Criminology Identify Two Criminological Theories Essay

Consider this short excerpt: "On the day after his 23rd birthday, Mr. Hammond, a high school dropout, found himself on the other side of a barrel. He had gotten into an argument with a rival on 132nd Street near a Chinese restaurant. A friend of the rival took offense, pulled a gun from his waistband, and pumped two shots into Mr. Hammond's stomach, and another into his back" (Gregory, 2013). One could argue that this short excerpt demonstrates a clear manifestation of Merton's social strain theory in that there's a clear disconnect between the goals that Hammond has in life and a way to attain them. Instead Hammond has elected to simply become another part of gang-life and the kill or be killed mentality. In fact, one could argue that this violent activity rife with frequent shootings is actually a form of retreatism -- but instead of indulging in drugs or alcohol; they're retreating into this life of gang violence and the turbulent politics that goes along with it. With violence in this case, just as with drugs or alcohol, there's a sense of having given up, which is what retreatism is.

Furthermore, social control theory is easily and readily applied to this story. While social control theory does focus on why law-abiding citizens do not commit crimes, it clearly explains how criminals often commit crimes because they've formed connections with deviant groups or have been socialized by them. In this case, one can lucidly see that Hammond has been socialized turbulently by this chaotic lower socioeconomic group, where the ultimate law is that of the gun.

However, what's most relevant about applying the social control theory to this article pertains to the work that Hammond's non-profit, violence-interrupting organization is doing. A lot of the work that he's doing includes outreach to kids so that he can reverse the socializing that they're already experiencing, so that instead of forging connections with deviant groups, they form connections with people like him, who have real values -- law-abiding values -- which will help these kids create a satisfying future. According to one of Hammond's colleagues, "When we go into a room, or enter a playground," she said, "he has a certain power over young people; they listen to him. He gets their ear very fast. That's a powerful thing" (Gregory, 2013). These remarks speak to Hammond's ability to form connections with these kids, connections which can help to unravel some of the violent behavior that has been come to be seen as acceptable. "She explained: "He's able to flex between being a person who understands the streets and why people shoot, and flip it to keep young people from shooting. It's not fake to these kids'" (Gregory, 2013). And this speaks to Hammond's ability to engage with these kids, as a means of deconstructing and making irrelevant both their social class and social upbringing, virtually undoing the lessons of the streets.

References

Cullen, F.T., & Agnew, R. (2010). Criminological theory: Past to present. New York:

Gregory, K. (2013, April 24). From terrorizing streets to making them safer. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/nyregion/harlem-man-tells-of-escape-from-a-violent-life.html?ref=crimeandcriminals&_r=0

Lynch, J.P. (2000). Criminology. Retrieved from https://autocww2.colorado.edu/~toldy3/E64ContentFiles/LawAndCourts/Crimino logy.html

Raphael, S. (2004, March). The socioeconomic status of black males: The increasing importance of incarceration. Retrieved from http://urbanpolicy.berkeley.edu/pdf/ch8raphael0304.pdf