Criminology Essay, Research Paper

Hai Pham

6/16/99

Criminology

One child grows up to be somebody

who just loves to learn.

And the other child grows up to be

somebody who just loves to burn

(198)

An excerpt of this poem paints a picture of two brothers, John and Robert Wideman, leading different lives. Robert Wideman, embraced a path common for black men during that era; a life of crime, glamour, and drugs. Quietly sitting in jail, he reminisces deeply about his troubled past and the consequences of the future that now haunts him. John, on the other hand, chose the path less taken by those living in the same world as he did and in due time become a successful professor at a University. How did two people from the same origin, living in similar environments, and raised by a caring family choose such different paths? Some might explain the cause to be risk factors, learned behavior, or missed opportunities. When explaining criminal behavior, it is inevitable to identify sociological, behavioral, and psychological problems as causes of crime.

John and Robert always dreamed about running away from the poverty embracing their community. Even though they shared the same dream, each considered different means of achieving this dream. John determined early on that ? to get ahead, to make something of myself, college had seemed a logical, necessary step; my exile, my flight from home began with good grades, with good English? (27). In order for John to climb the social status, he realized that his only ticket out of poverty and his community is through a good education. Status must be earned through hard work and determination. Robert is just the opposite of John. Early on, Robert acknowledged that school and sports could not satisfy the glamour that Robert so much desired? Unlike John who disliked blackness, Robert ?got a thing about black. See black was like the forbidden fruit? (84). Robert embraced the people living in Homewood, Pittsburgh. He felt connected to them especially when he discovered Garfield ?cause that?s where the niggers was. Garfield was black? (85). By embracing what other people valued and thought, Robert incorporated the same criminal values as his own. Robert has accepted his fate, a life of glamour through deviant behavior.

Delinquency at an early age may have contributed to Robert?s behavior. According to Cohen, deviant behavior derives from an inversion of values. Robert?s values can be best summed up by the statement ?[t]he thing was to make your own rules, do your own thing, but make sure it?s contrary to what society says or is? (58) . Inversion of values is practically portraying what society views as socially acceptable, unacceptable. A great example explaining this inversion of values is captured during a school strike. Robert recaptures the greatest moment of his life when he took over the school. Through his eyes, ?[i]t was the white man?s world and wasn?t no way round it or over it or under it … so I kept on cutting classes and *censored*ing up and doing my militant thing every chance I got.? (114). It seems that Robert felt frustrated living in such an oppressed environment. He once believed that prosperity can be achievable but somehow his belief in what society has taught him relating to success is wrong. Through this belief, Robert maintains a violent life.

Other variables such as family, the community, and opportunities for success play a critical role in shaping the behavior of adolescence according to Cloward and Ohlin. There were lost opportunities when Robert?s family decided to move back to Homewood from Shadyside. A good education in a community that cared for the student was stripped from Robert?s g