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ChrisMendezFirstEssay 5 - 20 May 2015 - Main.ChrisMendez
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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | | | Donald Black argues that law is one form of social control. He suggests that there exists an inverse relationship between law and other types of social control. The presence of elevated levels of violence in underprivileged communities in the inner city seems to suggest the lack of social control in such areas. Such an argument overlooks the complexities stemming from the heavy gang presence in many urban communities. The form of social control exercised by gangs oftentimes includes particular rules related to permissible attire, regulating access to particular blocks and alleys, and territorial markers via graffiti. The forms of social control exerted by gangs are oftentimes enforced by violence or by the threat of violence.
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< | This is not to suggest that the law is nonexistent in communities with a large gang presence. Many cities have dedicated substantial resources, including additional police officers, to these communities. Many have also turned to surveillance technology to monitor gang activity and drug trafficking. Beginning in 2003, for instance, Chicago began installing “Police Observation Devices” (PODs) in intersections experiencing high rates of violence. On one hand, these devices may exemplify the introduction of more law in underprivileged communities because they allow the police to monitor the activity of individuals passing by the cameras for twenty-four hours a day. On the other hand, the cameras do not necessarily decrease gangs’ level of social control because gangs can simply conduct illicit activities, which are oftentimes linked to violence, in a more clandestine matter. For instance, gangs can move drug operations to another block and they can refrain from wearing gang colors. Overall, violent crime has not decreased much in Chicago since 2004 and many of the areas in close proximity to PODs experience elevated levels of violence. | >
> | This is not to suggest that the law is nonexistent in communities with a large gang presence. Many cities have dedicated substantial resources, including additional police officers, to these communities. Many have also turned to surveillance technology to monitor gang activity and drug trafficking. Beginning in 2003, for instance, Chicago began installing “Police Observation Devices” (PODs) in intersections experiencing high rates of violence. On one hand, these devices may exemplify the introduction of more law in underprivileged communities because they allow the police to monitor the activity of individuals passing by the cameras for twenty-four hours a day. On the other hand, the cameras do not necessarily decrease gangs’ level of social control because gangs can simply conduct illicit activities, which are oftentimes linked to violence, in a more clandestine matter. For instance, gangs can move drug operations to another block and they can refrain from wearing gang colors. Overall, violent crime has not decreased much in Chicago since 2004 and many of the areas in close proximity to PODs experience elevated levels of violence. | | | II. Transitioning Cities, More of the Same
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