Criminal Development - Essay Example

Running Head Criminal Development Criminal Development Theories of criminal development and criminal behavior aimed to explain the main trends andfactors of criminal activity and factors which influence disobedience. The inmates of institutions, after having elaborated techniques of duping and passive resistance, believe themselves to be the only true realists. But in the meanwhile an estrangement has taken place that makes them insensible to many of the emotional realities of life. No more than a few per cent of our youthful population may be orphans in the strict sense of the term. Police forget that the whole origin of social life-propagation, breeding, and survival of the weak-rests on proximity Applied to criminal behavior of individuals, theories help to explain and understand causes and factors which lead to disobedience and organized crime. Edwin Sutherland developed differential association theory and social transmission theory. A social class is the core factor of criminal behavior. Differential association theory states that criminal behavior is learned by individuals. In poor neighborhoods, people learn that theft and crime are the only possible ways to “earn” money (Huff 2000). The stresses of a disorganized community weaken the inhibitions that might keep many from delinquency. Movies, radio, the theater, and newspapers are indirect reflections of real life (Wilson 1987). However, when an unstable character looks around and finds fixing, corruption, and graft, his ideas and attitudes must be affected. The case of John Gotti shows that neighborhood was the main cause of criminal behavior. He was born in Italian-American family and two of his brothers were members of street gangs (Capeci and Mustain 1996). The life of Gotti shows that there is a close link between poverty and delinquency. Extremely rich people are not so numerous that they can be objects of mass observations. But it is possible for us to consider all those relative "millionaires" who cannot easily withstand the insidious attack of sudden success. The social transmission theory states that criminal behavior can be transmitted from generation to generation and children are apt to follow their elder relatives to prove their significance and importance. John Gotti follows example of his brothers and further joined the Gambino family (Capeci and Mustain 1996). “Between 1957 and 1961, Gotti pursued a life of crime on a full-time basis and was arrested five times. In March 1962, he married Victoria DiGiorgio” (John Gotti Profile 2009). Merton developed a so-called strain theory. According to this theory, an individual is limited by social structure and social position. Acts of deviance can lead to criminal behavior and social disobedience. The life of John Gotti was marked by poverty and disillusions. When he tried to steal a cement mixer, he injured his foot and limped all the life (Hagedorn 1998). Following Murdock’s theory, this same closeness evokes emotional needs and satisfactions, compassion, responsiveness, recognition. “In 1973 John Gotti was given his first murder contract. The victim was James McBratney, a man accused of murdering a nephew of boss Carlo Gambino. Gotti botched the job with two witnesses, but his lawyer Roy Cohn managed to work out a deal whereby Gotti served only two years for the killing” (John Gotti Profile 2009). In contrast to this theory, Gotti’s parents were not involved in criminal activity (Huff 2000). According to relative deprivation, an individual thinks that he is deprived of something he deserves. Since yearly childhood, Gotti supposed that he deserved high social position and social recognition, but poverty and ethnicity limited his life opportunities. “Gotti, who was widely believed to have orchestrated the hit, was made boss soon after. At the same time, Gotti was facing a racketeering trial that turned into a media circus after a revenge attempt on his life in 1986” (John Gotti Profile 2009). Feelings of relative deprivation, which often lead to civil disturbance, have also been linked to self/self comparisons of outcomes received at the same point in time. The subculture theory developed by Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti shows that race and social position can be a cause of criminal behavior. Born by Italian parents, Gotti was involved in Italian community and knew much about criminal activity and violence (Capeci and Mustain 1996). The blind and the deaf experience this partial isolation, even when they sit next to us, with great bitterness. Institutions are managed on different principles than is life and thus do not train for life. They are compromises between the inertia of the managers and the resistance and the revolt of the inmates. They operate on obedience, real or feigned. There is no privacy, no private property, no reward for initiative, and no penalty for sluggish indolence. Incessant control is defied by incessant make-believe. Defensive mores and codes are established against the common enemy (Short and Strodtbeck 2000). Two moral worlds are set up, which are near at hand when the boys enter the world of adults and clash with its protective agencies. Gotti joined the Gambinos in 1960s and was imprisoned because of a theft Idlewild Airport. When he was released, he returned to the gang. There has always been a reluctance to accept poverty officially as a cause of crime. The first studies on delinquency and economic conditions started rather late. “From 1977 until 1985, Gotti moved up the ladder in the Gambino family while New York City prosecutors actively looked to stop him. He even got involved in the narcotics trade, which was strictly forbidden by La Cosa Nostra” (John Gotti Profile 2009). Some urban areas have a high crime rate because dope peddlers, gamblers, bootleggers, sex perverts, visitors to hotels, cabarets, night clubs, and houses of prostitution congregate to buy the goods their minds are set on. In contrast to this theory, Gotti did not experience violence in childhood as the authors claim. For one night they bring the economic conditions of residential areas into a milieu of utter want. In this contact of two different worlds-different economically rather than morally-the bearers of money get the worst of it, although before the moment they are robbed they may have obtained other things which they wanted but which they intended to buy cheaper (Capeci and Mustain 1996). Jerome Skolnick singles out two types of gangs: cultural gangs and gangs transient in nature. Gangs transient in nature involve motorcycle gangs or other groups which do not have the purpose of criminal behavior. Both groups, seeking anonymity, reach this disorganized area as visitors, as migrants, rather than as resident population for a brief hectic period of "boom." Property crime is often the solution of an oppressive economic difficulty. Want is overwhelming. The individual proceeds to encroach upon other peoples property but before reaching it he has to surmount a series of obstacles. He cannot simply make a grab. The pickpocket, the burglar, the robber have to overcome the mechanical impediments by which we surround our savings. These protective obstructions add to the inhibitions of many people in distress. Although they refrain from stealing, they are thieves in their hearts (Short and Strodtbeck 2000). Cultural gangs are turf oriented. The goal of these gangs is to protect their neighborhood and cultural community. These groups commit crimes for profit making. In contrast, members of gangs transient in nature are linked by the common bond, for instance motorcycles or drug dealing (Huff 2000). Gangster Disciples is a non-traditional type of gang which involves black people and criminals living in Chicago area. The gang has an inverted pyramid structure and a strict code of behavior. Gang members are all male. Although young females do hang around with members or live in the gangs apartments, they are not initiated into the gangs. Except for carrying guns for their boyfriends, the girls are not involved in criminal activities. Most members are in their late teens or early twenties. Most gang members are school dropouts, although a few remain in school while maintaining active membership in a gang. Gang members do not have dress codes, although some prefer to wear black--black leather jackets, black shirts, black pants, and black Kung Fu shoes without socks (Casterlow-Bey 2006). Most of them spike their hair, have tattoos on their arms or chests, and carry beepers. Gang members have a nickname known only to their peers. Most nicknames derive from the second word of the given name Leaders maintain direct contact with certain tong elders and receive payment from them or from operators of the gambling houses. The leaders are the only liaisons between the tongs and the gangs. Leaders are rarely involved in street violence, although they give the orders. Whenever a leader wants somebody harassed or assaulted, he instructs the street leaders or members to carry out the assignment. The leader may provide the hit man with guns and pay him as a reward after he fulfills the "contract." Usually, the leader monitors the action from a nearby restaurant or gang apartment. Although the associate leaders do not have much power in the administration of the gang, they control the ordinary members. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that street soldiers are more loyal to their immediate leaders than to the top leaders. Street leaders usually recruit the ordinary members. Street leaders are sometimes involved in carrying out assignments, but their usual role is that of "steerer"--that is, they bring the street soldiers to their target and identify it for them. Street leaders do not initiate plans to attack specific people (Casterlow-Bey 2006). Among ordinary members, a few tough ones are known as shooters; they carry out most of the gangs assaults. The bulk of the soldiers watch the streets, guard the gambling places, and collect protection fees. Some youths join the gangs voluntarily, while others are coerced. Before the mid-1970s, most youths were volunteers. Members treated one another as brothers, and it appeared that there was much camaraderie among them. The norms and values of the Gangster Disciples are transmitted to them by tong members, who acts as mentors and may belong to a black society. Gang members are inspired by societies role in patriotic uprisings and their ideas of loyalty and righteousness. Gang members see themselves as nationalistic, loyal, and righteous (Huff 2000). Gangster Disciples develop in ethnic communities in which adult criminal groups exist and in which the adult criminals serve as mentors and role models for the gang members. The youths can start working as street soldiers and then go on to become lieutenants, gang leaders, and eventually core members of the tong (Casterlow-Bey 2006). A street youth can work his way up to become a respected, wealthy community leader through the illegitimate structure provided by adult organizations if he can survive his years as a gang member. References Capeci, Jerry and Gene Mustain. (1996). Gotti: Rise and Fall. New York: Onyx Huff C. Ronald (Ed.), (2000). Gangs in America (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Casterlow-Bey, G.G. (2006). Through the Eyes of a Gangster: A Story of the Transformation And Redemption of a Black Gangster Disciple. Trafford Publishing. Hagedorn, John H. (1998). People and Folks: Gangs, Crime and the Underclass in aRustbelt City (2nd ed.). Chicago: Lake View Press. John Gotti Profile 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2009 from http://www.biography.com/notorious/crimefiles.do?catId=259452&action=view&profileId=259630 Short, James F., Jr., and Fred L. Strodtbeck. (2000). Group Process and GangDelinquency. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Wilson, William J. (1987). The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read More