McKay, 2014). Cohen found that delinquent behavior was found among the lower class white males and the most common form was called gangs (Williams & McKay, 2014). Gangs were characterized by the behavior that was nonutilitarian which was no reason for doing something, malicious an individual was just mean, and negativistic was to negate the middle class. Statues played an important role in the subculture theories, which status was a way to think of ourselves in reference to other people (Williams & McKay, 2014). Cohen said “everyone wants status but not everyone can compete for stat...
These are damaging lifestyle choices that children and young teens should not consider before high school. Sure these choices are made, but kids may take the situations in the book the wrong way and not learn from them. Perhaps it gives them ideas about sneaking out and having parties. Perhaps they may even sympathize with the partiers that got mad at Melinda for calling the cops. Also in Speak the teens at the party are drinking and having fun.
Furthermore, numerous young people join street gangs because they feel they are rejected by society and do no have the same values.
With excitements, many teens get hurry out to disobey authority or involvement in crimes. The young may be engrossed to the mob’s way of living as it stays out of the law and takes place in illegal behaviors. Others prefer to be in the mob because of the many problems they encounter at homes. With the promise of a greater life by the gangs then the excited teens get attracted to the illegal activities of the mob (Bryman, 2008).
It can also tie into being how “cool” a teen looks on their social platforms. Teens self-esteem can tie into how others think they see each other. Sometimes, to be “cool” teens need to have the latest clothes, shoes, and even phones. If they don’t have any of the latest trends they can become an outcast. For example, let’s say Tony is the only boy who doesn 't have the latest sweater in his school. Tony might feel bad and not have a ton of self-worth because all the other students are telling him that he isn 't cool. No self-worth means that the teen 's self-esteem has been lowered to a