Since we can assume with reasonable certainty that poor people have less access to a good education, we can also make assumptions about the relationship between education and a number of societal issues.
Education has a strong association with criminal behavior; those with poor education commit more crime. Using this perspective, we could also throw a net over other groups and make similar assumptions. Considering the following, explain your view of the subject of crime.
Demographics (Such as race and ethnicity) Educational achievement Poverty
Explain your view of how crime occurs amongst these groups and respond to two of your classmates in this group.
Good morning fellow classmates and Dr. Kalam, responding to the question i would like to start off with an old saying, "those who know better do better," this is in regards to educational achievement as far as crime is concerned. It is no secret that the majority of people behind bars are those without a high school diploma. The poorly educated lack a certain degree of rational thinking in many aspects such as committing a crime. "The rational choice perspective of crime assumes that the offender seek to benefit themselves from their criminal behavior" (Clarke and Cornish 1985). This kind of thinking allows the offender to assume that the benefits of crime far outweighs the punishments.With limited educational achievement thinking about the end results does not come into play when committing a crime. Poverty is a key factor in crime statistics. When the economy is bad the crime rate escalates. Some thories attribute crime to circumstances and situations, one of those circumstances is poverty. Crime rates are always higher among the poor and poor people are more likely to be arrested and convicted of a crime. Without poor people the criminal justice system would be anorexic! The reality is crime and poverty goes hand in hand.
Poverty does cause crime; In a poor neighborhood unfortunately criminal activity are often cyclical and intergenerational. However, there is always an exception where you will find a few that will overcome these generation hinderances and become positive contributers of society. The poor and uneducated are often over represented in crime statistics for years which indicates that criminal disposition and criminal propensity are attributed to both groups.
You make you point well and I agree that there is a relationship between the system and the poor. I can only imagine how the system and the economy in general would react if we could really make headway with improving the plight of the poor.
Good morning team and Dr. K My point of view with Dr. K’s question is that yes I believe that it is harder to get a better education when your statics of econ is not that well for you or anyone to get a good education. Yes, we do have public school that give and try as best as they can to give a good education but with the said that the public school is a get away for many of this kids from their problems at home and to be able to get a warm meal from the school is one of many reason this kids come to school because they know that at home they can not eat as well as they do at school. So school is their meal and because of that many can’t think or have their minds set in getting an good education all they are thinking is that they are hungry. With that said in mind this is where many of the problems come because soon or later this kids not all might drop out of school but many will drop out of school because they are not doing well in school. As much as our government tries to do their best to help these kids from dropping out of school it is still not enough help. And this is where some of these kids commit more crimes. As a Latin female I do have notices and I’m only speaking about my background because that is what I know. Is that many of this people come into this country with nothing in their pockets with their whole family to give them a better life. But coming here is as hard as living in their country. And many of this parents tries their very best to educate their kids to keep them from any kind of problems. But because these parents can’t keep their children off the street because they are working very hard to move up into this country and have a hard time doing two up to three jobs so that kids could have a roof over their head, cloth to wear, and food to eat. But the parents have no time to keep an eye on their children with the educational part. But some are able to keep their kids under control and make sure that their children are getting an education so that they the kids don’t ever need to go through rough times. And many of this people come into living in poverty because that’s all they can afford. So by living into this poverty and I’m not saying that everyone turns out to become a criminal but that some of this kids end up dropping from school because A: they can’t understand the language, B: other kids at school might tease them or even bully them because they don’t understand the English language, C: a lot of this kids will end up dropping from school without their parents even knowing. And do to the fact that their own parents will not go to school because they are scared themselves because they don’t understand the English lanagage and to speak to someone about the problem their kids are having in school. So this is when these kids become trouble makers and start with the crime. Because now their educational level of wanting to move forward into this life is that they have learn that stealing or selling drugs is so much easier then going to school. Because now it’s easy money and they don’t want to be bullied around just to be able to get a good education. It is hard to get an education and to stay away from trouble. Some kids are stronger then others and some are not as well as their parents. Some parents know how to handle their children when some don’t. A lot of this kids end up learning the system or how everything works around before their parents even get a chance to know how the system works. Education and how much a family has is a big factor for many of these kids to do more crimes. Nancy Calvo
Yes, the issues you mention have been around forever. Eventhough parents have good intentions, the pressures from the environment as well as the socioeconomic problems overwhelm families and children.
Thank you Dr. Kalam, I once read in a criminal justice textbook that the "system" was used as a tool to keep the poor in their place, In some ways i do agree with that. Keeping that in mind if this is what reality is my idea of counteracting that is to use eduacation as a tool to help prevent crime. Meaning, educating the poor so that they can be better equipped to manage life challenges such as poverty.
I think access to education should be a national priority. When people (anyone) can rationalize, consider things, know ho to oppose and present their ideas and thoughts, and make good decisions in the educational environment, it makes good sense that they will di the same in their lives...
To Nancy: Your comment was a good read, i do believe the government is not doing enough to keep kids from dropping out of school. Once again the educational system in this country play a vital role in crime. Teachers are not concerned with the plight of students beyond the classroom anymore. Years ago it was the unwavering attention of a teacher that would "draw out" and cultivate the natural talents of a student that will further develop and hone the skills of the student who will go on to be a great leader. That said student would not have even realized their own potential had it not been for the attention and nurturing of that teacher. But instead nowadays we have teachers that will always lash out and say, " i am not getting paid enough to do that!"
You make a good point. Teachers have a great influence and shape the minds of the future. with that said, it makes no snese that the educational systems are not in line with the philosophy of teaching, but rather, they seem to be bound up in politics. Zoning, consituents, taxes, boards, etc,
I think you have a great opportunity to figure out how to bring policy into line with the needs of society. You, and your classmates are discussing the very issues now.
You couldn't have put this any better. Not able to have enough money to be able to live day by day and becoming more poor is the reason why a lot of people look for easier way out so they and their family could live a better life. Of course a lot of them know that crime is not good but they have no better way in their mind to have what they need so they could just live better. It’s easier to learn the street and the many different crimes that come with the education of the street then the right education of the school. And easy way out is always the better way in their mind to just live in peace. And because of that is the reason that many poor people even child do more crimes then a middle or upper class person. Of course crime is any level but it is more found in the lower level. And there will be more drops out from school just because the street is just an easier way from them to get money and to move forward in their lives. So crime to them is so much easier in many ways to be able to just live. Education is not easy never is the streets but when it comes to money the street crime becomes easier. Many not all look for an easy way out and crime to them is an easy way out. To many of these people prison and jails are their homes. And crime is their money making deal. Not edcaution.
Nancy, I can almost visualize in my mind how a child can drop out of school without their parents even knowing about it. some child parent interaction is often nothing but "two ships passing in the night." Just as you stated when the parent is at work for the majority of the day it is quite easy that they are absolutely clueless as to what their child is or isn't accomplishing in school.
Thanks Dr. K and Ericka Education is a very big issue with keeping people out of crimes but how could we do that if the government itself is to worry about other countries and the upper level class then their own must needed people that live in the United States. What I mean by this is that with this entire budget that this country has why not clean up all those poor area. Why hasn’t the government step in why does it have to be the “committee” to clean the streets. This country as “rich” as they say we are why do we have so much crime and so little well educational personal. There and should be a better plan to get this country out of this mess. Low income and no education is the key role here of many crimes.
Nancy: "To be poor is a crime" (Freddie McGregor, reggae singer). I think Freddie was right, to be poor is a crime in itself. Has anyone ever tried talking/reasoning with an uneducated person that lives in an impoverished neighborhood about life? Well I have, basically, their philosophy is, " I was born here, I grew up here, this is it for me, life doesn't get any better than this, and this is where I am going to die." If people with this kind of reasoning was exposed the concept of how powerful education is they would know the possibilities are endless! Knowledge is power; without proper education an individual's ability to succeed in life is limited or crippled to the point that to them life is just a burden, so therefore they resort to a life of crime which unfortunately becomes a never ending cycle and the justice system thrives as a result of this.
Crime is committed by all groups of people, but I do believe that crime is committed more for social status. Most minorities commit crimes to both provide for their family, to have what the wealthy have and peer pressure. Most minorities group commit crime for their families. Most minorities family have single mother household and the mother may not make ends meet, so the male usually step up and assist their mother. Another factor is when they want something that someone else has, and they can not afford. They we either rob them and take it or rob a place with money to get the item they want. Finally, peer pressure is stronger then any drug, because people just want to belong. For example, when Johnny is the leader and he has followers he can lead them down a life of crime.
Educational achievement can lead a person to commit a crime, because when you can not get the dream job with that dream money you may turn to a life of crime. But because you are educated that does not mean that you will not commit any crimes. That’s what white collar crime are for, for those who want more money on top of their money. When you are educated you have more options then without being education.
Poverty may breed crime activities for all race and ethnicity. Being with out is a mission to help that person feel rich in some way and they commit a crime to feel that void. This is not an excuse to criminal behavior, but struggling and never getting on top can cause a person to me anger and use criminal behavior as an outlet of the anger.
In conclusion, crime will never stop, but I do believe it can be decrease in a major way. Education, self esteem, more opportunities and finally just sitting down and talking about what is going on can help in a major way.
Nancy, It seems there is not much importance placed on the value of education, instead the government would much rather invest in the building of prisons. It always puzzles me how they invest so much money in the construction and operation of prisons when that money should be invested in the education of our young people. When i say INVESTMENT i mean it as such in every way because education is an investment in this country's future. When they invest in prisions it seems as if our children's futures are predetermined by our government. When did this country become a place where the government believes that we will need more prisons than we need schools?
To Erika: I agree with you but times have change. When people feel like they are not respect for teaching our kids, it may cause a person to have this, “I don’t care attitude” that affect the kids. It’s not good thinking, but if a parents and society give our teachers more credit for their work, it may create better teachers. Or it may just create a better system of teachers to teach our future leader.
Good Morning, Dr. Kalam and classmates, my point of view on this subject is that… Poverty can tend to put you more in the situation to commit a crime but, that doesn’t excuse for you to do it. There is a lot of ways to feed your child and have a descent life without having to commit a crime. I think the problem between poverty, education and crime is the lack of attention from parents to their children and is a chain that keeps on going whether we like it or not, it is what it is. When parents are not sufficient involve in their children’s life. Who are their friends? How they feel emotionally? What are their fears? In what they’re interested or have doubts about? How is the attitude in school of their children? All these questions and more are to be asked to the parents. Which I’m not saying that the majority is doing it because they don’t care, but because of the lack of time in their life? But, I see that there is a minority that is still having the same socioeconomic issues and yet are still very involve in their child life. So, as a community we can’t leave everything to the government we have to put our time and effort too. The government is not responsible for your children, you are! Whether you have to work 2 or 3 shifts to support your family, there is still got to be time to know what’s going on in your children environment. Like someone mention in class yesterday, there was a football game and it was crowded with parents yet in PTA meeting the majority don’t go because of lack of time? I just focus on those parents that do involve and are certain of where the child is and doing. Who are a few percentages but my question is… if they’re traveling through the same path as others why can they do it and the others can’t? Let’s just face it, we need to stop making excuses for all that we are responsible to do that is to educate our children and maintain them on the good path, it can be done it only takes dedication and effort. For example, one of the guys mention that his mom will be working and still will call home at a certain time and if he wasn’t there then he will in trouble. Like this example are many. Another question I asked… (Please minority excuse me and don’t get offended) but why do minorities women keep having so many kids compared to white women and yet they’re living in poverty, they can’t afford having 2 children but they keep having more. I strongly believe that’s another major issue why poverty, crime and education are much related. To conclude my point of view, I believe that every human being is entitled to do with their life whatever they want, as long as it doesn’t affect the person next to him/her. In order to be a proficient person in life it takes passion, effort, and dedication; everything in life needs sacrifices, but if you choose the “easy way” then you need to be responsible for the outcome.
To Nancy: I believe that the government focus is somewhere else. The government is so worried about being accepted by other counties that they will let their own country suffer to be liked. But once again crime has been around for many, many years, I believe that crime can only be decreased.
Shantell: I do agree with you as parents we really do not give our teachers the credit they do deserve for educating our children, but the government needs to provide more incentives and place more importance on the teaching profession itself. It was because of the great teachers i had throughout my life, not my mother who made me believe that i can be anything that i wanted to be and that i can overcome the odds and become a success. I cannot beging to tell you how many times i was in the school yard and see parents come to the school to "cuss the teacher out." These were the same parents who never attended a PTA meeting or they are the same ones who were always happy to see the light of day so that they can hurry up and drop off their kids at school in the care of teachers, but when the child comes home and complains about the teacher they are quick to respond in an angry manner towards the teacher. With the government's attitude towards the profession and the parents not giving credit to the teachers for the great job they do, the teaching profession is officially on life support.
There is a strong relationship between the education and crime saying the less education an individual has the greater the chance they will commit crime because regardless of anybody’s educational background or demographic, everyone has the goal to be successful and move up in the social ladder. Individuals who have the upbringing of knowing the importance of getting a good education have the proper start before even entering school, learning basic reading and writing. Generally the people who have the proper start to education are those who have families who have education themselves and more money. As to those individuals who are brought up by those who don’t have the parents with educational achievements are usually deprived of the proper start before entering public school, find themselves falling behind in school eventually give up because of peer pressure and the labialization of being failures. The social norms of those in poverty believe that success is only measured on what you have and doesn’t focus on how an individual’s success was received. Therefore if a person can get money by committing crime such as selling drugs, burglary, or robbery, it is still seen as success in poverty communities and more likely to be accepted as the social norm. Demographically race plays a role because it is a higher percentage of African-Americans living in poverty compared to whites in America. This leads to same effect when comparing the ratio of jail inmates’ demographics. However, this is not to say that all people in poverty are doomed to be criminals nor all people with education achievements are not criminals. The social upbringings, education, and poverty seem to have the largest impact to whither a person becomes a criminal or not.
Nancy & Ericka, I agree with you, but like i mentioned before, my question is how come there are people in the same situation yet are different... are trying to be better? We, know not everybody will get to be "Obama" (for say) but to have a decent life, I think we all can...I personally think is just putting effort and dedication! It can be done! there are a lot of example out there. Yasnay
Good afternoon Erika and Dr. Kalam. Responding to your comment, I think poverty does not take the credit alone in contributing to the criminal rate in our society. Poverty is one of the risk factors for criminal behavior, but according with Criminal Behavior: A Psychological Approach by Bartol and Bartol, you need at least two of the risk factors for this criminal behavior to occur. These risk factors are poverty, loss of a parent, and poor nutrition. Besides poverty, the other factor could be the lost of a parent by death, divorce, or simply abandonment. It is very difficult for a person to be a single parent, work, dedicate attention to a child, and create a healthy environment. I agreed with you that not all that come from disadvantaged upbringing become delinquents, but in my opinion the human conduct sometimes is erratic. People’s conduct is influenced by what the society sets. The professor mentioned in class the Strain Theory, or in other words when people can’t achieve the goals that the society sets they experience tension and have to decide whether to break the law or not to achieve these goals. But let us remember that not all needy people are criminals and not all fortunate people obey the laws.
Shantell, I agree with you the community needs to give more credit and respect to teachers. But also, parents need to take more responsibility for their children and what they do. Attend to PTA meetings and not expect for teachers to do their parenting part too.
I agree with the saying "those who know better" because the ones who pursue education in life are the one who triumh.
Education plays and important role in life but we can't not only judge the poor people only based on their low education since well educated people have been convicted of crimes as well as the poor ones. Educated people have been involved in sexual assault, theft, and other criminal activities. Even politicians that are the ones that have received more education are shown in the media because the have practiced illegal transactions during their lenght of their employment.
On the other hand, poverty must have another factor such as parenting or within their environment to be a major factor of crime. I also understand that you are making reference on statistics but crime is not just related with poverty, it is linked other factors like behavior.
I also agree that those behind bars are the ones that have not even completed High School nor may have received love, attention, or affection from their parents and this factor is probably more related to crime than education. It is true that the economic struggle plays an important role to get a good education but I think that the major problem of crime starts with parenting and the environment that the individual is raised.
Yasnay, i do agree that with effort and dedication overcoming the obstacles can be achieved. You mentioned that there are many such examples out there and I am happy to say I am one of those examples. I was born and raised in an impoverished neighborhood in Jamaica and upon migrating here to America i lived right here in Liberty City, but yet i always had dreams of attending college and moving on to a better life. With all the violence and the drug dealing that became the every day norm i was still not deterred. I can absolutely say i am living my dreams as i speak. Not everyone is a product of their environment.
I have to agree with what you said about poverty and education when it comes to crime. Yes, they are both related but I believe the reason for the uneducated to commit crime would not be because they don't have the knowledge to understand the result of committing crime. Instead they comprehend the risk of going to jail but commit crime anyway because they feel the benefit outweigh the punishment.
Hi Diana, you stated that, "the major problem of crime starts with parenting and the environment that the individual is raised." so in a nutshell, the socioeconomic status of an individual is a contributing factor of crime, which in most cases in today's society, an offender from a single parent home from an impoverished neighborhood. Try as we may, we simply cannot get away from the fact that most of the incarcerated are poor and uneducated. :-(
Mary's, In most cases they do understand the end results of committing a crime but like Idalia stated in her comment that the Strain Theory suggests that offenders decide to break the law to achieve their goals.
Idalia: I do agree that societal standards are a great influence in people's lives. Society dictates that the big house with two cars means success, being thin means your beautful, an so on. While others choose to achieve success through education others choose to be successful by breaking the law. Society dictates what it means to be successful but it fails to facilitate a healthy and supportive way of becoming successful for most people.
Good afternnon Yasnay. I agree with you that we should pay more attention to our children's activities. I think that will take a big chunk out of the problem this society is facing. You said it is our responsibility, not the governments' to take care of it. It is a very good point. We should know where they are, who their friends are, what are they watching on TV, etc. Like you said if there is more parental involvement in the children's lives, I am sure the rate of juvenile delinquency will go down, and the academic achievement will go up.
I have to agree with your reasoning for why crime is committed, especially when it come to peer pressure. Maybe one way to counteract this may be to have more mentor programs to help the younger people living in poverty to show them there are better ways to get what they want without committing crime.
Definitely, not everyone is a product of their environment. Because of examples like you that's why I strongly believe IT CAN BE DONE! I'm very happy for you and I feel very proud of you... Not only because you are an example to others but because as a woman it might be harder but not impossible! Don't ever give up! :)We can always achieve what we want with passion, effort, and dedication!
Certainly, parents involvement is the key, I still believe the government has to do their part... but are not responsible to keep our children through the right path. There are things that can't be taught at school, things that are essential need to be taught at home with attention, love and dedication.
Yasnay, thank you very much! It was through the hard work of ALL my teachers i have ever encountered in my life who led me to believe that it can be done!
I certainly agree with you about that parents have to get more involved with their child. Parents need to be alert of who their children have as friend also they need to help them with school and help them achieve their goals in life. However, to answer your question, minorities keep having children because they are not informed of the preventions methods. Also, they might be informed but they are not able to afford it. Birth prevention methods are very expensive and they aren't many clinics that help low income.
Yasnay, I am in agreement with you, parental involvement is key. A child's first exposure to academics should start at home. As parents we responsible for shaping our child's perception of life itself. Our teachers also play a vital role in our child's life. It is essential that we stay involved in all aspects of our child's education. But it becomes a societal issue when a parent has to work two or three jobs to maintain certain responsibilities so like nancy stated earlier that parent has no idea what their child's academic status is when they are not tuned in because of work.
I think we all know and are convinced that there is a strong relationship between education and crime. We could tell by the statistics: most of those incarcerated in jails and prison do not have a degree, not even a high school degree. There is also a correlation between high school dropouts and the increase of crime. I believe this affects all people regardless of race or ethnicity. We see it happen to Hispanics, African-American, Anglo-American, you name the race, if you are uneducated you a more prone to commit crime regardless of the reason for doing it.
I understand to a certain degree when those who have been seeking to get educated find obstacles that stops their achievements and for that reason they seek other illegal ways to succeed in life. Frustration can lead people to take extreme measures, like crime, in order to satisfy themselves and fill the void of not being able to fulfill their educational achievements. But I do not condone those who act this way because they are giving up on their dreams of education. Also, after reaching some level of education, you should have a better training mind that will help you decided between good and bad. Unfortunately, it is nature of the society we are now living that present individuals with “easy way out” options and convince them of taking the wrong decision. But at the end of they day, the individual is making the decision.
Lastly, poverty is extremely linked to people not being able to get educated, which results in people committing more crime. I do not think there is a direct link between being poor and automatically being a criminal. I believe the connection comes to place when poverty does not allow you to become educated and that leads you to poor judgment. Besides, there are millions of people out there who might be leaving under extreme economic conditions and have not been able to attend school and do not seek crime as a way of living.
I agree and disagree with you. There is definitely a high propensity of people of are poor to commit crime. The statistics are there and they do not lie. However, we cannot poverty a cause of crime because the majority of the U.S. population is not living under wealthy conditions. If we do classify poverty as a cause for crime, we would be making a large portion of the population criminals. I think poverty and crime become a cause and effect act when the factor of lack of education comes to place. I oppose to place the tag of criminal to a person just because he/she does not have the means to get educated. Granted, most of the crime committed out there is coming for people living in poverty, but we cannot classify everybody living under the same conditions based on that alone.
I agree to disagree that they are not informed of the preventions methods. I will agree with you if it was back 5 to 10 years ago but now days, where in school they're telling students how and what to do. When children now days no more than what I knew at 10-11 years old. I Think thats just an excuse. Yet, I do know some of the prevention methods are very expensive, but isn't it more expensive to raise and make the government raise a child? Isn't more complicated than $60 dollars a month for a pack of birth control pills ? Yeah, you can tell me is very hard for them to pay that monthly, but isn't harder and more expensive to support another human being?
I could not agree with you more. Crime will not stop. In reality, we could say crime is needed in order to keep some people employed. Those in the criminal justice profession need crime to take place in order to keep working as a professional in the area. We cannot forget the fact that criminal justice is a very lucrative business for those that provide services to jails and prison, let alone those companies that build and maintain them for the government.
Luckily, we can make a change and help decrease crime in a major way. You mentioned education, self-esteem and opportunities as factors that could help and that is totally right. We need to get educated on the topics, we need to know what is good or wrong and we need to transmit that message to others. Education starts at home and we as society need to do a better job at educating our people. We cannot sit around expecting the government, the schools or the teachers to show our kids how they should behave in the world. We need to learn, show and act upon what is good. Only if we change ourselves and show that to others, we can influence the rest of the people out there on how things should be done.
Everyone point of view are great but we have to remember also that many of these young kids don't have any parents that they are raised by the system. Foster kids you know many kids are there that are going from home to home because A: their own parents became a druggy or are in prison so now the system is the one that need to raise this children. Which this people end up doing all kinds of different crimes themselves because they have to find a career and to them crime is a career. So the up bring is a very important fact in any kid life. But how could many of these children be okay with moving from foster home after foster homes. There has to be a better system of control of women having so many kids and not able to take care of them. I know this is mean but in China a family could only have so many kids. If the system is not working out the way it should here maybe we the people need to follow the system from other countries. Crime is and will always be the oldest job in history. People need to survive and this is just an easy way out for many. It that the right thing to do but it is what they know. Just because you are poor doesn't mean that as a parent you can't be involved with your child life. The government is not our children babysitting but I do believe they could do a better job in clean up and worry about how people are living and the kind of education they are having. I know it hard but I’m hoping that the system will be better one day. Something must be done.
Hi Christian, I do agree that not everyone that is living in poverty are criminals. With so many people here in "RICH" America living below the poverty level(i am still shocked there could be such a thing as "below poverty level")it would be pure chaos if all of them would be committing crimes! Talk about overcrowing of the prison system!
I understand perfectly what you saying and to certain point i agree with you. But i think like i mentioned before if there are parents that have 2 or 3 jobs and still do the effort to be informed of their child's life... why can all parents do that regardless!!! I think is our responsibility as parents. I agree it can be probably harder but can surely be done. IS not hard to for example weekly write a note to the teacher, asking her about your child academic progress and behavior. just one of many things that can be done.
Poverty and education are connected, you're right. Eventhough we can make education available through easy and affordable (grants, aid, etc.), we can't support people and their entire families. Oftentimes the broader social issues, such as single parent homes, job status, family support, etc., makes education vaguely attainable goal for most in need.
We must find ways to get those other problems fixed so that education can take poverty out of the equation.
Good afternnon Dr Kalam: Answering your question. There is a big relation between demographics, poverty, and educational achievements at the time of measuring crime and justice. Unfortunately, one goes with the other. Race and gender also play an important role. How many times do we see some discrimination because of the race or gender of a person? How about poverty? If you don't have the means, you are left out. Then the last one, but not least is education. If you are being discriminated because of your race and gender, you don't have the same opportunities. On top of that, you don't have the resources to compete with a person that has money. This, of course, means you are going to strugle in order to get educated. That situation promotes criminal activities, and it is a circle. No education(failure in school)- poverty - demographics = Delinquency.
You touched and interesting aspect that we tend to forget when taking about children. I agree with you that there needs to be better system in place to help the foster care system provide more help and support to children placed there. I think we cannot stop on “hoping” the system will become better, we need to our part. There are many ways we could help the system become better and one of them is becoming involved: being aware of what is happening, taking issues with the way government operates and having a say. I think we need to exercise our right of having a government of the people and for the people by being vocal and active in the government processes.
excellent comments and valid points about raising kids. In some countries like China, there are restictions and in others there are incentives. Obviously there are valid reasons for both strategies.
The system has good and bad things built into it. The people who are hired or appointed are the ones that are supposed to make it run well...and that is where the problems begin.
In certain point I agree with you. But, let me ask you where are the parents of the parents of this foster kids? We go back that it all comes from home. This topic is very complicated and is not from 10 years ago is been around from many, many years. And i do believe it will be harder to change if we keep thinking that the government has to take care of it. Yes, they have a important part but the main part is from parents and their upbringings. Meanwhile, i 100% agree when you mention about minorities having kids when they can't afford it, like i told marys... i think is more expensive to support a human being than $60 monthly for a pack of birth control pills.
Foster kids have to become an adult at a young age. Many of these children don't even get to ever become a child. Its funny how many couples want to adopt a child but everyone goes to another country to be able to adopt a child because here for what ever reason it is harder to do so. Why does the Government make it so much harder for those couple that want and that are able to raise a child that they were never able to have. We could get our voices out to be heard. But will they listen.
Yasnay, When you come from a family where education is not of high importance it is unlikey that they will take the time to "write a note" to the teacher inquiring about a child's progress. Is it safe to assume that the majority of the parents who have two or three jobs are people themselves who do not possess a high school diploma or if they do that is where their academic career stopped. Therefore, the two or three jobs are what we might call "menial" positions which require little or no degree of substance. Studies have shown that it is likely that a child whose parent/parents have a college degree will more than likely obtain a college degree themself.
Yasnay That's my point that government is not our children's babysitters. Where are this parents how come they are having this babies. Why isn't the government doing something about it? This is hard for me to even say do to the fact that I'm having a baby of my own. But how could and I know this is inhuman to say this but why let this unfit moms that are in prison or do drugs have kids. Having a baby is the most beautiful thing that there could be but not able to rise is a crime. This is where the crime built up when this kids have to do what ever it take to survive the world that they don't know of. There is no adult to help these children to become someone important in their childhood live. The street becomes their family. There is always a child left behave that will have a new career in the crime system.
Yes, you are right...they're more likely not to Yes, the child whose parent/parents have a college degree will more than likely obtain a college degree them-self. But don't we have to break that cycle? Then what do we do?
Dr. K You are right the system has good and bad things about them. Like everything else in life. The problem does start in the system as well as the children upbringings. It's funny because where do we start to clean up the streets. Do we start with the goverment, the homes, education where should we start? To make it a better place for many.
I understand your point, but I believe there will always be crime, there has being crime for centuries and centuries... we can try to reduce it to a minimum but to eliminated completely, I don't think so!
But after that when they become adults its a totally different ball game. Don't get me wrong well educated adults also do high level crimes. So what do we do about crimes well we could try to have less of it but then we might not have our jobs in the criminal justices field. I know that is bad of me saying but hey I need my job too. ;)
Nancy,:) sure we need our jobs, thats what we are here for. Totally, agree that kids deserve a better education. But like you asked Dr.K by where should be start? That will really make a difference?
"Kids are the solution to our problems in this world"(Ziggy Marley 2010). If only the U.S. government shared the same sentiment then and only then we would see a great improvement in our educational system which would lead to lower crime rates and so on.......
It is a difficult one. Where to start depends on the interest of those involved. The keyis to get many people/entities involved who have varying, but integral interests in the same issue.
Oftentimes, people get overwhelmed with the task and then either give up or put forward a halfhearted effort. I have always taken the perspective that you if you affect one small postive thing at a time, you still have done better than nothing at all.
We can’t support everybody and their families. The system just won’t work. I do believe that those other social problems such as single parent homes, job status, and family status could be addressed through education. I think this is the best tool available to pass the message to others of the problems our society is facing and how to address them. We have to start somewhere.
Nancy,
You have a good point about the government’s policy being to hard for people to adopt in the US. I don’t know the reasoning for this but it is definitely an issue. The government is there because of us, so we need to have our voices heard. Will they listen? We need to try, be persistent and hopefully that will be a starting point.
To all my group members,
I am enjoying this discussion. Hopefully we can take something positive from here and pass it around to others.
The article states that, "Regular discussions with parents would help teachers understand if any of their students are going through any particularly difficult situations at home or within the community environment." If the parents don't maintain communication with their child's teacher how will the teacher know of these difficult situations that the student is experiencing, how will the teacher be able to help if they can? Sometimes parents are not aware of certain resources provided by government agencies such as councelling services that can assist a child who are experiencing difficult situations. If the teacher are aware of certain things i am sure they are more than happy to refer both the student and the parent to these services.
Education and crime are linked to each other somehow in relation by many factors. I believe that poor education in childhood leads an individual to perform a criminal activity later in adulthood. One of the major theories of deliquency: Strain Theory, and Deviance Theory holds that the problem of adjustment faced by youths in the school seting lead to poor perfomance and later delinquency. Strain Theory particularly emphasizes the role of class in the educational achievement of young people. Poverty leads people to commit crime instead of learning. Poverty deprives people of getting good education and achievement goal even though some children are forced to commit crime due of their economic situations. Education reduces crime and obtaining an education it is importan issue for our society. Getting a good education will bring our society less criminality. Our education system should create more facilities for those that are deprived of education due to their low income. Parenting will also reduce crime and is an important issue in giving them a lot of attention and love since parents are the most important to a child. Many parents concentrate in working too much and leave behind their kids under no control. Other parents have many kids and cannot pay attention on their actions. Parents play also an important role in preventing crime. In conclusion all these factors have a strong relationship between the education and crime. Demographically race also plays another important role because statistics shows a higher percentage of African-American and Hispanics living in poverty compared to whites in America. Same statistics are shown for jail inmates based on demographic. However, all these negatives factors influence an individual to become a criminal.
I am definitely learning. This type of setting allows one to express and discuss matters in a way in which we as a group learn from each other’s opinion. Adding that to your guidance, the end result is that we become more aware and educated on the matters we are discussing, in this case how education, poverty, and crime are related.
I totally agree about the relation between demographics, poverty and education but I believe every human being have same opportunities to get an education and gender or ethnicity should not be an excuse. Now poverty can be an excuse in not getting education but not an excuse to be criminal. Unfortunately factors as not education, poverty, demographic issues ends up in delinquency.
Crime seems to always been linked to race and ethnicity, sadly, minorities are the highest number in the system regarding crime. Minorities have been labeled as under achievers; the chances of higher education are slim to none as many of the children have been raised on a home either a single parent is responsible for raising the child--working 2 jobs and/or both parents that are also working two jobs to barely make ends meet,there is really no time for the parent(s)to sit down and talk to the child or children about what's considered wrong or right; children are basically raising themselves the best way they can. When faced with this type of scenario, where maybe the child may be a parent too, has to go out and find a job to help support the family, there is no time for a higher education. yes some or most do get involved in illegal activities because they see it as the only way out. Society always links poverty to crime, but if these "poor, under educated" minorities had the advantage of the right skin color or even language, the story would be totally different. Not many can afford to pay bond, so a good legal team is out of the equation; most of the time serve sentences much longer than any others becuse of their finances. How about those "well" educated members of society that commit crimes that are as bad and I dare to say sometimes worse than those commited by a minority group member, they are not labeled as harsh as minorities, just because they have good representation. In regards to poverty, this is a never ending issue as poverty will never be erradicated.
This has been a very productive session today. To all who paricipated, I wish I could erally get into the conversation in more detail. But then we would never get done.
Povery, Crime, Education are all imporatant variables when we make assumptions about School Violence.
You brought up a very important factor in criminality which is related to parenting. To me, parenting plays an important role and you are right when you talk about these parents that have to work several jobs. Unfortunately these parents came from low income and their kids just stay at home by themselves. This is why our jail are full of Hispanics because these are the minority race that is in gran demand today. On the other hand you mentioned the ones that the government help in Foster homes. These kids are missing love, and passion from their parents and I believe this necessity make them to become criminal later. All these issues are causing the jail overcrowding.
I do agree with you when you say that "those who know better do better"; but the way I see it is, sometimes crimes are commited out of desperation, having 3 or 4 hungry children and not one penny in your pockets to feed them, any parent in that situation will go insane, on the other hand it could be a matter of greed. the poor and minorities are basically the fogotten group; there is not enough help for them to get out of that cycle that just pulls them down.
well I do have to say that this was my first ever blog and I enjoy each moment of it. The minds of all you put together made me think even more about the life style we live and the ones that dont have any kind of life stlye that end up where they end up ever dead or in prison. Thanks again.
Hi Nancy, The adoption process in the U.S is full of road blocks for those that want to adopt a child. It is much cheaper and faster to adopt from a third world country than here. It can take several years before the adoption is finalized, the prospective adoptive parent has to go through many interviews, background checks an many other procedures that really discourages any body to proceed with an adoption here in the U.S.
It was a very interesting blog, like Nancy I enjoy each moment of it. I want to thanks all of those that replied to my point of view. I learned a lot and it was very fascinating all the discussion with all of you. Hope you guys have a happy valentine's weekend!
Dr.Kalam We know that crime in the United States of America is increasing day after day. There are many reasons as to why people commit crimes and it has been identified that there are no quick solutions to fix this problem in the country today. I think that race, ethnicity and class are critical elements in structuring social relation in our society. But they do not any inherent, absolute meaning outside of how we as human beings construct them within a particular social relations and institutional structuring. Children who are being neglected by their parents choose the path of crime in their lives. Peer pressure is also a major contributor to crime today. Most of these unfortunate kids come from poor backgrounds where the parents are unable to afford the clothes, books and other necessary things. These kids form groups and due criminal activity such as, theft and fraud as a means of achieving material items which they had been deprived of. Therefore, due to the lack of the child’s basic needs being met, more children who attend urban schools start school with a major disadvantage. Whereas, students of suburban schools, with their basic needs already have been met, are able to focus on learning and satisfying their growth needs. Many urban students are less concerned with learning and achieving a positive self-image. This has a large and lasting affect on their educational achievement. Bernethia
To: Ericka&Shantell I do agree with you all about our teacher.My sister-in-law is a teacher and she always say that parents do not show any respect or give any credit for what they are doing for our kids. I think we should show our appreciation more toward them.
Christian I do agree with you about the strong relationship between education and crime. Because crime is her to stay.A least with some education we can make better choices. Bernethia
Dr Kalam The artice link that you present to us was very interesting and I was amaze at the statstics about violence of our youth. There is definetly something that has to be done to keep our youth from committing crime and staying out of the criminal justice system.
The term crime can be described as the breaking of laws or rules of a governing authority. I believe those who commit crime have many different factors that make them who they are. Demographics plays a role in criminals. Statistics show that men commit more crime then women and that more crime occurs in urban areas then in rural areas as well. Education also plays a very important role in making a individual. Statistics show that most of the jail and prison population are uneducated. I believe that one of the reasons why education is so important is because it educates people which gets them better job opportunities which helps them be a contributing individual in society. Some who are not educated turn to crime to get by, but eventually learn that committing rime gets them nowhere. Lastly, poverty also is a contributing factor in the reason why some turn to crime. Poverished stricken areas are in need of assistance and some turn to crime to get by. Most who live in poverty are not educated which turns to what I discussed earlier.
I do agree partially on what you stated in your post. I do believe that race class, ethnicity all play a role in the structuring in our society. I also believe, as I stated in my post, that education, poverty and many other factors contribute as well. But I comes down to the individual on what they decide to do in life. There are many low class individuals who lived in poverty who have went far and beyond to make something of themselves because they strived for an education and succeeded. I have to disagree and say that some children that are abused by parents realize that what is happening is wrong and strive to move on and make better for themselves. Peer pressure can be negative, but can also be positive by assuring the individual who is being pressured that the one who is pressuring may be the one with the issues. I deeply believe that anyone, no matter what they come from or how their raised, can achieve in life if they put the effort in.
Patricia, I believe that your post was stated very well. You emphasized on the three factors Dr. Kalam asked us to discuss and I agree on what you stated. I believe that minorities have been labeled and some children raised in single family homes are raising the family while the mother or father works. Also when they turn to crime to get by they never seem to get good representation because they have no money, so they seem to get charged more often then not. Demographics, Poverty, and Education all have influence on why crime occurs. I'm ending my statement as I did on the last, Remember that there are some individuals who have struggled their life, living in poverty, raising theirselves plus brothers and sisters, not having the essentials to live. But some realize that turning to crime will not help them and they get an education and strive to do better for them and their families.
The choices young people make are not influenced by a single factor it’s a combination of relationships between peers, family, school, work, environment, political and economic resources specially in today’s recession where over 60 % of the population is unemployed. There is no single factor that impacts juvenile crime more than any other. However, I believe poor education is largely at the root of juvenile crime. One of the conditions of poverty within the urban environment consists of irregular employment and being without a job. This condition unfortunately is a factor that lends itself to those children and offspring who’s only source of influence is there parent or caregiver if any. With are most likely drop out them self or are working two/three jobs to make ends meet, and single parents homes. These children are left to fend for themselves for hours. They start to associate with children in the same category and involve themselves in criminal behavior because there is to paternal supervision. Zenaida
The Life we are living today is very unforgiving if the child does not have some kind of education they will some likely be a statistic. That is why I believe that criminal behavior in juvenile population is so common. Some of the juvenile that do not have an education feel alone and have a low self esteem with can lead to depression, drugs and eventually crime. When it comes to juvenile criminal activity between race and ethnicity the record consistently show that the low class exhibit higher levels of involvement in criminal offences then the upper class. I believe is because the less fortune does not have the means of representation while the other class has the expensive attorney with all the recourses. That is one of the reason why lower levels is overrepresented in criminal offences.
Hello Erika I agree with your theory “those who know better do better," that is why there are so many uneducated underachievers’ inmates in the prison system. They did not know better or had someone demanding or expecting greatness from them. That is why I believe that a positive influential parental role is the most important in a Childs life. Zenaida
Hello Yasnay I agree with you that the government is not your children babysitter and that the education system needs improvement. I was believe that the government should implement some kind of accountability on parents because it take both to tango. When a women go for her doctor appointment she should have to register for parenting classes. Zenaida
Welcome to our Asynchronous Blog for DSC1006 Introduction to Homeland Security. You should respond to the questions and follow the instructions from our class meetings on Saturday.
Hello fellow classmates and Dr. Kalam.....have a great day guys...
ReplyDeleteHello Ericka. I am glad you could make it for this class.
ReplyDeleteSince we can assume with reasonable certainty that poor people have less access to a good education, we can also make assumptions about the relationship between education and a number of societal issues.
ReplyDeleteEducation has a strong association with criminal behavior; those with poor education commit more crime. Using this perspective, we could also throw a net over other groups and make similar assumptions. Considering the following, explain your view of the subject of crime.
Demographics (Such as race and ethnicity)
Educational achievement
Poverty
Explain your view of how crime occurs amongst these groups and respond to two of your classmates in this group.
thanks
testing
ReplyDeleteNancy
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGood morning fellow classmates and Dr. Kalam,
ReplyDeleteresponding to the question i would like to start off with an old saying, "those who know better do better," this is in regards to educational achievement as far as crime is concerned. It is no secret that the majority of people behind bars are those without a high school diploma. The poorly educated lack a certain degree of rational thinking in many aspects such as committing a crime. "The rational choice perspective of crime assumes that the offender seek to benefit themselves from their criminal behavior" (Clarke and Cornish 1985). This kind of thinking allows the offender to assume that the benefits of crime far outweighs the punishments.With limited educational achievement thinking about the end results does not come into play when committing a crime. Poverty is a key factor in crime statistics. When the economy is bad the crime rate escalates. Some thories attribute crime to circumstances and situations, one of those circumstances is poverty. Crime rates are always higher among the poor and poor people are more likely to be arrested and convicted of a crime. Without poor people the criminal justice system would be anorexic! The reality is crime and poverty goes hand in hand.
Poverty does cause crime; In a poor neighborhood unfortunately criminal activity are often cyclical and intergenerational. However, there is always an exception where you will find a few that will overcome these generation hinderances and become positive contributers of society. The poor and uneducated are often over represented in crime statistics for years which indicates that criminal disposition and criminal propensity are attributed to both groups.
ReplyDeleteJust testing!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEricka:
ReplyDeleteYou make you point well and I agree that there is a relationship between the system and the poor. I can only imagine how the system and the economy in general would react if we could really make headway with improving the plight of the poor.
Good morning team and Dr. K
ReplyDeleteMy point of view with Dr. K’s question is that yes I believe that it is harder to get a better education when your statics of econ is not that well for you or anyone to get a good education. Yes, we do have public school that give and try as best as they can to give a good education but with the said that the public school is a get away for many of this kids from their problems at home and to be able to get a warm meal from the school is one of many reason this kids come to school because they know that at home they can not eat as well as they do at school. So school is their meal and because of that many can’t think or have their minds set in getting an good education all they are thinking is that they are hungry. With that said in mind this is where many of the problems come because soon or later this kids not all might drop out of school but many will drop out of school because they are not doing well in school. As much as our government tries to do their best to help these kids from dropping out of school it is still not enough help. And this is where some of these kids commit more crimes. As a Latin female I do have notices and I’m only speaking about my background because that is what I know. Is that many of this people come into this country with nothing in their pockets with their whole family to give them a better life. But coming here is as hard as living in their country. And many of this parents tries their very best to educate their kids to keep them from any kind of problems. But because these parents can’t keep their children off the street because they are working very hard to move up into this country and have a hard time doing two up to three jobs so that kids could have a roof over their head, cloth to wear, and food to eat. But the parents have no time to keep an eye on their children with the educational part. But some are able to keep their kids under control and make sure that their children are getting an education so that they the kids don’t ever need to go through rough times. And many of this people come into living in poverty because that’s all they can afford. So by living into this poverty and I’m not saying that everyone turns out to become a criminal but that some of this kids end up dropping from school because A: they can’t understand the language, B: other kids at school might tease them or even bully them because they don’t understand the English language, C: a lot of this kids will end up dropping from school without their parents even knowing. And do to the fact that their own parents will not go to school because they are scared themselves because they don’t understand the English lanagage and to speak to someone about the problem their kids are having in school. So this is when these kids become trouble makers and start with the crime. Because now their educational level of wanting to move forward into this life is that they have learn that stealing or selling drugs is so much easier then going to school. Because now it’s easy money and they don’t want to be bullied around just to be able to get a good education. It is hard to get an education and to stay away from trouble. Some kids are stronger then others and some are not as well as their parents. Some parents know how to handle their children when some don’t. A lot of this kids end up learning the system or how everything works around before their parents even get a chance to know how the system works. Education and how much a family has is a big factor for many of these kids to do more crimes.
Nancy Calvo
Nancy:
ReplyDeleteYes, the issues you mention have been around forever. Eventhough parents have good intentions, the pressures from the environment as well as the socioeconomic problems overwhelm families and children.
Thanks
Thank you Dr. Kalam, I once read in a criminal justice textbook that the "system" was used as a tool to keep the poor in their place, In some ways i do agree with that. Keeping that in mind if this is what reality is my idea of counteracting that is to use eduacation as a tool to help prevent crime. Meaning, educating the poor so that they can be better equipped to manage life challenges such as poverty.
ReplyDeleteYes Ericka:
ReplyDeleteI think access to education should be a national priority. When people (anyone) can rationalize, consider things, know ho to oppose and present their ideas and thoughts, and make good decisions in the educational environment, it makes good sense that they will di the same in their lives...
thanks
To Nancy: Your comment was a good read, i do believe the government is not doing enough to keep kids from dropping out of school. Once again the educational system in this country play a vital role in crime. Teachers are not concerned with the plight of students beyond the classroom anymore. Years ago it was the unwavering attention of a teacher that would "draw out" and cultivate the natural talents of a student that will further develop and hone the skills of the student who will go on to be a great leader. That said student would not have even realized their own potential had it not been for the attention and nurturing of that teacher. But instead nowadays we have teachers that will always lash out and say, " i am not getting paid enough to do that!"
ReplyDeleteEricka:
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. Teachers have a great influence and shape the minds of the future. with that said, it makes no snese that the educational systems are not in line with the philosophy of teaching, but rather, they seem to be bound up in politics. Zoning, consituents, taxes, boards, etc,
I think you have a great opportunity to figure out how to bring policy into line with the needs of society. You, and your classmates are discussing the very issues now.
great job
Good morning Ericka
ReplyDeleteYou couldn't have put this any better. Not able to have enough money to be able to live day by day and becoming more poor is the reason why a lot of people look for easier way out so they and their family could live a better life. Of course a lot of them know that crime is not good but they have no better way in their mind to have what they need so they could just live better. It’s easier to learn the street and the many different crimes that come with the education of the street then the right education of the school. And easy way out is always the better way in their mind to just live in peace. And because of that is the reason that many poor people even child do more crimes then a middle or upper class person. Of course crime is any level but it is more found in the lower level. And there will be more drops out from school just because the street is just an easier way from them to get money and to move forward in their lives. So crime to them is so much easier in many ways to be able to just live. Education is not easy never is the streets but when it comes to money the street crime becomes easier. Many not all look for an easy way out and crime to them is an easy way out. To many of these people prison and jails are their homes. And crime is their money making deal. Not edcaution.
Nancy, I can almost visualize in my mind how a child can drop out of school without their parents even knowing about it. some child parent interaction is often nothing but "two ships passing in the night." Just as you stated when the parent is at work for the majority of the day it is quite easy that they are absolutely clueless as to what their child is or isn't accomplishing in school.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dr. K and Ericka
ReplyDeleteEducation is a very big issue with keeping people out of crimes but how could we do that if the government itself is to worry about other countries and the upper level class then their own must needed people that live in the United States. What I mean by this is that with this entire budget that this country has why not clean up all those poor area. Why hasn’t the government step in why does it have to be the “committee” to clean the streets. This country as “rich” as they say we are why do we have so much crime and so little well educational personal. There and should be a better plan to get this country out of this mess. Low income and no education is the key role here of many crimes.
Nancy: "To be poor is a crime" (Freddie McGregor, reggae singer). I think Freddie was right, to be poor is a crime in itself. Has anyone ever tried talking/reasoning with an uneducated person that lives in an impoverished neighborhood about life? Well I have, basically, their philosophy is, " I was born here, I grew up here, this is it for me, life doesn't get any better than this, and this is where I am going to die." If people with this kind of reasoning was exposed the concept of how powerful education is they would know the possibilities are endless! Knowledge is power; without proper education an individual's ability to succeed in life is limited or crippled to the point that to them life is just a burden, so therefore they resort to a life of crime which unfortunately becomes a never ending cycle and the justice system thrives as a result of this.
ReplyDeleteCrime is committed by all groups of people, but I do believe that crime is committed more for social status. Most minorities commit crimes to both provide for their family, to have what the wealthy have and peer pressure. Most minorities group commit crime for their families. Most minorities family have single mother household and the mother may not make ends meet, so the male usually step up and assist their mother. Another factor is when they want something that someone else has, and they can not afford. They we either rob them and take it or rob a place with money to get the item they want. Finally, peer pressure is stronger then any drug, because people just want to belong. For example, when Johnny is the leader and he has followers he can lead them down a life of crime.
ReplyDeleteEducational achievement can lead a person to commit a crime, because when you can not get the dream job with that dream money you may turn to a life of crime. But because you are educated that does not mean that you will not commit any crimes. That’s what white collar crime are for, for those who want more money on top of their money. When you are educated you have more options then without being education.
Poverty may breed crime activities for all race and ethnicity. Being with out is a mission to help that person feel rich in some way and they commit a crime to feel that void. This is not an excuse to criminal behavior, but struggling and never getting on top can cause a person to me anger and use criminal behavior as an outlet of the anger.
In conclusion, crime will never stop, but I do believe it can be decrease in a major way. Education, self esteem, more opportunities and finally just sitting down and talking about what is going on can help in a major way.
Nancy, It seems there is not much importance placed on the value of education, instead the government would much rather invest in the building of prisons. It always puzzles me how they invest so much money in the construction and operation of prisons when that money should be invested in the education of our young people. When i say INVESTMENT i mean it as such in every way because education is an investment in this country's future. When they invest in prisions it seems as if our children's futures are predetermined by our government. When did this country become a place where the government believes that we will need more prisons than we need schools?
ReplyDeleteTo Erika: I agree with you but times have change. When people feel like they are not respect for teaching our kids, it may cause a person to have this, “I don’t care attitude” that affect the kids. It’s not good thinking, but if a parents and society give our teachers more credit for their work, it may create better teachers. Or it may just create a better system of teachers to teach our future leader.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Dr. Kalam and classmates, my point of view on this subject is that… Poverty can tend to put you more in the situation to commit a crime but, that doesn’t excuse for you to do it. There is a lot of ways to feed your child and have a descent life without having to commit a crime. I think the problem between poverty, education and crime is the lack of attention from parents to their children and is a chain that keeps on going whether we like it or not, it is what it is. When parents are not sufficient involve in their children’s life. Who are their friends? How they feel emotionally? What are their fears? In what they’re interested or have doubts about? How is the attitude in school of their children? All these questions and more are to be asked to the parents. Which I’m not saying that the majority is doing it because they don’t care, but because of the lack of time in their life? But, I see that there is a minority that is still having the same socioeconomic issues and yet are still very involve in their child life. So, as a community we can’t leave everything to the government we have to put our time and effort too. The government is not responsible for your children, you are! Whether you have to work 2 or 3 shifts to support your family, there is still got to be time to know what’s going on in your children environment. Like someone mention in class yesterday, there was a football game and it was crowded with parents yet in PTA meeting the majority don’t go because of lack of time? I just focus on those parents that do involve and are certain of where the child is and doing. Who are a few percentages but my question is… if they’re traveling through the same path as others why can they do it and the others can’t? Let’s just face it, we need to stop making excuses for all that we are responsible to do that is to educate our children and maintain them on the good path, it can be done it only takes dedication and effort. For example, one of the guys mention that his mom will be working and still will call home at a certain time and if he wasn’t there then he will in trouble. Like this example are many. Another question I asked… (Please minority excuse me and don’t get offended) but why do minorities women keep having so many kids compared to white women and yet they’re living in poverty, they can’t afford having 2 children but they keep having more. I strongly believe that’s another major issue why poverty, crime and education are much related. To conclude my point of view, I believe that every human being is entitled to do with their life whatever they want, as long as it doesn’t affect the person next to him/her. In order to be a proficient person in life it takes passion, effort, and dedication; everything in life needs sacrifices, but if you choose the “easy way” then you need to be responsible for the outcome.
ReplyDeleteYasnay
To Nancy: I believe that the government focus is somewhere else. The government is so worried about being accepted by other counties that they will let their own country suffer to be liked. But once again crime has been around for many, many years, I believe that crime can only be decreased.
ReplyDeleteShantell: I do agree with you as parents we really do not give our teachers the credit they do deserve for educating our children, but the government needs to provide more incentives and place more importance on the teaching profession itself. It was because of the great teachers i had throughout my life, not my mother who made me believe that i can be anything that i wanted to be and that i can overcome the odds and become a success. I cannot beging to tell you how many times i was in the school yard and see parents come to the school to "cuss the teacher out." These were the same parents who never attended a PTA meeting or they are the same ones who were always happy to see the light of day so that they can hurry up and drop off their kids at school in the care of teachers, but when the child comes home and complains about the teacher they are quick to respond in an angry manner towards the teacher. With the government's attitude towards the profession and the parents not giving credit to the teachers for the great job they do, the teaching profession is officially on life support.
ReplyDeleteGood morning team and Dr.Kalam
ReplyDeleteThere is a strong relationship between the education and crime saying the less education an individual has the greater the chance they will commit crime because regardless of anybody’s educational background or demographic, everyone has the goal to be successful and move up in the social ladder. Individuals who have the upbringing of knowing the importance of getting a good education have the proper start before even entering school, learning basic reading and writing. Generally the people who have the proper start to education are those who have families who have education themselves and more money.
As to those individuals who are brought up by those who don’t have the parents with educational achievements are usually deprived of the proper start before entering public school, find themselves falling behind in school eventually give up because of peer pressure and the labialization of being failures.
The social norms of those in poverty believe that success is only measured on what you have and doesn’t focus on how an individual’s success was received. Therefore if a person can get money by committing crime such as selling drugs, burglary, or robbery, it is still seen as success in poverty communities and more likely to be accepted as the social norm. Demographically race plays a role because it is a higher percentage of African-Americans living in poverty compared to whites in America. This leads to same effect when comparing the ratio of jail inmates’ demographics. However, this is not to say that all people in poverty are doomed to be criminals nor all people with education achievements are not criminals. The social upbringings, education, and poverty seem to have the largest impact to whither a person becomes a criminal or not.
Nancy & Ericka,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, but like i mentioned before, my question is how come there are people in the same situation yet are different... are trying to be better? We, know not everybody will get to be "Obama" (for say) but to have a decent life, I think we all can...I personally think is just putting effort and dedication! It can be done! there are a lot of example out there.
Yasnay
Good afternoon Erika and Dr. Kalam. Responding to your comment, I think poverty does not take the credit alone in contributing to the criminal rate in our society. Poverty is one of the risk factors for criminal behavior, but according with Criminal Behavior: A Psychological Approach by Bartol and Bartol, you need at least two of the risk factors for this criminal behavior to occur.
ReplyDeleteThese risk factors are poverty, loss of a parent, and poor nutrition. Besides poverty, the other factor could be the lost of a parent by death, divorce, or simply abandonment. It is very difficult for a person to be a single parent, work, dedicate attention to a child, and create a healthy environment. I agreed with you that not all that come from disadvantaged upbringing become delinquents, but in my opinion the human conduct sometimes is erratic. People’s conduct is influenced by what the society sets.
The professor mentioned in class the Strain Theory, or in other words when people can’t achieve the goals that the society sets they experience tension and have to decide whether to break the law or not to achieve these goals. But let us remember that not all needy people are criminals and not all fortunate people obey the laws.
Shantell,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you the community needs to give more credit and respect to teachers. But also, parents need to take more responsibility for their children and what they do. Attend to PTA meetings and not expect for teachers to do their parenting part too.
Yasnay
Hi Ericka
ReplyDeleteI agree with the saying "those who know better" because the ones who pursue education in life are the one who triumh.
Education plays and important role in life but we can't not only judge the poor people only based on their low education since well educated people have been convicted of crimes as well as the poor ones. Educated people have been involved in sexual assault, theft, and other criminal activities. Even politicians that are the ones that have received more education are shown in the media because the have practiced illegal transactions during their lenght of their employment.
On the other hand, poverty must have another factor such as parenting or within their environment to be a major factor of crime. I also understand that you are making reference on statistics but crime is not just related with poverty, it is linked other factors like behavior.
I also agree that those behind bars are the ones that have not even completed High School nor may have received love, attention, or affection from their parents and this factor is probably more related to crime than education. It is true that the economic struggle plays an important role to get a good education but I think that the major problem of crime starts with parenting and the environment that the individual is raised.
Thank you,
Diana Mejia
Yasnay, i do agree that with effort and dedication overcoming the obstacles can be achieved. You mentioned that there are many such examples out there and I am happy to say I am one of those examples. I was born and raised in an impoverished neighborhood in Jamaica and upon migrating here to America i lived right here in Liberty City, but yet i always had dreams of attending college and moving on to a better life. With all the violence and the drug dealing that became the every day norm i was still not deterred. I can absolutely say i am living my dreams as i speak. Not everyone is a product of their environment.
ReplyDeleteTo:Erika Beckford
ReplyDeleteFrom: Mary's Martinez
I have to agree with what you said about poverty and education when it comes to crime. Yes, they are both related but I believe the reason for the uneducated to commit crime would not be because they don't have the knowledge to understand the result of committing crime. Instead they comprehend the risk of going to jail but commit crime anyway because they feel the benefit outweigh the punishment.
Hi Diana, you stated that, "the major problem of crime starts with parenting and the environment that the individual is raised." so in a nutshell, the socioeconomic status of an individual is a contributing factor of crime, which in most cases in today's society, an offender from a single parent home from an impoverished neighborhood. Try as we may, we simply cannot get away from the fact that most of the incarcerated are poor and uneducated. :-(
ReplyDeleteMary's, In most cases they do understand the end results of committing a crime but like Idalia stated in her comment that the Strain Theory suggests that offenders decide to break the law to achieve their goals.
ReplyDeleteIdalia: I do agree that societal standards are a great influence in people's lives. Society dictates that the big house with two cars means success, being thin means your beautful, an so on. While others choose to achieve success through education others choose to be successful by breaking the law. Society dictates what it means to be successful but it fails to facilitate a healthy and supportive way of becoming successful for most people.
ReplyDeleteGood afternnon Yasnay. I agree with you that we should pay more attention to our children's activities. I think that will take a big chunk out of the problem this society is facing. You said it is our responsibility, not the governments' to take care of it. It is a very good point. We should know where they are, who their friends are, what are they watching on TV, etc. Like you said if there is more parental involvement in the children's lives, I am sure the rate of juvenile delinquency will go down, and the academic achievement will go up.
ReplyDeleteTo: Shantell
ReplyDeleteFrom:Mary's
I have to agree with your reasoning for why crime is committed, especially when it come to peer pressure. Maybe one way to counteract this may be to have more mentor programs to help the younger people living in poverty to show them there are better ways to get what they want without committing crime.
Ericka
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, not everyone is a product of their environment. Because of examples like you that's why I strongly believe IT CAN BE DONE!
I'm very happy for you and I feel very proud of you... Not only because you are an example to others but because as a woman it might be harder but not impossible! Don't ever give up! :)We can always achieve what we want with passion, effort, and dedication!
Thank you,
Yasnay
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGood Afternoon Idalia,
ReplyDeleteCertainly, parents involvement is the key, I still believe the government has to do their part... but are not responsible to keep our children through the right path. There are things that can't be taught at school, things that are essential need to be taught at home with attention, love and dedication.
Yasnay.
Yasnay, thank you very much! It was through the hard work of ALL my teachers i have ever encountered in my life who led me to believe that it can be done!
ReplyDeleteTo: Yaz1927
ReplyDeleteFrom: Mary's
I certainly agree with you about that parents have to get more involved with their child. Parents need to be alert of who their children have as friend also they need to help them with school and help them achieve their goals in life. However, to answer your question, minorities keep having children because they are not informed of the preventions methods. Also, they might be informed but they are not able to afford it. Birth prevention methods are very expensive and they aren't many clinics that help low income.
Yasnay, I am in agreement with you, parental involvement is key. A child's first exposure to academics should start at home. As parents we responsible for shaping our child's perception of life itself. Our teachers also play a vital role in our child's life. It is essential that we stay involved in all aspects of our child's education. But it becomes a societal issue when a parent has to work two or three jobs to maintain certain responsibilities so like nancy stated earlier that parent has no idea what their child's academic status is when they are not tuned in because of work.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone,
ReplyDeleteI think we all know and are convinced that there is a strong relationship between education and crime. We could tell by the statistics: most of those incarcerated in jails and prison do not have a degree, not even a high school degree. There is also a correlation between high school dropouts and the increase of crime. I believe this affects all people regardless of race or ethnicity. We see it happen to Hispanics, African-American, Anglo-American, you name the race, if you are uneducated you a more prone to commit crime regardless of the reason for doing it.
I understand to a certain degree when those who have been seeking to get educated find obstacles that stops their achievements and for that reason they seek other illegal ways to succeed in life. Frustration can lead people to take extreme measures, like crime, in order to satisfy themselves and fill the void of not being able to fulfill their educational achievements. But I do not condone those who act this way because they are giving up on their dreams of education. Also, after reaching some level of education, you should have a better training mind that will help you decided between good and bad. Unfortunately, it is nature of the society we are now living that present individuals with “easy way out” options and convince them of taking the wrong decision. But at the end of they day, the individual is making the decision.
Lastly, poverty is extremely linked to people not being able to get educated, which results in people committing more crime. I do not think there is a direct link between being poor and automatically being a criminal. I believe the connection comes to place when poverty does not allow you to become educated and that leads you to poor judgment. Besides, there are millions of people out there who might be leaving under extreme economic conditions and have not been able to attend school and do not seek crime as a way of living.
Hi Ericka,
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree with you. There is definitely a high propensity of people of are poor to commit crime. The statistics are there and they do not lie. However, we cannot poverty a cause of crime because the majority of the U.S. population is not living under wealthy conditions. If we do classify poverty as a cause for crime, we would be making a large portion of the population criminals. I think poverty and crime become a cause and effect act when the factor of lack of education comes to place. I oppose to place the tag of criminal to a person just because he/she does not have the means to get educated. Granted, most of the crime committed out there is coming for people living in poverty, but we cannot classify everybody living under the same conditions based on that alone.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMarys,
ReplyDeleteI agree to disagree that they are not informed of the preventions methods. I will agree with you if it was back 5 to 10 years ago but now days, where in school they're telling students how and what to do. When children now days no more than what I knew at 10-11 years old. I Think thats just an excuse. Yet, I do know some of the prevention methods are very expensive, but isn't it more expensive to raise and make the government raise a child? Isn't more complicated than $60 dollars a month for a pack of birth control pills ? Yeah, you can tell me is very hard for them to pay that monthly, but isn't harder and more expensive to support another human being?
Yasnay
Hi Shantell,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more. Crime will not stop. In reality, we could say crime is needed in order to keep some people employed. Those in the criminal justice profession need crime to take place in order to keep working as a professional in the area. We cannot forget the fact that criminal justice is a very lucrative business for those that provide services to jails and prison, let alone those companies that build and maintain them for the government.
Luckily, we can make a change and help decrease crime in a major way. You mentioned education, self-esteem and opportunities as factors that could help and that is totally right. We need to get educated on the topics, we need to know what is good or wrong and we need to transmit that message to others. Education starts at home and we as society need to do a better job at educating our people. We cannot sit around expecting the government, the schools or the teachers to show our kids how they should behave in the world. We need to learn, show and act upon what is good. Only if we change ourselves and show that to others, we can influence the rest of the people out there on how things should be done.
Yasnay and classmates
ReplyDeleteEveryone point of view are great but we have to remember also that many of these young kids don't have any parents that they are raised by the system. Foster kids you know many kids are there that are going from home to home because A: their own parents became a druggy or are in prison so now the system is the one that need to raise this children. Which this people end up doing all kinds of different crimes themselves because they have to find a career and to them crime is a career. So the up bring is a very important fact in any kid life. But how could many of these children be okay with moving from foster home after foster homes. There has to be a better system of control of women having so many kids and not able to take care of them. I know this is mean but in China a family could only have so many kids. If the system is not working out the way it should here maybe we the people need to follow the system from other countries. Crime is and will always be the oldest job in history. People need to survive and this is just an easy way out for many. It that the right thing to do but it is what they know. Just because you are poor doesn't mean that as a parent you can't be involved with your child life. The government is not our children babysitting but I do believe they could do a better job in clean up and worry about how people are living and the kind of education they are having. I know it hard but I’m hoping that the system will be better one day. Something must be done.
Hi Christian, I do agree that not everyone that is living in poverty are criminals. With so many people here in "RICH" America living below the poverty level(i am still shocked there could be such a thing as "below poverty level")it would be pure chaos if all of them would be committing crimes! Talk about overcrowing of the prison system!
ReplyDeleteEricka,
ReplyDeleteI understand perfectly what you saying and to certain point i agree with you. But i think like i mentioned before if there are parents that have 2 or 3 jobs and still do the effort to be informed of their child's life... why can all parents do that regardless!!! I think is our responsibility as parents. I agree it can be probably harder but can surely be done. IS not hard to for example weekly write a note to the teacher, asking her about your child academic progress and behavior. just one of many things that can be done.
Yasnay
Yasnay,
ReplyDeleteWow! I appreciate the way you dissected paying $60 a month for birth control versus taking care of a child for years! It makes a lot of sense!
Christian:
ReplyDeletePoverty and education are connected, you're right. Eventhough we can make education available through easy and affordable (grants, aid, etc.), we can't support people and their entire families. Oftentimes the broader social issues, such as single parent homes, job status, family support, etc., makes education vaguely attainable goal for most in need.
We must find ways to get those other problems fixed so that education can take poverty out of the equation.
Good afternnon Dr Kalam: Answering your question.
ReplyDeleteThere is a big relation between demographics, poverty, and educational achievements at the time of measuring crime and justice. Unfortunately, one goes with the other. Race and gender also play an important role. How many times do we see some discrimination because of the race or gender of a person? How about poverty? If you don't have the means, you are left out. Then the last one, but not least is education.
If you are being discriminated because of your race and gender, you don't have the same opportunities. On top of that, you don't have the resources to compete with a person that has money. This, of course, means you are going to strugle in order to get educated.
That situation promotes criminal activities, and it is a circle. No education(failure in school)- poverty - demographics = Delinquency.
Hi Nancy,
ReplyDeleteYou touched and interesting aspect that we tend to forget when taking about children. I agree with you that there needs to be better system in place to help the foster care system provide more help and support to children placed there. I think we cannot stop on “hoping” the system will become better, we need to our part. There are many ways we could help the system become better and one of them is becoming involved: being aware of what is happening, taking issues with the way government operates and having a say. I think we need to exercise our right of having a government of the people and for the people by being vocal and active in the government processes.
Nancy;
ReplyDeleteexcellent comments and valid points about raising kids. In some countries like China, there are restictions and in others there are incentives. Obviously there are valid reasons for both strategies.
The system has good and bad things built into it. The people who are hired or appointed are the ones that are supposed to make it run well...and that is where the problems begin.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteIn certain point I agree with you. But, let me ask you where are the parents of the parents of this foster kids? We go back that it all comes from home. This topic is very complicated and is not from 10 years ago is been around from many, many years. And i do believe it will be harder to change if we keep thinking that the government has to take care of it. Yes, they have a important part but the main part is from parents and their upbringings. Meanwhile, i 100% agree when you mention about minorities having kids when they can't afford it, like i told marys... i think is more expensive to support a human being than $60 monthly for a pack of birth control pills.
Yasnay.
Good afternoon Christian
ReplyDeleteFoster kids have to become an adult at a young age. Many of these children don't even get to ever become a child. Its funny how many couples want to adopt a child but everyone goes to another country to be able to adopt a child because here for what ever reason it is harder to do so. Why does the Government make it so much harder for those couple that want and that are able to raise a child that they were never able to have. We could get our voices out to be heard. But will they listen.
Yasnay,
ReplyDeleteWhen you come from a family where education is not of high importance it is unlikey that they will take the time to "write a note" to the teacher inquiring about a child's progress. Is it safe to assume that the majority of the parents who have two or three jobs are people themselves who do not possess a high school diploma or if they do that is where their academic career stopped. Therefore, the two or three jobs are what we might call "menial" positions which require little or no degree of substance. Studies have shown that it is likely that a child whose parent/parents have a college degree will more than likely obtain a college degree themself.
Hello All:
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting article about the root cause of school violence: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_2_38/ai_n6130139/
Also, please check your college email for another link to interesting topics. Enjoy your reading and I hope you learn much.
Yasnay
ReplyDeleteThat's my point that government is not our children's babysitters. Where are this parents how come they are having this babies. Why isn't the government doing something about it? This is hard for me to even say do to the fact that I'm having a baby of my own. But how could and I know this is inhuman to say this but why let this unfit moms that are in prison or do drugs have kids. Having a baby is the most beautiful thing that there could be but not able to rise is a crime. This is where the crime built up when this kids have to do what ever it take to survive the world that they don't know of. There is no adult to help these children to become someone important in their childhood live. The street becomes their family. There is always a child left behave that will have a new career in the crime system.
Ericka,
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right...they're more likely not to Yes, the child whose parent/parents have a college degree will more than likely obtain a college degree them-self. But don't we have to break that cycle? Then what do we do?
Yasnay
and the fact that this kids don't have parents that is why they end up in the system.
ReplyDeleteDr. K
ReplyDeleteYou are right the system has good and bad things about them. Like everything else in life. The problem does start in the system as well as the children upbringings. It's funny because where do we start to clean up the streets. Do we start with the goverment, the homes, education where should we start? To make it a better place for many.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI understand your point, but I believe there will always be crime, there has being crime for centuries and centuries... we can try to reduce it to a minimum but to eliminated completely, I don't think so!
Yasnay.
No we can't eliminated it completely because we need our job. But atleast we could give this kids a better outcome to education.
ReplyDeleteBut after that when they become adults its a totally different ball game. Don't get me wrong well educated adults also do high level crimes. So what do we do about crimes well we could try to have less of it but then we might not have our jobs in the criminal justices field. I know that is bad of me saying but hey I need my job too. ;)
ReplyDeleteNancy,:) sure we need our jobs, thats what we are here for.
ReplyDeleteTotally, agree that kids deserve a better education. But like you asked Dr.K by where should be start? That will really make a difference?
yasnay
"Kids are the solution to our problems in this world"(Ziggy Marley 2010). If only the U.S. government shared the same sentiment then and only then we would see a great improvement in our educational system which would lead to lower crime rates and so on.......
ReplyDeleteNancy:
ReplyDeleteIt is a difficult one. Where to start depends on the interest of those involved. The keyis to get many people/entities involved who have varying, but integral interests in the same issue.
Oftentimes, people get overwhelmed with the task and then either give up or put forward a halfhearted effort. I have always taken the perspective that you if you affect one small postive thing at a time, you still have done better than nothing at all.
Dr. Kalam,
ReplyDeleteWe can’t support everybody and their families. The system just won’t work. I do believe that those other social problems such as single parent homes, job status, and family status could be addressed through education. I think this is the best tool available to pass the message to others of the problems our society is facing and how to address them. We have to start somewhere.
Nancy,
You have a good point about the government’s policy being to hard for people to adopt in the US. I don’t know the reasoning for this but it is definitely an issue. The government is there because of us, so we need to have our voices heard. Will they listen? We need to try, be persistent and hopefully that will be a starting point.
To all my group members,
I am enjoying this discussion. Hopefully we can take something positive from here and pass it around to others.
Christian:
ReplyDeleteGlad you feel motivated..you are learning much I hope?
Thanks
The article states that, "Regular discussions with parents would help teachers understand if any of their students are going through any particularly difficult situations at home or within the community environment." If the parents don't maintain communication with their child's teacher how will the teacher know of these difficult situations that the student is experiencing, how will the teacher be able to help if they can? Sometimes parents are not aware of certain resources provided by government agencies such as councelling services that can assist a child who are experiencing difficult situations. If the teacher are aware of certain things i am sure they are more than happy to refer both the student and the parent to these services.
ReplyDeleteHi Dr. Kalam and classmates:
ReplyDeleteEducation and crime are linked to each other somehow in relation by many factors. I believe that poor education in childhood leads an individual to perform a criminal activity later in adulthood. One of the major theories of deliquency: Strain Theory, and Deviance Theory holds that the problem of adjustment faced by youths in the school seting lead to poor perfomance and later delinquency. Strain Theory particularly emphasizes the role of class in the educational achievement of young people.
Poverty leads people to commit crime instead of learning. Poverty deprives people of getting good education and achievement goal even though some children are forced to commit crime due of their economic situations.
Education reduces crime and obtaining an education it is importan issue for our society. Getting a good education will bring our society less criminality. Our education system should create more facilities for those that are deprived of education due to their low income.
Parenting will also reduce crime and is an important issue in giving them a lot of attention and love since parents are the most important to a child. Many parents concentrate in working too much and leave behind their kids under no control. Other parents have many kids and cannot pay attention on their actions. Parents play also an important role in preventing crime.
In conclusion all these factors have a strong relationship between the education and crime. Demographically race also plays another important role because statistics shows a higher percentage of African-American and Hispanics living in poverty compared to whites in America. Same statistics are shown for jail inmates based on demographic. However, all these negatives factors influence an individual to become a criminal.
Thank you,
Diana Mejia
Dr. Kalam,
ReplyDeleteI am definitely learning. This type of setting allows one to express and discuss matters in a way in which we as a group learn from each other’s opinion. Adding that to your guidance, the end result is that we become more aware and educated on the matters we are discussing, in this case how education, poverty, and crime are related.
Hi Idalia:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the relation between demographics, poverty and education but I believe every human being have same opportunities to get an education and gender or ethnicity should not be an excuse.
Now poverty can be an excuse in not getting education but not an excuse to be criminal.
Unfortunately factors as not education, poverty, demographic issues ends up in delinquency.
Thank you,
Diana Mejia
Good afternoon Dr. kalam-Group 2-
ReplyDeleteCrime seems to always been linked to race and ethnicity, sadly, minorities are the highest number in the system regarding crime. Minorities have been labeled as under achievers; the chances of higher education are slim to none as many of the children have been raised on a home either a single parent is responsible for raising the child--working 2 jobs and/or both parents that are also working two jobs to barely make ends meet,there is really no time for the parent(s)to sit down and talk to the child or children about what's considered wrong or right; children are basically raising themselves the best way they can. When faced with this type of scenario, where maybe the child may be a parent too, has to go out and find a job to help support the family, there is no time for a higher education. yes some or most do get involved in illegal activities because they see it as the only way out. Society always links poverty to crime, but if these "poor, under educated" minorities had the advantage of the right skin color or even language, the story would be totally different. Not many can afford to pay bond, so a good legal team is out of the equation; most of the time serve sentences much longer than any others becuse of their finances. How about those "well" educated members of society that commit crimes that are as bad and I dare to say sometimes worse than those commited by a minority group member, they are not labeled as harsh as minorities, just because they have good representation. In regards to poverty, this is a never ending issue as poverty will never be erradicated.
This has been a very productive session today. To all who paricipated, I wish I could erally get into the conversation in more detail. But then we would never get done.
ReplyDeletePovery, Crime, Education are all imporatant variables when we make assumptions about School Violence.
Keep reading and see you on February 20th
Hi Nancy,
ReplyDeleteYou brought up a very important factor in criminality which is related to parenting. To me, parenting plays an important role and you are right when you talk about these parents that have to work several jobs. Unfortunately these parents came from low income and their kids just stay at home by themselves. This is why our jail are full of Hispanics because these are the minority race that is in gran demand today. On the other hand you mentioned the ones that the government help in Foster homes. These kids are missing love, and passion from their parents and I believe this necessity make them to become criminal later.
All these issues are causing the jail overcrowding.
Thank you,
Diana
Good afternoon Erika,
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you when you say that "those who know better do better"; but the way I see it is, sometimes crimes are commited out of desperation, having 3 or 4 hungry children and not one penny in your pockets to feed them, any parent in that situation will go insane, on the other hand it could be a matter of greed. the poor and minorities are basically the fogotten group; there is not enough help for them to get out of that cycle that just pulls them down.
well I do have to say that this was my first ever blog and I enjoy each moment of it. The minds of all you put together made me think even more about the life style we live and the ones that dont have any kind of life stlye that end up where they end up ever dead or in prison. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy, The adoption process in the U.S is full of road blocks for those that want to adopt a child. It is much cheaper and faster to adopt from a third world country than here. It can take several years before the adoption is finalized, the prospective adoptive parent has to go through many interviews, background checks an many other procedures that really discourages any body to proceed with an adoption here in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteDr.K and classmates,
ReplyDeleteIt was a very interesting blog, like Nancy I enjoy each moment of it. I want to thanks all of those that replied to my point of view. I learned a lot and it was very fascinating all the discussion with all of you. Hope you guys have a happy valentine's weekend!
Yasnay
Dr.Kalam
ReplyDeleteWe know that crime in the United States of America is increasing day after day. There are many reasons as to why people commit crimes and it has been identified that there are no quick solutions to fix this problem in the country today.
I think that race, ethnicity and class are critical elements in structuring social relation in our society. But they do not any inherent, absolute meaning outside of how we as human beings construct them within a particular social relations and institutional structuring.
Children who are being neglected by their parents choose the path of crime in their lives. Peer pressure is also a major contributor to crime today. Most of these unfortunate kids come from poor backgrounds where the parents are unable to afford the clothes, books and other necessary things. These kids form groups and due criminal activity such as, theft and fraud as a means of achieving material items which they had been deprived of.
Therefore, due to the lack of the child’s basic needs being met, more children who attend urban schools start school with a major disadvantage. Whereas, students of suburban schools, with their basic needs already have been met, are able to focus on learning and satisfying their growth needs. Many urban students are less concerned with learning and achieving a positive self-image. This has a large and lasting affect on their educational achievement.
Bernethia
To: Ericka&Shantell
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you all about our teacher.My sister-in-law is a teacher and she always say that parents do not show any respect or give any credit for what they are doing for our kids. I think we should show our appreciation more toward them.
Bernethia
Christian
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you about the strong relationship between education and crime. Because crime is her to stay.A least with some education we can make better choices.
Bernethia
Dr Kalam
ReplyDeleteThe artice link that you present to us was very interesting and I was amaze at the statstics about violence of our youth. There is definetly something that has to be done to keep our youth from committing crime and staying out of the criminal justice system.
The term crime can be described as the breaking of laws or rules of a governing authority. I believe those who commit crime have many different factors that make them who they are. Demographics plays a role in criminals. Statistics show that men commit more crime then women and that more crime occurs in urban areas then in rural areas as well.
ReplyDeleteEducation also plays a very important role in making a individual. Statistics show that most of the jail and prison population are uneducated. I believe that one of the reasons why education is so important is because it educates people which gets them better job opportunities which helps them be a contributing individual in society. Some who are not educated turn to crime to get by, but eventually learn that committing rime gets them nowhere.
Lastly, poverty also is a contributing factor in the reason why some turn to crime. Poverished stricken areas are in need of assistance and some turn to crime to get by. Most who live in poverty are not educated which turns to what I discussed earlier.
Brandon Moore
Bernethia,
ReplyDeleteI do agree partially on what you stated in your post. I do believe that race class, ethnicity all play a role in the structuring in our society. I also believe, as I stated in my post, that education, poverty and many other factors contribute as well. But I comes down to the individual on what they decide to do in life. There are many low class individuals who lived in poverty who have went far and beyond to make something of themselves because they strived for an education and succeeded. I have to disagree and say that some children that are abused by parents realize that what is happening is wrong and strive to move on and make better for themselves. Peer pressure can be negative, but can also be positive by assuring the individual who is being pressured that the one who is pressuring may be the one with the issues. I deeply believe that anyone, no matter what they come from or how their raised, can achieve in life if they put the effort in.
Brandon Moore
Patricia, I believe that your post was stated very well. You emphasized on the three factors Dr. Kalam asked us to discuss and I agree on what you stated. I believe that minorities have been labeled and some children raised in single family homes are raising the family while the mother or father works. Also when they turn to crime to get by they never seem to get good representation because they have no money, so they seem to get charged more often then not. Demographics, Poverty, and Education all have influence on why crime occurs. I'm ending my statement as I did on the last, Remember that there are some individuals who have struggled their life, living in poverty, raising theirselves plus brothers and sisters, not having the essentials to live. But some realize that turning to crime will not help them and they get an education and strive to do better for them and their families.
ReplyDeleteThe choices young people make are not influenced by a single factor it’s a combination of relationships between peers, family, school, work, environment, political and economic resources specially in today’s recession where over 60 % of the population is unemployed. There is no single factor that impacts juvenile crime more than any other. However, I believe poor education is largely at the root of juvenile crime.
ReplyDeleteOne of the conditions of poverty within the urban environment consists of irregular employment and being without a job. This condition unfortunately is a factor that lends itself to those children and offspring who’s only source of influence is there parent or caregiver if any. With are most likely drop out them self or are working two/three jobs to make ends meet, and single parents homes. These children are left to fend for themselves for hours. They start to associate with children in the same category and involve themselves in criminal behavior because there is to paternal supervision.
Zenaida
The Life we are living today is very unforgiving if the child does not have some kind of education they will some likely be a statistic. That is why I believe that criminal behavior in juvenile population is so common. Some of the juvenile that do not have an education feel alone and have a low self esteem with can lead to depression, drugs and eventually crime.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to juvenile criminal activity between race and ethnicity the record consistently show that the low class exhibit higher levels of involvement in criminal offences then the upper class. I believe is because the less fortune does not have the means of representation while the other class has the expensive attorney with all the recourses. That is one of the reason why lower levels is overrepresented in criminal offences.
Zenaida
Hello Erika
ReplyDeleteI agree with your theory “those who know better do better," that is why there are so many uneducated underachievers’ inmates in the prison system. They did not know better or had someone demanding or expecting greatness from them. That is why I believe that a positive influential parental role is the most important in a Childs life.
Zenaida
Hello Yasnay
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the government is not your children babysitter and that the education system needs improvement. I was believe that the government should implement some kind of accountability on parents because it take both to tango. When a women go for her doctor appointment she should have to register for parenting classes.
Zenaida