Isaiah Hill
Professor Zozula
SOC 370
11/30/17
Susan Starr Sered and Maureen Norton-Hawk’s book, “Can’t Catch a Break: Gender, Jail, Drugs, and the Limits of Personal Responsibility” examines the lived experiences of women who have struggled with sexual abuse, poverty, homelessness and incarceration. Throughout the reading, they introduce women that have been raised in abusive, impoverished homes and attempt to understand the ways different social factors have influenced their lives. Sered and Norton-Hawk also address the different types of social structures and institutions that work together to maintain inequality – both gender and racial.
Sered and Norton-Hawk address one of the larger social structures that perpetuate gender-based violence, …show more content…
Laub and Sampson’s Life Course theory helps explain why these women have been victims of crime while also explaining why they may commit crimes. According to Laub and Sampson’s Life Course theory, crime occurs when a person lacks positive turning points in their life, such as a positive marriage or stable employment. The women introduced in “Can’t Catch a Break” reflect on the negative relationships they had with men in their families. Many of them had been victims of sexual assault and abuse by male family members growing up. These women often found themselves in abusive marriages and relationships after leaving home. The women also had a hard time finding stable employment as their family issues either limited their opportunities or resulted in them being fired from their current jobs. The relationships they had with men throughout their childhoods and inability to find stable employment led them to homelessness and multiple forms of …show more content…
Sutherland states that criminal behavior it learned through interpersonal interaction. The women in Sered and Norton-Hawk’s field study seem to exhibit some sort of drug habit. They all can attest their addiction to being learned from their peers during childhood. This can also be connected to Sered and Norton-Hawk’s analysis of pharmaceutical companies advertising. Sered and Norton-Hawk explain that pharmaceutical companies spend more money on advertising than research (79). This type of heavy-duty advertising can also lead individuals to trying different
Professor Zozula
SOC 370
11/30/17
Susan Starr Sered and Maureen Norton-Hawk’s book, “Can’t Catch a Break: Gender, Jail, Drugs, and the Limits of Personal Responsibility” examines the lived experiences of women who have struggled with sexual abuse, poverty, homelessness and incarceration. Throughout the reading, they introduce women that have been raised in abusive, impoverished homes and attempt to understand the ways different social factors have influenced their lives. Sered and Norton-Hawk also address the different types of social structures and institutions that work together to maintain inequality – both gender and racial.
Sered and Norton-Hawk address one of the larger social structures that perpetuate gender-based violence, …show more content…
Laub and Sampson’s Life Course theory helps explain why these women have been victims of crime while also explaining why they may commit crimes. According to Laub and Sampson’s Life Course theory, crime occurs when a person lacks positive turning points in their life, such as a positive marriage or stable employment. The women introduced in “Can’t Catch a Break” reflect on the negative relationships they had with men in their families. Many of them had been victims of sexual assault and abuse by male family members growing up. These women often found themselves in abusive marriages and relationships after leaving home. The women also had a hard time finding stable employment as their family issues either limited their opportunities or resulted in them being fired from their current jobs. The relationships they had with men throughout their childhoods and inability to find stable employment led them to homelessness and multiple forms of …show more content…
Sutherland states that criminal behavior it learned through interpersonal interaction. The women in Sered and Norton-Hawk’s field study seem to exhibit some sort of drug habit. They all can attest their addiction to being learned from their peers during childhood. This can also be connected to Sered and Norton-Hawk’s analysis of pharmaceutical companies advertising. Sered and Norton-Hawk explain that pharmaceutical companies spend more money on advertising than research (79). This type of heavy-duty advertising can also lead individuals to trying different