Carlitos Way by Edwin Torres - Term Paper Example

Carlito’s Way by Edwin Torres It has often been said that people’s life depends more on their personality than what the world makes of them. How a person views life determines his/her interactions with the outer world and the overall judgment of the world towards the person. According to these sentiments, success is never an absolute factor but a variable factor that depends on personal point and according to the views of an observer. The book Carlito’s way tells a thrilling story of a gang superstar by the name Carlito Brigante. According to the author, this character has gone through all dimensions in the life of a true gangster. The writer describes the life of Carlito through a series of conflicts that are inspired by his life in Harlem and the lives of his colleagues. Carlito goes through a series of trouble with law enforcers and his fellow gang members. The writer uses these conflicts and events to portray the life of an ordinary hustler in the USA (Torres, 1994). This paper provides a criminological-forensic and psychological assessment of the book in relation to the life of the main character and the author’s position. According the author’s account on the life of Carlito, it is evident that he is a psychopath. According to Cohen, psychopath is a personality disorder (1965). The criminologist adds that psychopaths are emotionless criminals who have no feelings for other people. In addition, psychopaths have no any respect for social laws. Being emotionless also indicates that psychopaths are fearless persons who get involved in crime without considering the possible outcomes or punishment. Such individuals are satisfied by causing pain and suffering on their victims. According to the author’s chronological account of Carlito, it is evident that he was a psychopath. Carlito fits in all categories of psychopaths according to criminology literature. Firstly, Carlito is a primary psychopath; this is because he does not respond positively to punishment. According to the book, Carlito was a jailbird. He did not respond to any form of punishment accorded to him by the law enforcers. Carlito was in and out of prisons for cases related to drug trafficking assault and robbery (Torres, 1994). The numerous times he was arrested did not alter his involvement with crime. Carlito cannot only be considered as a primary psychopath but also a secondary psychopath. This is demonstrated by his ability to take risks in crime. According to the author, Carlito was a true risk taker. He lived a lavish life that required him to have a lot of money. The main reason for his continued involvement with crime was to support his lavish lifestyle financially. The risk taking aspect is demonstrated by the fact that his determination was not hindered by possible risks such as arrest, or being killed by a member of a rival gang. Finally, Carlito can be described as a charismatic psychopath, this aspect is demonstrated by his influence among members of his gang and other people that he dealt with. Carlito was an irresistible person who was an attractive and a charming liar. He used these characters to influence and manipulate his victims for his personal gains. His manipulative attitude is demonstrated by the fact that he was a popular pimp. Most readers who have previously read the book usually have opposing views concerning factors that influenced Carlito into crime. However, an objective analysis of the book proves that there were three main reasons that influenced Carlito into crime. Firstly, Carlito engaged into crime for economic reasons. His involvement with crime was to provide finances required to support his lavish lifestyle. Secondly, Carlito had an irresistible urge to commit crime for self-satisfaction. This explains why he was rearrested five hours for assault just a few hours of being released from a five-year prison sentence. Carlito also had a rebel attitude that inspired him to commit crime. This attitude made him to be always against the law and the country’s justice system. His involvement with crime was a demonstration of dissatisfaction with the entire American system and governance. Schizophrenia is an alternative aspect that criminologist use to explain why people get involved in crime. This term is used to describe a chronic mental disorder that affects a person’s behavior. This condition affects a person’s thinking, emotions and relations with other people. Psychologists use several diagnostic criteria to ascertain the extent of this condition. The DSM IV criterion is among the most reliable criteria that psychologists use to determine the condition. Unlike other criteria, this criterion is established on an individual’s reasoning. This criterion analyzes various aspects of an individual in order to establish the severity of the condition. These aspects range from positive symptoms such as delusions hallucination to negative symptoms such as speech incoherence and avolition. According to the author’s account on Carlito’s life, it is evident that he was schizophrenia. This is because the individual demonstrated all the positive aspect of schizophrenia according to DSM IV criteria (Polk, 1969). In addition, Carlito did not demonstrate any of the negative characteristics described in the criteria. According to the book, Carlito’s crime was driven by delusion. Carlito had a false belief that by continuously committing crime, he could overturn or disapprove the law. He used the power of hallucination to plan high caliber crime such as robbery and attack on rival gangs that operated in Harlem and New York City. The book shows that Carlito was an outspoken who had no any speech problem. These factors qualify Carlito as schizophrenia according to DMS IV criteria. There are different theories that criminologists use to explain why individuals commit crime. Criminology theories are broadly classified into theories that explain crime from an individual perspective and those that explain crime from a society point of view. Different criminology theories can be used to explain criminal behavior as illustrated in the book Carlito’s way by Edwin Torres. Strain theoreticians claim that individuals get involved with crime due to social pressures. These are strains and stress that individuals encounter as they try to establish their position in the society or satisfy their basic needs. The book Carlito’s is set in Harlem where people live in abject poverty. This however, does not prevent people like Carlito and members of his gang from associating themselves with the wealthy society. This association creates the desire of living a wealthy life among Carlito and members of his gang. Carlito engages in crime in order to meet the standards and expectations of the society. In addition, his neighbors view him as a hero and, therefore he has expectations from his immediate society. These two aspects contribute to social stress the makes the character to commit crime. The choice theory is the second criminology theory that has widespread application. According to the theory, an individual engages in crime after weighing the pros and cons of committing the crime (Agnew, 2009). The pros are benefits that an individual likely to realize from the venture such as financial gain and fame while cons are losses that an individual can suffer from a criminal venture such as punishment and imprisonment. According to the author, Carlito and members of his gang were driven by psychopath attitude. This indicates that their involvement with crime was more inspired by the need to satisfy a criminal desire than to gain from the venture. Their lack of fear of the authority particularly police officers on patrol proves that the characters in this book were not driven by choice mentality. The book would also have a similar explanation on the perspective of classic theory. The critical theory is the third theory that explains criminal behaviors. According to critical theoreticians, criminals engage in crime as a way of portraying their dissatisfaction with the law. This is because laws are set by minority class to control the majority. This aspect is evident in the book and it clearly explains why the characters engage in crime. Carlito and members of his gang feels that laws are discriminative and they were set to protect the interests of the wealthy members of the society. The group engages in crime as a way of showing their dissatisfaction with the law (Agnew, 2009). Closely related to critical theory is the conflict theory. This theory asserts that crime is motivated by existence of social classes. According to the author, Carlito and other people living in the ghetto feels that the country discriminates people based on social classes. The book shows that crime is a demonstration of rivalry between the rich and the poor. According to the account given in the book, Carlito never robed or assaulted an individual from the ghetto since most of his Victims were from the wealthy society. In addition, most of his drug deals involved people from the wealthy society. Labeling theory also explains criminal behavior as explained in the book. According to the theory, a person is likely to become a criminal due to his or her own beliefs or the society’s belief on his/her future. The society described in the book believes that every person born and raised in the ghetto will end up becoming a member of a gang. This hypothesis holds since most criminal gangs are established in the ghettos. Life course theory is also based on the expectation of the society according to the upbringing of an individual. The theory asserts that the environment plays a great role in shaping the future life of an individual (Cohen, 1965). This theory is also closely related to social control theory, which associates the society values and crime. According to the book it is evident that people who have been born and brought up in the ghettos upholds a criminal life. The book is set on the life of slum dwellers, these highly populated regions are mainly inhibited by low-income earners. This is the main factor that has promoted crime among people living in these regions. The social learning theory can also be helpful in explaining the book. According to the theory, individuals learn from those surrounding them. If a person is born and raised in a neighborhood infested by criminals, then he/she is likely to become a criminal. The book shows that Carlito was born in the ghetto where committing crime was a daily occurrence. This is the main factor that might have promoted his life in crime. Finally, the book does not associate the criminal behavior of the characters with hereditary traits. The trait theory asserts that, certain hereditary traits can make individuals to commit crime. The book does not give any account of Carlito’s family members who engaged themselves with criminal activities. In conclusion, the author of the book Carlito’s way uses all aspects of criminology to demonstrate why individual commit crime through an account of their lives in crime. The author also connects the psychological aspect of people with tendency to commit crime. Reference Agnew, R. (2009). Revitalizing Merton: General Strain Theory. Criminology, 30(4): 475-99. Cohen, A. (1965). The Sociology of the Deviant Act: Anomie Theory and Beyond. American Sociological Review, 30: 5-14. Polk, K. (1969). Class, Strain and Rebellion among Adolescents. NJ: Prentice-Hall. Torres, E. (1994). Carlitos Way. New Jersey: Signet Books. Read More