Socialization and Criminal Behavior - Alphonsus Capone - Essay Example

Socialization and Criminal Behavior - Alphonsus Capone Alphonsus Capone or Al Capone grew up in a rough neighborhood and was a member of two "kid gangs," the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors in Brooklyn, New York. He was an intelligent kid and was very imaginative with his proceedings but contrary to his abilities he registered himself as a dropout when Capone quit school in the sixth grade at age fourteen. He became part of the notorious Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's Brooklyn dive, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender.

But though he became the most notorious criminal of his era the most interesting fact about him could be manifested as the most efficient organizer of crime and criminal organization. Whatever he did later in his life, in every illegal sense of the word, this ability as an able organizer always projected as the main characteristic of this gangster’s resume. In 1918, Capone met an Irish girl named Mary "Mae" Coughlin at a dance. On December 4, 1918, Mae gave birth to their son, Albert "Sonny" Francis.

Capone and Mae married that year on December 30.This marriage is another example of his balancing act and the impetus towards his instinct towards sensible decision making. He was never disorganized, either in emotional relation or active organization, and this made him different from a pain off the road thug. The main reason and root to this behavior could be traced in his family background. Gabriele Capone was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the U.S. in 1894. He was a barber by trade and could read and write his native language.

This ability to read and write allowed him to get a job in a grocery store until he was able to open his barber shop. Teresina, in spite of her duties as a mother of a growing brood of boys, took in sewing piecework to add to the family coffers. Her third child, Salvatore Capone was born in 1895. Her fourth son and the first to be born and conceived in the New World were born January 17, 1899. His name was Alphonse Capone. Thus, being from a background of an apparently happy family, though not really affluent, it gave Al that firm stability of mind that later proved to be so important in projecting himself as a wonderful organizer that, some say, could rival that of a statesman.

But the cause of becoming a thug instead of a statesman lies in the socio-economical neighborhoods where he started his life initially. This syndrome was also instigated by the fact that he himself was an immigrant, though second generation, and always felt as if he was treated by the general community as a second rated citizen. This also reflects highly when we find him recruiting all Italian team as his gang member. As in all immigrant societies or backward classes, fellow feeling and interclass brotherhood seem to brew illegal opportunities or in other words, the core consciousness within these men being left out or unable to join in the main stream of the nation instigate them to commit anything that is beyond the permissible parameter of the law.

It is some what their way of gaining recognition and media headline adds to this fuel regularly flashing them into limelight. This remains true for all societies, devoid of caste, creed, race, religion and language. Specifically language- as in this case. The only proper solution to this menace is to embrace the out caste and the immigrants with open arm and probably government has to play a major role than the society itself.Reference:http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/index_1.

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