Tag Archives: delinquency

Graffiti Summit and the Broken Windows Theory

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Kelly Reznick

The embedded video relates to the class reading “Broken Windows” by Wilson and Kelling. A news anchor woman interviews the Corpus Christi Police Chief about a Graffiti Summit taking place in his town that night. The PC says that graffiti has been happening in bigger, higher profiler areas, churches, etc. He said past graffiti summits in their town have attracted elected officials, citizens, and other law enforcement agencies looking to collaborate with and help the CCPD prevent graffiti. The PC mentions that state representatives proposed new laws to combat graffiti, and that judges have issued harsher penalties for graffiti. The news anchor even comments that the community’s involvement is necessary for this undertaking to be successful. All of this reflects the article’s emphasis on collaboration being important to police maintaining order in a community:

“These rules were defined and enforced in collaboration with the “regulars” on the street…If someone violated them the regulars not only turned to [the police officer] for help but also ridiculed the violator” (Wilson & Kelling, 2).

When the PC said

“we’re not there yet, but we’re definitely taking a bite out of graffiti”

this reminded me of an officer’s description of running out gang members from neighborhoods in the article:

“We kick ass” (Wilson & Kelling, 8).

By pursuing these quality of life issues, not violent crimes, the police do really feel like they are accomplishing something and not wasting their resources.

When the news anchor comments that

“Graffiti leads to other crime.”

the PC says she is right. He says that it not only leads to other crimes such as petty theft, but that it’s an important quality of life issue. This harkens back to the “Safe and Clean Neighborhoods Program” that was done in Newark in the 1970’s, which was

“designed to improve the quality of community life…” (Wilson & Kelling, 1).

The news anchor brings up criminology’s Broken Windows Theory. According to her, the theory says that when a community isn’t taken care of, then people stop caring about the community and commit more crime. The class article says this about the theory:

“Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken… one unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing” (Wilson & Kelling, 2-3).

The PC affirms the anchor’s statement, and says the Broken Windows Theory was used to deter crime in NYC. The way he says this suggests to me that, because NYC used this measure, that it is a good idea to use it as a model for other police departments.

– Kelly Reznick

Posted in Assignment 5 | Tagged , , , | 88 Comments

Medications Are a Form of Social Control

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Kelly Reznick

This video ties into the reading “From Badness to Sickness: Changing Designations of Deviance and Social Control” by Conrad and Schneider. In Frontline’s documentary “Medicating Kids”, a 6th grader Noelle is diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin following misbehavior at school, including fights and suspensions. Her initial reaction to being prescribed is that the Ritalin helps her to do better in everything that she’s doing, increases her attention span, and helps her concentrate. This is important because she is involved in gymnastics and performing poor in school, and the Ritalin’s effect on her increases her performance in both. Her teachers are happy that her behavior has changed and that they no longer have to deal with her past aggressive behavior.

Noelle’s parents were hesitant to put her on Ritalin, but her mother said that she decided to go through with it after talking to two doctors. The doctors told her that so many studies had been done on Ritalin, proving it’s safety and effectiveness. This relates to the article, where it says that the technological advances of the 20th century have legitimized medical treatment of behavioral problems.

However, Noelle eventually wants to stop taking Ritalin when she realizes how it affects her mood. She is no longer vibrant and as socially active as she used to be. But Noelle’s parents encouraged her to take the Ritalin, citing her better performance in school and gymnastics. Noelle reminded her parents that they told her that she did not have to take medication if she didn’t want to, that it was up to her. This reflects the issue of patient’s rights brought up in the article, when conflicts arise between what the physician and patient want:

“In modern technological societies, medicine has followed a technological imperative- that the physician is responsible for doing everything possible for the patient- while neglecting such significant issues as the patient’s rights and wishes…” (Conrad & Schneider, 149).

Her physician’s aim was to legitimize his job and control her behavior by prescribing Ritalin. Noelle’s wish was to have a better social life in school, which was severly impeded by the Ritalin.

At the end of the video, Noelle says that ADHD is

“not something you can prevent.”

This reflects the second condition mentioned in the article pertaining to the patient’s “sick role” as part of the physician-patient relationship.

“It is this relationship that serves the key social control function of minimizing the disruptiveness of sickness to the group or society.” (Conrad & Schneider, 145).

The condition that Noelle is referring to, that her doctor most likely taught her to think, is that

“…the individual is not held responsible for his or her condition and cannot be expected to recover by an act of will.” (Conrad & Schneider, 145)

– Kelly Reznick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAA1BR5-dR4

Posted in Assignment 4 | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments

Avoiding Delinquency ! (Zhanna Onishchuk)

Posted on July 31, 2011 by

Robert Agnew’s strain theory of delinquency places most of the blame on whatever aversive environment children are born into. They can not avoid the pain of the dangerous dating relationships, the abusive homes, and the uncaring teachers, so delinquency results while they are in such custody. It seems as if the only true solution to the problem is to truly escape. If children somehow attain a better financial situation, they can escape whatever aversive environment that encourages their delinquency. But what exactly happens to runaway children ? Does the fantasized, new, and supposedly non-aversive environment discourage delinquency ?

Paul Aaron Jr. was arrested for forcing runaway girls to be a part of his prostitution ring. Click on the image to watch the news report !

In Polk County, Florida, two young runaway girls were discovered to have been victims of forced prostitution. The girls, 14 and 15 years old, were forced to turn tricks and were repeatedly raped  by an older male. Shockingly, one of the men who engaged in sexual intercourse with these girls was a police officer.  These girls were classified as “habitual runaways” and “troubled teens,” therefore their home environment is very questionable.  I don’t think that the pain-avoidance theory is credible. While it seems as if DYFS (The Division of Youth and Family Services) is taking children out of bad homes and helping them, what happens to these children when they are placed in other environments is usually not better.  Children, whether we accept it or not, are always at the mercy of adults around them. Rates of youth delinquency, therefore, are based on the actions of the adults who are supervising the children. Chances are that if their parents don’t support them, no one else will. There is truly no fix for bad parenting, and unfortunately, delinquency is a direct result of it.

 

Zhanna Onishchuk

Posted in Assignment 2 | Tagged , , , | 101 Comments