Whites of West Virginia - Term Paper Example

Whites of West Virginia Introduction The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia is a documentary film by Julien Nitzberg portraying the social problems that a family goes through. “Fuss and fight and party’ is the motto of the family and there are various speakers in the documentary including policemen and lawyers who offer social interpretations of their wild behavior. They are involved in crimes such as drug possession, distribution and trafficking, and the use of violence. However, drug trafficking and possession is a crime which usually takes place in sociological settings where local street gangs are formed. This crime can be explained through various criminology theories; strain theory and genetics theory are two which will be discussed in this paper. Drug possession, trafficking, and distribution are crimes which include the possession, selling, importing, or transportation of any illegal control substance. For drug possession, the offender must have physical control of the drugs. Drug trafficking can be done by an individual or a group of people but the punishment depends on various factors such as the location, type of drugs, people involved, and amount of drugs trafficked. These offenses come under criminal charges and can result in heavy levels of punishment. It is difficult to ever know clearly what the reason behind a crime being committed was. Criminology gives several theories which help in determining the reasoning of crimes. Two of those theories will be covered which the strain theory by Robert K Merton and the genetic theory which focuses on ‘nature vs. nurture’. The strain theory suggests that ‘no legitimate means, substitute illegitimate means’. The genetic theory suggests that acting criminally is in a person’s DNA, maybe because they are born in a life of crime. The reasons why individuals commit crimes in Merton’s strain theory are because they have a lack of opportunity, deviance, and a need to accomplish the ‘American Dream’ (Samaha, 2005). The causes of crime according to the biological theory of genetics are faulty genes, lack of moral development, and a limited rationality. In Merton’s strain theory, the lack of equal opportunity and no legitimate means are the major reasons for crime. Merton believed that the reason why a person is forced to commit a crime is that they don’t get equal opportunities. In order to eliminate crime, Merton believed that more equal opportunities must be provided. Practically it may be impossible to give an equal salary cap to everyone but the society must ensure that everyone receives equal opportunities. These low income individuals also need assistance from social groups in finding jobs and gaining moral support and confidence (Samaha, 2005). The strain theory also believes that deviance is the major cause of crime. Criminal organizations abide by their own goals and rules with little respect for the authorities. These groups form one of the five modes of adaption to strain given by Merton. These groups accept the societal goals but they have no legitimate means to fulfill them, thus they design ways of their own to go ahead. A criminal organization is then formed and they strive off crime whether it is robbery or drug trafficking. The means they adopt are simply illegitimate (Vito, 2011). Deviant behavior is fundamental to such groups as they are the ones who practice deviant behavior and tend to go against the general views of the society. The ways to reduce or eliminate crimes from these groups is through monitoring the group routines and making them away from the criminal life. There must be conformity within the organization so if one person adopts the societal goals, then the others will also conform to them and the criminal organization will start to break down. The American Dream is something that every individual desires to live; having a home, a wife, kids, and a job. This dream is fixed in the heads of all the people and they would do anything just to reach this goal; even if it requires acting criminally. The idea of the American Dream is drilled in the heads through the media and societal influence (Vito, 2011). This concept has become harder to understand in modern times as both spouses have to work instead of just the male. Thus individuals achieve this goal by adopting criminal measures such as selling marijuana to a friend. The criminology theory of genetics deals with the societal and biological influences on the criminal behavior. This theory states that a person is born in a life of crime and criminal behavior is in the DNA. According to this idea, individuals have uncontrollable guts for acting criminally and they do it opposing their free will. It is a life that they don’t have to choose, but they are born to live in it. This theory can also be known as nature vs. nurture as an individual becomes criminal because it is in his nature. This concept speaks more than someone influenced by his surroundings or lifestyle. It says that it is one’s jeans that they adopt criminal behavior. This gene is given to them by their parents (Siegel, 2011). This theory simply says that genetics is solely the reason for criminal behavior whether it is the chemical imbalance in the brain or the defective genes passed down from parents. According to this theory, the way to reduce or eliminate criminal behavior is through genetic testing of those individuals who are at risk. Through this testing, the patterns of the faulty genes can be determined (Hall, 2012). The genetics theory of criminology also points out the aspect that limited rationality of a person is the cause for criminal behavior as they do not realize the seriousness and the consequences of that crime. Their mind and thinking is unreasonable due to their faulty genes and the way they act is the way they are raised in a criminal lifestyle. This is most commonly seen in serial killers as they tend to take a person’s life brutally without realizing that there is something wrong in it. In such cases it can clearly be seen that there is something wrong with the killer’s mind because a normal, rational person would not do that without hesitation. These individuals need to be institutionalized (Hall, 2012). It is impossible to determine the individual with faulty genetics unless they are caught and tested. Genetics also blames the lack of moral development as the cause of crime. The child is born with that genes and life. As they grow up, it is the responsibility of the parents to mould the child mentally, morally, and physically. Parents have the responsibility to teach what is right and what is wrong. If parents tell their children that selling stolen goods or drugs is a good thing, they will grow up believing that it is right and moral. The moral development of an individual does not only reflect the upbringing but also the way life is acquired in the teenage. In some cases, friends also play a major role in affecting criminal behavior and moral development (Siegel, 2011). Under the criminal code of Canada, drug possession or trafficking is an offence and moving over 3kgs of illegal substance can lead to a term in prison. Merton’s strain theory explains drug trafficking as a way of making money. A drug trafficker would have no other legitimate means of making money and so he would make money through narcotics selling and dealing. There is a lot of money in drug trafficking for the suppler, the middle man, the dealers, and also for government through convictions and charges (Hall, 2012). Criminal organizations perceive drug trafficking as a means to advance, especially for young gang members it is the best way to grow and make money. These gangs believe that selling drugs is something very cool as you get to deal with a lot of people and make money more than any part time job. The strain theory develops that individuals become drug traffickers because they have no legitimate means to survive so they adopt illegitimate means. The biological theory of genetic sees the drug traffickers as people who were born in that life of crime. These people become drug traffickers because they grow up in this lifestyle around drugs and crimes and thus for them it is not something which is morally wrong (Hall, 2012). Their unreasonable and irrational minds tell them that it is a right source of making money and legitimate or illegitimate has nothing to do with it. These people have limited rationality and according to that they only see and understand the positives of drug trafficking. They fail to realize the affects that it may have on the society. This theory also suggests that the social environment affects the criminal behavior of a person as the person may be motivated to deal in drugs because his friends do so or use them. For example, a person’s lifelong friend offers him the opportunity to make money by simply pushing an amount of narcotics for him. People with criminal genetics won’t hesitate in doing so whereas a normal, rational person may hesitate for a while at least. Thus, genetics theory states that a person is a drug trafficker by birth and he is brought up in his life as a drug dealer (Siegel, 2011). The biological theory of genetics can at times be difficult to understand as it does make sense but it is questionable. An individual who grew up in a criminal setting, shows limited rationality, and lacks moral development is very near to a criminal life (Hall, 2012). However, the statement that individuals are born with a faulty or criminal gene is not right. It wouldn’t be right to say that the reason why a person’s actions are criminal is because it is passed down through his parents. It is true that certain characteristics and attributed of the person may lead in a criminal behavior but it’s a person’s own will to make that final decision. This theory may also be used as an excuse as a person may use these theories to make an excuse of why he committed the crime. However, Merton’s strain theory is agreeable as he explains people are like animals that would do anything when it comes to survival and protecting their family’s livelihood. In this regard, it is a natural instinct that people would be ready to do anything when there is no option left in order to make money for survival (Hall, 2012). When it is the question of survival and the likelihood of the family, there is nothing which can stop the individual from acting in a criminal way. For instance, a normal rational man who is unemployed and then gets a job with a minimum wage which doesn’t even pay his bills and he has a wife and children to support. As soon as he realizes that he can earn a lot of money through selling narcotics, he becomes a drug trafficker. When there was no legitimate means, an illegitimate mean was adopted. These people are worth sympathy because they do it because of the societal pressures, lack of opportunities, and the emotional pressure to support a family. This theory is easier to agree with as it doesn’t seem as criminally wrong to sell narcotics to friends in order to feed children. The problem comes in when it gets difficult to classify the type of dealers as it’s difficult to understand which one is less dangerous than the other. Drugs are also of different types and some may be less dangerous than others but however, all are illegal. These theories were developed to explain the reasons behind the criminal behaviors; however no matter what the theories say and how many theories are published, it will always be difficult to fully understand why a criminal commits a crime. Thus, the strain and genetic theories are two theories which explain the reasons why drug dealers sell drugs. The lack of moral development and lack of opportunity, societal pressures and faulty genes; these are two different aspects and they lead to different concepts about criminal behavior. The theory which clearly explains the reasons why drug trafficking has become common is the strain theory and it is easier to agree upon. References Hall, S. (2012). New Directions in Criminological Theory. London: Routledge Samaha, J. (2005). Criminal Justice. NY: Thomson/Wadsworth Siegel, L. (2011). Criminology. London: Cengage Learning Vito, G. (2011). Criminology: Theory, Research, and Policy. NY: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Read More