Sherm Community Analysis

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Reading the articles (especially Sherman) was a little odd for me. I mentioned last week that I grew up in a small rural town. A good portion of the town is what you would consider poor, and even families that are doing well aren’t wealthy. The town is very much like Golden Valley, there is a strong sense of community and everyone knows everyone else. A big difference is that, as long as the offense was minor and non-violent, criminal activity doesn’t really limit employment opportunities. Most people in the town are related in some capacity or another so what really matters is who a person knows and who can put in a good word (Sherman, 2006).
The level of connection between families means that money doesn’t really matter when it comes to social circles so money doesn’t play a part in youth delinquency. However, since opportunities for work and education are limited the overall mental health of the community is
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The overall attitude of the town could be summed up with a joke that everyone adopted after a fire in the late ‘90’s left two businesses in ruins but left the liquor store between them untouched. Everyone (despite economic circumstance or substance use) said that there must have been a guardian angel watching who knew what would happen if the liquor store burned down and the town dried out.
References
Hay, C., Fortson, E. N., Hollist, D. R., Altheimer, I., & Schaible, L. M. (2007). Compounded Risk: The Implications for Delinquency of Coming from a Poor Family that Lives in a Poor Community. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36(5), 593-605. doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9175-5

Sherman, J. (2006, December 01). Coping with Rural Poverty: Economic Survival and Moral Capital in Rural America. Social Forces, 85(2), 891-913.

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