Youth Image Issues - Essay Example

Youth Image The first impression, that you get looking at the "Youth Image" presented on the posters of United Way company is that its true and real.There are four boys or young men, obviously from a poor district. It's implied that one of them have consumed some sort of drug and having a rush of pleasure. Another is smoking a cigarette, which probably contains some sort of narcotics. The third, sitting on a sofa is having a doubt. But his position (between two users of drugs) suggests that most likely he would join his fellows. And the last one, staying near the window, is a newcomer. May be he is there because of pure curiosity, maybe he is going to test drug for the first time, or may be is thinking how to help his friend or relative, who is drug addict. Some interesting details are catching your attention. In the demographic context, all of them are mail and young, White and Afro-Arabian equally represented. We don't see any joy or other positive expression. The only exception is the boy with a relaxed, but tired face. So they don't use "light" drugs (like aphrodisiacs, marihuana or ecstasy), that are popular at rave parties. The bottle with medicine on the table gives us a hint, that they are using crack. Another important part of the picture is diagram. It shows two ways how events could develop. If you give money, than United Way can provide these boys with help (like rehabilitation for drug addicts and job for unemployed). If you do not, then the number of drug users would increase and subsequently the number of crimes and rate of violence in society would grow up. The same message is contained in brief text at the picture bottom. We can distinguish five statements implied by this picture: 1. One of the major problems in our society is using of "hard" drugs, which cause physical and mental damage. 2. Drug users are inclined to committing crimes, at the beginning small one (like robbery), and than more serious (violence crimes). 3. Most drug users are from poor districts. 4. Drug user in most cases is a White or an Afro-Arabian young man. 5. To solve the problem we must support charity organizations. Still the question remains whether all these messages are true and relevant From our point of view, this picture is representing several most popular myths about drug and crime. The definition of myth by Robinson (2000, p. 133) is: "A myth is falsehood that becomes accepted as truth because it is told and retold over time. Crime myths are distorted conceptions of crime-related issues that have deviated from the truth because of debate and discussion through public forums and private conversations Typically, crime myths are built around particular groups in society, usually lower-class minority males". Idea of criminal myth is very close to ideas of stereotype and discourse. As Deuthmann (2004, p. 255, 338) states: "Thus, although a particular group may have a higher rate of drug abuse than another, it is probable that most members of that group do not use drugs Stereotypes exaggerate cultural differences and treat whole grope as deviantThe impact of discourse may occur through the things that are said, in words, print pictures; it may also be through what does not appear. Dominant discourses silence or marginalize alternative views, demonize them or render them invisible". So discourse is the way in which myths and stereotypes about deviance are created. In his article Robinson (2000, p.138, 141, 142) discusses three myths: "Myth 1. The label of crime is a function of what is most harmful to societyMyth 2. African Americans commit more crimes than Whites Myth 3. The criminal justice is fire". In the work of Reinarman and Levine (2004, p. 185, 186, 189) we got examples of five myths about the drugs, from which three are related to the topic of our essay: "Myth # 2: Crack Is Instantly and Inevitably AddictingMyth # 3: Crack Spread to All Sectors of Society Myth # 4: Crack Causes Crime and Violence". To begin with we want to discuss myths and stereotypes, that were avoided in the "Youth Image". Picture presents the same number of Afro-American teenagers as White (opposite to the myth "African Americans commit more crimes than Whites"), all of them are obviously poor (in comparison to myth "Crack Spread to All Sectors of Society") and diagram shows, that drug users can be cured (unlike the myth "Crack Is Instantly and Inevitably Addicting"). Still some other popular myths are implied in this picture. For instance, myths "The label of crime is a function of what is most harmful to society" and "Crack Causes Crime and Violence" are framing ideas of the "Youth Image". Our understanding of crime is closely related to our definition of deviance and deviant behavior. In fact, "The definition of homosexuality has changed almost entirely because of gay rights movement" (Chambliss, Doyle, and Reeves, 2004, p. 4). If we believe, that some sort of behavior is harmful and pervert, we call actions resulted from this behavior as criminal. So we must consider two questions: 1. Whether drugs as harmful as they believed to be. 2. Whether they cause people to commit violence. Drugs cause harm on two different levels. They cause physical and mental ruin of drug addict and in a hard cases his dearth. On the other hand we can compare the number of people dying due to drugs using with the number of people dying due to other addictive products using. Robinson (2000, p. 138) gives us an example of harm made by tobacco companies: "Tobacco use kills more people (420, 000) than murder (22, 500) [in USA]". He explains disproportion between actual harm and punishment for it as a result of a criminal law bias: "In defining what is bad, evil, wrong, harmful, and criminal, the criminal law thus creates myths of crime. The myths cause people to view certain acts as most serious and harmful, even though they are not, and produce fear of certain people and not others who pose even greater threats" (Robinson, 2000, p. 139). If we are looking for someone who is making the most harm to society, then there would be not a drug users, but companies, who produce or advertise cigarettes, alcohol or unhealthy food, that cause addiction and damage to the health comparable with those of drug using. No doubt that using drugs is a deviance, but addiction to cigarettes or alcohol must be considered as deviant behavior as well. "Youth image" makes accents on drugs, although alcohol drinking and cigarettes smoking are also shown as negative models of behavior. The major fear, that we feel towards drug users, not that they would destroy their life, but that they will cause problems in our lives. We are afraid, that need for money or mental disease would push drug addict to acts of violence. Here we come to the second important myth about drugs "Crack Causes Crime and Violence". The diagram depicted on a "Youth Image" supports this myth. Meanwhile Reinarman and Levine (2004, p. 190-191) persuade us, that relationship between drugs and violence is of a different nature: "Most important, these studies show that the bulk of what is called "crack-related crime" was a function of black market systems in impoverished areas, not the direct psychopharmacological effects of crack on human behavior". So if we want stake to the truth, we must admit that users of drugs in most cases not inclined to the violent behavior. And "Youth Image" should show us not boys, smoking cigarettes with crack or marihuana, but drug dialers. This statement brings us to the question how media represent deviance. As Chambliss et al. (2004, p. 8) says: "I think generally the fictionalized media (not the news) has played an important part in redefining some things previously considered deviant. Certainly homosexuality, but also some extent drugs, premarital sex (which was considered deviant fifty years ago), abortion and divorce". Nevertheless, media attribute to spreading of many stereotypes and myths in society, like in the case of "Youth Image" United Way continue to describe drug users as deviants, who represent a real threat to society and who commit significant part of violent crimes. Summarizing we must admit that "Youth Image" is rising one of the most important problems in our society - drugs using. "Youth Image" tries to break some old stereotypes (like drug addicts are mostly Afro-Americans), although it gives distorted image of them who commit crimes related to drugs. Social work is very important in preventing of drugs expansion, but actually the root of problem is in black market systems, so we need legalize some drugs and sell them in drugstores, or otherwise to direct our struggle on drugs contraband and production. Bibliography 1. Chambers, B., Doyle, A., Reeves, J. (2004, Spring) Panel Discussion of "Deviance". The Velvet Light Trap, 53, 4-9. Retrieved Spring, 2004, from http: // muse.jhu.edu. 2. Deuthshmann, L. 3. Reinarman, C., Leveine, H. (2004) Crack in the Rearview Mirror: Deconstructing Drug War Mythology. Social Justice, 31 (1-2), 182-199. 4. Robinson, M. (2000) The Construction and Reinforcement of Myths of Race and Crime. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 16 (2), 133-156. Read More