David Anderson Criminal Behavior Essay Paper 4/22/2005 City of God The City of God is based on actual events that occurred in Rio de Janeiro during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The movie is about the rise and fall of a fearsome sociopath gang leader Li’l Ze, who reigned as king of the drug lords during the 70’s. The first part of the movie illustrates some of the forces that mold Li’l Ze into the man he becomes, while the second half shows his ruthless leap to power, followed by the war he wages against opposing gang leaders Carrot and Knockout Ned. The film is narrated by Rocket, a photographer who exists on the outskirts of Li’l Ze’s circle of dominance and control. In the film the city is filled with ruthless acts of delinquency and is basically in chaos. There are two theories that I would like to discuss in relation to the city’s unusually high criminal acts.
The first theory that I would like to discuss is the social disorganization theory. The social disorganization theory is defined as the decline of influence of existing social rules of behavior upon individuals within a group. In essence, social disorganization is the consequence of a community’s inability to realize common values and to solve the problems of its residents, resulting in the breakdown of effective social control within that community. The theory claims that delinquency is not caused at the individual level, but is considered to be the normal response of normal individuals to abnormal social conditions. In the city of God the only common goal of many of its residents was to find a way out.
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We know where we have been, where we are now and where we need to go – but how do we get there? A map. Theory is a map. It notes any number of known landmarks (previously achieved or applied solutions) and obstacles (issues or problems) and gives us direction so that we are able to navigate intelligently and arrive safely (minimal discomfort to all) at our destination (desired outcome/s). ...
At no point did I witness the city’s residence pulling together as a whole to restore Justice and peace. The city was basically run by the most powerful drug lord who was only interested in one thing more power and wealth for himself. The authority in no way tried to restore the law back into the streets of the city of God because they used the wealth and power of the drug lord for their own personal gain. With no community-based controls the residents of the city of God were forced to adapt to its abnormal social conditions of crime.
The people were forced to adapt in order to survive. A prime example would be what happened to knockout Ned in the movie. He had a job and wanted no part of the delinquent acts of the gangs but was forced into it when Li’l Ze attacked him and his family. He did what he had to do to survive by adapting to the conditions around him. The second theory I would like to discuss is the Strain theory.
The strain theory basically states that crime breeds in the gap, imbalance, or disjunction between culturally induced aspirations for economic success and structurally distributed possibilities of achievement. The theory assumes fairly uniform economic success aspirations across social class and the theory attempts to explain why crime is concentrated among the lower classes that have the least legitimate opportunities for achievement. It is the combination of the cultural emphasis and the social structure which produces intense pressure for deviation. The lower classes are the most vulnerable to this pressure, or strain, and will maintain their unfulfilled economic aspirations in spite of frustration or failure. It’s easy to see how the strain theory can be related to the residents of the city of God. The city of God is a place cursed with poverty and ruin.
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Vince ZwillingCriminology 1: 00 T/R Professor Corbin Crime Zones and Reasoning (Poverty, Race, Social Class) Sociology is a branch of the social sciences that attempts to help us understand society and how people interact. As with many other social sciences, sociology employs theories to help understand why people make certain decisions. Theories that help us explain societal trends are usually ...
The strain of the residents to make it out of this horrible place to live is intense. It is easy to see this in Rocket’s brother. In the movie you could see how he had basically just given up on trying to better himself the right way. The strain of Rocket’s brother knowing that he would never be successful turned him to deviance.
In the movie he stays on top of rocket about doing the right thing and focusing on his school. He explained to Rocket that he had a chance to do something with his life because he was smarter. In this scene you can see how the deviant path he took was a result of not achieving his personal goals. People simply replace personal goals and achievements with deviant acts. Both the social disorganization theory and the strain theory do an excellent job in explaining the deviant behavior in the movie. The city’s lack of community’s based controls may be the reason that the city has such a harsh and deviant environment.
With this being the case the residents of the city of God are forced to adapt to this type of environment in order to survive under these conditions, even if they really don’t want too. Personal strain could have also played a big role in turning the city into a deviant nightmare. The residents in the city because of their poor class and situation feel that they will never be able to accomplish the goals and dreams that they have had all of their lives. It is this loss that leaves a gap in so many of their lives that desperately needs to be filled. According to the strain theory this gap is filled with deviant acts to balance out the loss and the stress of not achieving these goals turns them to crime..
