anybody is gunna fix this. Asi son las cosas. ” This individual, a young 21 year old male, captured what most residents from low-income neighborhoods told me. He expressed resignation towards the strainful conditions that in his opinion were brought upon him and his community by “the system.”…
Poverty is a causal nexus for many problems in American neighborhoods. Baltimore, a city once known for its thriving economy during the manufacturing era saw its socio-economic downfall when the manufacturing era ended and poverty became a looming reality for many of its residents. Although Federal and state governments have tried relentlessly to revive Baltimore, substance abuse, racial segregation, and violence caused by the then rapidly declining economy diffused in the fabric of the city. Many people who lived in Baltimore during its prosperous times recall the potential many Marylanders saw in the future of the city. Still, despite the seemingly unfavorable future that Baltimore portrays, many see the positive side of the city as a beacon of hope for what is to come.…
David Kennedy, professor in the anthropology department of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City, is the author of the book, Don’t Shoot, One Man, A Street Fellowship, and The End of Violence in Inner-City America. In his lecture to students at Millersville University Kennedy explains how he found what he saw on the streets of America to be “unconscionable” or very wrong. Over the course of many years, he observed the behavior of drug addicts and street gang members in Los Angeles, New York City, Rochester, Washington D.C. and other large cities around the country within the most dangerous neighborhoods. Kennedy has devoted his career to reducing gang violence and drug-related violence through his simple message of “this is wrong, this has to stop, and put your guns down.” He claims that his successful programs have resulted in greater than a 35 percent positive outcome of reduced crime rates.…
Financial burdens, mental and physical health, substance abuse, incarceration and sudden changes in family’s dimensions are some of the causes for homelessness (Somerville, 2013). One of the main reasons why people experience homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. Specifically, people in more urban areas are in need of additional housing and other resources such as education, and medical care (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2016). Although policy changes in regards of affordable housing have changed, it still remains a great challenge to the majority (Amato & MacDonald, 2011). In addition, incarceration is one of the risk factors that could potentially lead to housing loss and future challenges in employment, and housing due to their criminal record (McQuistion, Gorroochurn, Hsu & Caton,…
The “New Urban Poverty” is what has developed as a result of work disappearing in urban areas. The book, More than Just Race, by William Julius Wilson, Professor of Social Policy at Harvard, argues that “the disappearance of work and the consequences of that disappearance for both social and cultural life are the central problems in the inner-city ghetto.” The new urban poverty that Wilson describes is comprised of years of data compiled that create for a better understanding of the injustice that exists in Detroit and other inner cities alike.…
Richard T. Wright and Scott Decker attempt to explain the motivations and decision-making processes of residential burglars. Their research is focused on current burglars in the St. Louis area. This study attempted to do what had not been done before, which is to study the criminal in his/her own environment. By using a snowball sampling method they were able to gather 105 residential burglars (henceforth referred to as “hustlers” as they preferred to be called) that encompassed different races, genders, arrest history, and ages. Burglars on the Job: Streetlife and Residential Break-ins is a compilation of their findings and theories on the matters.…
Oscar Newman compassed the theory about crime prevention and neighborhood safety in lower class neighborhoods, which he called defensible space. Newman has concerns when it came to high crime rates with intercity, HUD home neighborhoods. In my opinion, defensible space would be a positive step in lowering crime and even cutting down on criminal activities by redesigning new methods to make the neighborhoods safer (Newman, 1996). Over the past 25 years, lawmakers have used the defensible space approach to help residents take control of their neighborhoods and have assisted in cutting down on crime. Researchers have agreed that this approach has been a low cost way for the community to develop ways of to help low income individuals with public…
The author explains that state policies have been ineffective in solving gang violence and organized crime by neglecting focus on structural issues that lead to gang involvement (243). People have left their homes to protest gang power and find safety; however, US courts have refused to grant…
In his book, Shelby discusses how there is a seemingly endless cycle of violence in ghettos that only seems to further crime and oppression. He writes, “The illegal drug market, so common in black urban neighborhoods, engenders drug-related violence and invites organized crime,” (203), and…
It is understood that by moving higher and middle class people into these low income areas it makes the neighborhoods a “safer” area. In an editorial entitled “Bring on the Hipsters,” the Economist, a weekly newspaper, claim that gentrification puts “pressure on schools, the police and the city to improve” (2). Although people can argue this is true, there is no evidence that this happened in all areas that have been gentrified. The problem is that cities should not have to move people out of their houses to improve the areas safety and schools. Once these old local members move into new communities they should not have to deal with the same crimes that might have been going on with their old communities.…
Gun ownership in America is granted by the second amendment of the Constitution which allows Americans to cherish the right to bear arms. Americans enjoy their Constitutional right with having one of the largest gun ownerships in the world. It is estimated that 31% of households have some type of firearm present (Smith and Sun 3). Although, the percentage of households with firearms has decreased from 51.1%, there is still too much gun violence (Smith and Sun 3). There are about 32,000 gun related deaths every year in which 19,000 of them are suicides and an additional 74,000 people are injured (Swanson, McGinity, Fazel, and Mays 366).…
Public Housing in the United States has by many been considered to be a major failure. It has generally failed to provide its residents with a safe environment to live, and outside of the buildings often plagued with violence, segregation, lack of upward mobility, the failure to maintain the buildings for its residents, and unemployment have led to failure in the public housing system. While changes are being made to improve public housing and root out problems such as racism, and corruption within the housing authority, overwhelmingly the history of what was supposed to be a revolutionary way of living for urban poor, has been a failure. Due to the decline of the city at the time public housing arose, racism, and the failure of the federal…
The FBI’s Safe Streets program designed to combat youth street gang involvement, for instance, was suspended in Baltimore after police found guns and drugs in its office and arrested two employees (Fighting Gangs). Although implemented in the 1990s, gang membership has increased since the mid-2000s (Fighting Gangs). Efforts have been made, but federal anti-gang programs are ineffective and the public lacks resources to contain problem, allowing community detriment to…
Education through fliers, posters, neighborhood meetings, voluntary contacts, with a dose of enforcement in the area and identification of gang members, and other career criminals who live in the area are all tactics we can use to affect crime. Further partnerships with neighborhood stabilization projects may be prove to be the most effective. Only time will…
Trying to address the question of why youth join gangs requires the examination of multiple factors, and preferably, multiple theories. Social disorganization theory explains that the place where an individual grows up matters – disordered neighborhoods lead youth to join gangs. Due to its overemphasis on disorganization within neighbourhoods, however, social disorganization theory is not able to assess every factor that causes youth to join gangs. In this paper, I argue that youth join gangs because of neighborhood influence, poverty, and peer influence. Social disorganization theory is able to explain neighborhoods that lack resources and poverty as reasons for youth gang involvement, but it is unable to account for why gang-affiliated peers cause youth to join gangs.…