Why Is The Crime Rate Of African Americans So High?

I have always been interested in the psychological background of criminology and I had just recently read that African Americans are six times more likely to commit crime than a white person. After years or harsh racial discrimination that are still seen at some levels today, they are rated to be the most likely to commit crime. In today’s society, African Americans are stereotypically seen as dangerous and likely commit some sort of violent crime towards you. This is because of the amount of blacks being arrested for these crimes. Although it cannot be said that all African Americans will go through the judicial system at some point, it can be seen in stats that their crime rate is alarmingly high. This was a very shocking statistic so I decided to look at different theories that might purpose to why their crime rate is so high. One theory is a sociological theory called social disorganization that states that because of the disorganization of the community, there would be a lack of crime control thus leading the society in higher crime rate and turmoil. Due to low income of most blacks, they are forced to live in inner cities where the population is high and there is lack of union. In these areas, we see large numbers of gangs and violence thus creating a higher crime rate. Another theory is the labeling theory where if one were to be labeled as a criminal, they will stigmatize into a criminal. African Americans are stereotypically seen as dangerous, violent, and unlawful. With these generalizations put upon them, it can develop their minds into criminal minds. Personally, I have a more psychological view, where due to the situation and community they live in, it creates a psychological thought that they must commit crime to fit in and survive in their society. Another major part of the high crime rate is the discrimination from the law enforcer but we cannot always make them the oppressor of criminals.

Response to “Black Friday”

Black Friday is a tradition in the East coast region of the United States. Over the past years, it has created chaos including three deaths and an injury. A man working at Walmart was trampled to death in 2008 by shoppers who broke into the stores glass door minutes before it was scheduled to open. A pregnant women in the same store was also trampled on but luckily left alive with some injuries. That same day, two people were shot and killed during an argument in a Toys R Us store. This shows Americans will kill for a bargain.

Cliques, the Fact and Fiction

A few days ago in class, we talked about the different cliques in high school. Although cliques do not exist in college for the most part, it creates the base of who we are today. We may have come into college with a clean slate, ready to start over, but there will always be a part of you that still has qualities from the high school clique. For example, if you were considered a jock in high school, chances are you will spend your future in sports or something related to action and/or physical work. And even if this is not true, there will always be part of you that has that jock background.

Although these cliques seemed to be ways to create social boundaries, they were usually more open in real life. In movies and TV shows, we see that those who step out of their social norm is instantly and completely shunned from their clique. In the real world, this is usually not the case. There is more of a chance to try different things without having the burden of excommunication. These cliques are agents of socialization and we are mostly all part of at one point of time.

The Patriots and Week 7 of the NFL

The 5-2 New England Patriots have recently come out with two impressive wins. Week 6 they beat the Tennessee Titans 59-0 and Tom Brady broke another NFL record by throwing five touchdown passes in a single quarter and a total of six TD passes that game. In week 7, they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 with Brady throwing 3 TD passes. Coming back from a knee injury from last season, Brady was regarded to be immovable and sloppy, which was shown in the first five weeks but is now shown to life up to his hype. With three Superbowl rings and two MVP statuses, Brady is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He is very precise in his throwing and is extremely smart. The Patriots are considered the comeback kings and these last two wins explains that title.

The 2009 NFL season as of week 7 is looking considerably awkward with three undefeated teams and three teams still looking for a win. One team that stands out are the Denver Broncos. With a new, first year head coach and a new quarterback, they are 6-0, shocking most, if not all fans. Josh McDaniels, the head coach of the Broncos obviously knows what hes doing and I would not be surprised if he were to be nominated coach of the year. He was the offensive coordinator of the Patriots before this season and personally helped Brady into success.

Kimbo Slice (Response)

In response to http://nicknoel.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/kimbo-slice/…

Kimbo Slice emerged to fame from underground, street fighting. His videos have been upload constantly on YouTube. In the recent season of The Ultimate Fighter, Kimbo Slice is a featured fighter, fighting for a heavyweight contract in UFC. The viewer rating for this season has been high due to the buzz of Slice, being among the favorite to most viewers. Slice is known for his speed and standing game where his most likely chance of winning is by knockout. In his first fight against Roy Nelson, we see Slice having a few good jabs to Nelson’s face. Slice’s impatience lead to Nelson tackling him down to the ground and with his weight on Slice, he was unable to move therefore having Nelson win the fight.

I do agree that the fight was bull and that Nelson came out lucky that day. Slice does need to work on his ground game but it was more of the fact that Nelson’s weight was the major factor of the loss. We will most likely see Slice in more fights due to his popularity which contributes to the viewer ratings. I personally think that Kimbo Slice can have a chance for the contract only if he trains harder so that he has a better ground game. Team Rampage needs to step up since they’ve lost all their fights so far, the latest being through tapout.

Confined With Fines

At 11 o’clock, Tuesday morning, I was awakening by loud knocks on my door. At first I chose to ignore them but after the knocking was repeated over and over, I had to open it. Apparently the sofa in the common room was stolen and the kids in my section were going door to door trying to find it.  I was surprised to hear that the fine for such an old and uncomfortable sofa was $1,000 and that my section and one other section would have to pay for it if it was not recovered by Friday. I spent the rest of my morning until class trying to help the guys find it without any luck.

Not only are we responsible for this fine but we are fined $25 for not flushing a toilet, up to $100 for not closing the shower curtains and other fines for messes and damages. Although I do agree that fines are acceptable for damages and stolen items, but the residence directors should do a better job in finding the culprit, instead of fining the entire dorm. It is not everyone’s fault if there is a pizza box left outside or it a sofa was stolen. These large fines on stupid things such as not flushing will add up and take a large sum of money out of our pockets. This policy is ridiculous and should just be part of the large sum we already pay for campus living. The pricing of these fines are selfishly high and are only necessary to some extent.