The Outsiders Research Paper

How are criminals created? Criminologists have been asking this questions for years. Answers have varied from the devil and supernatural forces to economic potential to simple biology (Donnelly). A narrower, but perhaps more complex question would be how do children go from innocent and naïve small humans to juvenile delinquents? Criminologists have debated with this solution for years. I, personally, do not think that there can be one answer or theory to such a complex subject. There are many different factors that must come into play: society, genetics, environment, opportunity. After watching The Outsiders and seeing the human aspect of crime that is not usually depicted in film, my stance on diversity of the causes of crime stands. However, …show more content…
Dallas and his crew exhibited weak ties to all the bonds of society. They had weak attachments to their family and school. They were not committed to the conventional values of life. Instead of being involved in school and recreational sports, they participated in roaming the streets and looking for trouble. They also did not have respect for the law. The largest factor in the delinquency seemed to come from familial attachments. Sodapop’s parents died when he was at an early age, so his brothers were forced to raise him. Sodapop grew up with the thought that his eldest brother did not like him so he resigned to get that caretaking affection in someone else, Dallas. Dallas’ parents are not even mentioned in the movie, so we can assume that he did not have very strong ties with them at all. Johnny’s parents were constantly fighting. Johnny was convinced that they would not notice or care if he were under their care or not. This lack of proper child rearing further asserts Hirschi’s thought that children need to be raised properly with strong moral values to avoid delinquency …show more content…
Although proponents of the labeling perspective have found that negative labels were more effective in creating delinquency among the high class than low class (133), it appeared to be a better reason in the case of The Outsiders. It seemed that a major reason the Greasers were delinquent was because it was the expected behavior. They were defined as lawbreakers, so they became lawbreakers. Certain Greasers, like Ponyboy, seemed to want to advance from the lifestyle and move on to something better, but did not know how to because of the environment. While other Greasers, like Dally, were too jaded to even care about anything other than the label. Instead of the delinquent labeling overtaking him and keeping him down, Dally embraced it. This perspective suggests that if society did not have such a negative response to the Greasers, their delinquency could be avoided. After the courageous act of saving the schoolchildren, Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally received a new label: “hero.” After being seen as heroes, they saw themselves as more than just good for nothing Greasers, they were heroes that mattered to society