To be born into poverty and depression in a 3rd world or economical depressed country because of politics, war, or considered 2nd class this will entice you very easily to want to be in the United States of America. The mind begins to dream of what kind of better life you could have if you could only escape the poverty you are in now. You will begin to scheme, plan, pay anyone, run across a boarder, anything to escape for a life of riches. However, what that person fails to realize that there are great consequences for the choices he or she makes for this quest. Or they know and simply don’t care because of the life they are living now and America somewhat rewards illegal aliens by certain processes of business marriages, immigration and naturalization laws that will eventually allow them to become legal.
Los Angeles County and Racial Discrimination Does one single race commit more crime than any other? The idea seems true because the Los Angeles County Police Department uses race as a factor in detecting crime. Although classifying individuals by their skin tone seems wrong, in some cases the reasons are justified. For example, the country had to racially profile all people of Middle-Eastern descent to be a terrorist after September eleven. This classification makes sense because if crime is caused by terrorists; terrorist will cause crimes.
The Functionalist approach to the study of crime states that crime has two positive functions for society. Durkheim claims that crime retains boundary maintenance. He states that crime produces a reaction from society, effectively uniting its members in condemnation of the wrongdoer and reinforcing their commitment to the shared norms and values. Secondly, he claims that all acts of social change start with an act of deviance, so in the long run deviant tendencies will give rise to a new culture and morality. For example, the wishing for African-American rights in America included several acts of deviance by breaking several laws yet it paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement.
Social disorganization is the complete opposite; these communities face a difficult problem of lacking these characteristics. Social disorganization believes that the main factor in one’s life of committing crime derives from the lack of support of his or her society. Individuals living in poverty who witness others with wealth believe he or she will never reach that milestone maintaining his or her current life. Crime is the other option for individuals not blessed with an opportunity to obtain wealth. Social Disorganization Theories Between the theories that represent social disorganization, two define the term in relation to the definition, which will help one understand the purpose of social disorganization.
Topic Paper #1 My topic of interest is credibility amongst those whom have come from not so credible backgrounds and have turned their lives around. This topic will focus on target populations of convicted felons and recovering addicts. The purpose of this project is to confirm that the majority of convicted felons as well as recovering drug addicts have turned their lives around and are productive members of society but the fight to regain credibility is less than favorable. The central questions of this topic will be first how many of convicted felons and recovering addicts have turned their lives around for the better to become productive members of society? Another question that I will address will be do convicted felons and recovering addicts actually ever regain or gain credibility that have been diminished due to their past choices?
This would suggest that through the labelling theory crime is socially constructed and is only perceived as a crime when society labels it as that. This theory offers evidence as to why some people are labelled as criminals, whilst others who commit the same crime are not. Becker argues that the labelling theory is useful in explaining crime and deviance as it provides evidence as to why some people are seen as ‘criminals’ when a large proportion of society have indeed committed what would be deemed as a criminal act. Cicourel conducted a study on the Metropolitan Police service (MPS) to find out if the procedures and policies they followed influenced the way in which they treated certain people.
In our society it is assumed we are all treated equally, but in fact many times this is not true. Minority individuals have a disadvantage in the criminal justice system because of the lack of money, and effective resources. This is very damaging to society and may be a root cause for so many disparity issues today. Factors of Racial Disparity Society cannot be run for the privileged and allow a substantial proportion of the population to be an allowance beyond what is needed. This impacts the quality of life for all of us if we have to “throw away people.”A justice system that tolerates injustice is doomed to collapse (The Sentencing Project, 2000).
Engl 101 July 1, 2012 THE CURES AND CAUSES OF AMERICAN GANGS Gangs are a violent reality in today's cities. Why do they exist? What makes children feel that being in a gang is a desirable, acceptable, and prestigious way to live? The long-range answer to these questions can only be speculated upon, but the short term answers are much easier to find. Superficially, gangs are a direct result of human beings' personal desires and peer pressure.
Initiatives spring forth to attack the high crime rates caused by gangs. The decline of stable families is an obvious cause of gang popularity, along with urbanization and poverty, but those conditions and trends today are almost impossible to reverse. Mix in the allure and power of money from illegal drug sales, and the weapons used to survive in the illegal drug business, and the current disaster survives all initiatives to stop it. Public opinion, not science, drives reform. Some decades ago, the American public demanded a war on drugs, three-strikes legislation, mandatory minimum sentences, new criminal statutes and the abolition of parole in the federal system.
The ‘war on drugs’ has become a harsh and unnecessary measure that frankly costs American taxpayers far too much money. If the type of imprisonment suffered by nonviolent offenders is now deemed cruel and unusual, does the punishment really fit the crime? This is the question American citizens must ask themselves as they consider how far they must go in order to keep drug use and abuse under control. One of the many effects of the severe penalties for drug use is unjust incarceration. The average citizen may correctly point out that everyone has the right to due process and therefore innocent people are not simply sentenced to prison.