W3 CJS 231 Examining Social Structure Theory Paper

Grant, H.B. and Terry, K.J. 2008: Law Enforcement in the 21st Century. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle, River, NJ. Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Social disorganization theory was established by Shaw and Mckay (1942) in their famous work “Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas”. The main argument of the social disorganization theory is that, the place where people live will influence the individual’s behavior, and this may lead them to crimes. More precisely, certain characteristics of the neighborhood/community will strengthen or weaken the informal social control within the community, and this has mediating effect on crimes.

In addition to adaptive roles, the film also portrays many instances and forms of prison violence. Prisons provide all of the necessary conditions to host violence (288). The film depicts instances of prisoner-prisoner violence in the form of sexual victimization, prison gangs, and illicit violence by officers against

Adler, F., Mueller, G. O., & Laufer, W. S. (2013). Criminology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

In this paper I will examine the social structure theory, along with its definition and how the different types of theories make up the social structure theory. I will also attempt to discuss the strain, culture conflict, and social disorganization theory all of which make up the social conflict theory. I also wish to discuss the video “Tent City, Arizona” and answer the following questions, “How does the video you selected support a social structure theory? What is the primary subject or content of the video? What social issues are raised in the video? What major principles of sociological theory are addressed in the video? What might be some possible ramifications for social policy change?”

When conducting a jailing system, you have to maintain two important things which are control and safety. Jails demonstrate safety not only for the inmates but for the deputies and citizens as well. The Jail, makes a point that jail is clearly exclusive to the rabble by noting a few basic truths regarding these institutions: big buildings, complex locking systems, and elaborate surveillance systems ensure high security because the rabble cannot be trusted and they need to protect those around them (Irwin, Ch.3). The rabble once held into

The “Inside Supermax” video presented some interesting perspectives regarding how maximum security prisons are ran from an outside point of view. The video showed what prison life is like for both inmates and staff members. With prison being such a mentally challenging environment for both the inmates and the guards; I see now why there is so much tension created between the two groups of people that the prisons consist of. Since inmates are under constant supervision and confined to the strict rules and regulations of the prison.

1). Criminology arose from the social scientific community over the year and has since come into its own discipline, it examines the entire process of lawmaking, law breaking, and law enforcing” (as cited in Akers, & Sellers, 2013). Criminology seeks to discover the depth of crime at both the micro and macro levels, from the individual’s natural biological and psychological characteristics, the nurturing of social and structural institutions, to policy, prevention and control.

As noted by both Austin and Pratt, Criminology has had several issues in receiving attention and respect by policy makers. While criminologists have conducted research on topics within criminal justice, little attention is given to the research by policy makers. One would imagine that the best possible social science and profession to consult when drafting law in regards to crime, sentencing, and justice would be criminology and criminologists. However, criminologists are often not consulted by policy makers and instead are shunned by lawmakers. There are several reasons given for why it may be the case that criminology is not taken seriously when it comes to public policy, and both Austin and Pratt have their takes and what the problem is

In this next section I will explain and give examples in contemporary literature of the Policy Feedback Theory and Social Construction Theory being applied in the U.S. political system. In “ Reconstituting the Submerged State: The Challenges of Social Policy Reform in the Obama Era”, Mettler applies the concept of the “submerged state” to explain the challenges President Barack Obama endured when trying to enact his social welfare policy agenda. The focuses of his social policies were tax expenditures, emphasis on higher education, and a reform on healthcare. Mettler defines a submerged state as, “ a conglomeration of existing federal policies that incentivize and subsidize the activities engaged in by private actors or individuals.” (803)

Physical and psychological prisons can be rebelled or resolved in different ways. Physical prisons, as scholars explain it, requires “members of low-status groups are bound together by a sense of shared social identity”, as a result, “that allows them to counteract stress, secure support, challenge authority, and promote social change in even the most extreme of situations.” On another hand, psychological prisons can be escaped or resolved if one puts his/her mind to it. The person needs to open eyes and the mind to realize the self-created illusion of the psychological prisons to be able to see the reality to be able to

Although the theories were not clearly spelled out in the video, it could be clearly portrayed by the cluster of races as well as how they ran each cluster internally. The first social structure theory that could be identified is the social disorganization where the prisoners would come from their world outside the prison where they had freedom of choices as well as freedom to have whatever they wanted. They knew people in their lives and had the bonds with their families. Once they came into the prison, it was clear that they wouldn’t know anybody with exception of a few people and only interacted with each other due to their races. Although they knew the rules of the prison, they had a separate unwritten rule made up for their races which was basically to keep an eye out for each other or face consequences such as bashings, stabbings, or get killed. As Professor John Fuller (2011), states in his lecture, “society is not organized and so people don’t know what is right, they don’t know exactly what the rules are and so they are free to kind of make up things as they go along. They don’t have, they are not bonded to each other as neighbors, and so they look at each other, particularly in an emerging capitalist society, they look at each other as targets of opportunity for financial gain, rather than necessarily people to care about and to connect with.” As a result, prisoners are expected to continue breaking

Public criminology takes information, research and education to the next level, as discovered through this essay. It doesn’t just include lab work, research and discoveries, it involves community based teaching in a way that the public can be informed and educated through upfront communication. Throughout this essay, the broad definition of public criminology will be discussed as well as its relevance to society. As with anything, there are challenges and promises that accompany public criminology and those will be stated in this essay. Examples will be given to help you learn the different concepts of public criminology and how it relates to our modern society. Given as a starting point, according to

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the meaning and validity of the label criminology has as a ‘rendezvous discipline’. To do this, this essay illuminates where criminology originates from and what its primary focus is. The Chicago School, Lombrosian Theory, Positivist and Classical criminology, are discussed. Other disciplines namely Sociology, Psychology, and the Criminal Justice Sector are examined and applied to the broad subject of criminology, to show the network of how this subject came to be recognised as such a discipline. Exposed are main issues that occur for the likes of criminologists and other

Another riot at the New Mexico State Penitentiary in 1980 killed 33 inmates and lasted 36 hours (Velasquez, 2014 p.2). Again, inadequate resources for inmates were found, including poor food services, little guard training, and overcrowding. While some journalists listed a “new breed” of a more violent inmate as the cause, the conditions of the prison were not sufficient and were the most likely reason for the riot (Colvin, 1982 p.4). After the riot the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) switched to a “security and containment approach” to “limit movement as much as possible” (Watson, 2017 p.3). The prison, which closed in 1998, now offers tours of the cell where the prisoners were murdered and the NMCD allows Hollywood to film movies