Poverty In Boyz N The Hood

The movie, “Boyz N the Hood”, is focused around a young African American boy by the name Trey “Tre” Styles, who moved in with his father at the age of 10. This being so Tre could learn valuable life lessons on how to become a man while growing up in the harsh conditions of his neighborhood, located in Crenshaw, South Central Los Angeles. Tre’s father, Jason “Furious” Styles, is a character in this story who is hard on Tre so that he will become wise about his decisions and make a better life for himself outside of the neighborhood. Others involved throughout this movie who had an impact on Tre’s life were his closest friends, Darrin “Doughboy” Baker and Ricky Baker. Ricky was a football star who had one child and received a scholarship to the …show more content…
Neighborhood poverty, according to Murray et al. (2011), “hardship due to simultaneous absence of economic, social, and family resources in the neighborhood.” In one scene, Furious takes Tre and Ricky to Compton, another city in California experiencing poverty and violence, in order to show them how property values are lowered because of the violent activities within the neighborhoods. This was one of the ways that those in these neighborhoods were trapped because they were bound to these low income areas and stuck in this socioeconomic level. With Crenshaw being a low-income area, Tre and his friends come in contact with individuals who steal, participate in drug and alcohol use, and involved in gang activity. With this being the issue, it can be said that the individuals Tre and his friends come in contact with are involved in these activities because it is their idea of …show more content…
The film introduced Doughboy as an affiliated member of the street gang known as the “Crips”, who has an encounter with another male, Ferris, a member of another street gang known as the “Bloods”. Being that gangs involve several individuals from the same neighborhoods and economic background, causing bonds to form. According to a study by Decker & Curry (2000), 29% of current gang members in this survey affiliate with a street gang because it is important among their friends. 13% were former gang members that join for the same reason. Doughboy and his friends are seen together throughout this movie due to the fact that they protect each other; especially being that at this point, tension has risen between the two rivals, Doughboy (Crip) and Ferris (Blood). Although the bound between members of a gang can be strong, there are many consequences in affiliating with street gangs. Sadly, death is common among street gangs and can bring emotional pain to those who share a close relationship with victims of gang violence. In the beginning of this film it stated, “One out of every twenty-one Black African American males will be murdered in their lifetime.” Although these numbers have changed since the creating of this film, this issue affects many other Americans to this day. Street violence remains to be a major concern within these