Crime rate in America has decreased in the past years. However, crime still exists in our nation’s streets. There are numerous factors that constitute street crimes, such as economic inequality and social class, ecological properties, no equipotentiality, and retreat. The motion picture, “Boyz N The Hood”, is a wonderful example of such factors that lead to these crimes. Economic inequality is inevitable due to the fact that some people have higher education than others.
Therefore, people belong to different social classes. According to criminologists this is because of race, age, and gender. To Lombroso, a criminologist, this was obvious. Lombroso said such aspects caused crime. In “Boyz N The Hood” these factors were present.
All of the main characters were African-American, about 18 years old, and male. These characters lived in the ghetto. The ghetto was full of hoodlums living on the edge. Because it is extremely difficult to survive the ghetto when such environment surrounds you, most people living in one have no other choice but to adapt to the thug life style. This is what happened to Doughboy, one of Tre Styles’s best friends. The fact that these teenagers were African-Americans, male and living in a ghetto constitutes the no equipotentiality aspect of street crimes.
These young, black men had it a 100 times harder to try to achieve their goals. Because we are only humans, is in human nature to pass judgment once in a while. Nevertheless, it was no different for Doughboy, Tre, and Darren (Tre’s other best friend and Doughboy’s brother).
The Essay on White Collar Crime Vs Street Crime
White Collar Crime vs. Street Crime One problem that plagues our society is crime. Crime is all around us in our everyday lives. Daily we hear of murders, robberies, and rapes. These are categorized as 'street crimes.' For many people, such crimes are the only " tragic' crimes, the ones that are senseless and preventable. In Finsterbusch's book, Taking Sides, another variety of crime is exposed. ...
These judgments made it tougher on them to prove themselves. For such reason some give up. Hence, leading them to an ultimate state of retreat.
Retreat is the state in which human beings find themselves rejecting the means and their goals. Such actions lead them to an adaptation of criminal behavior. Merton’s theory is proved in “Boyz N The Hood.” Such retreat led to Doughboy’s imprisonment when he was just a teenager and conclusively, to his death later on. Since his childhood, Doughboy was an unruly and rebellious boy. This led him to commit crimes at a young age and after he was freed, to his revengeful death. Altogether, street crimes will exist as long as we have economic inequality and social class differences, ecological properties such as the ghettos in our nation, no equipotentiality for society in general, and the criminal adaptation state of mind called retreat.
Although only a couple of these characters were successful, “Boyz N The Hood” is a great example of the factors that lead to street crimes.
