Boyle Heights: A Neighborhood Assessment
A Neighborhood Assessment
Boyle Heights
Boyle Heights- Introduction
Boyle Heights is infamous as being one of the major hubs of violence, most notably perpetrated by juvenile gangs. The neighborhood has even gained wide exposure in academia as made evident by our Professor’s study (Tita, 2002, Tita et al 2003). Although crime is a salient feature associated with the Boyle Heights community, crime prevention establishments such as Father Greg’s Homeboy Industries have belied the perception that Boyle Heights is a futile cause. There are numerous agents of social control (private, parochial and public) that pervade the community, yet there remains constant debate over the efficacy of such programs. Recently, …show more content…
Yet there is hope: Homeboy Industries is a crime prevention organization that offers current and former gang members a second chance. More specifically, through its myriad of small businesses (bakery, silkscreen, Café, Maintenance, etc) Homeboy employs and inculcates “at risk” individuals with valuable work experience and job training. The byproduct of such an experience is that young adults adopt the social decorum associated with conventional means of success. (Choi and Kiesner, 2007)
Homeboy Industries embodies the general framework of Offender-Based Neighborhood Programs. Job training, placement assistance, and counseling are the means of community control of individuals. According to Bursik and Grasmick (1993) they state that Offender-Based Neighborhood Programs place “emphasis on the modification of the likelihood that people would participate in illegal activities” (157). In terms of organizational dynamics, Homeboy is an indigenous establishment that not only employs local residents, but works alongside local agencies and institutions. It is a non profit organization that is comprised of community based board of directors (Choi and Kiesner, 2007). In many respects, Homeboy Industries parallels the framework of the Chicago Area Project employed by Shaw and McKay: it is an autonomous crime prevention source that utilizes at risk …show more content…
Residents are most concerned with the prevalence of violent crime; such crime is often attributed to gang members utilizing guns. In terms of statistics, Boyle Heights falls within the Hollenbeck area. The early 1990s saw a peak in homicide rates across the nation. Subsequently, homicide rates have steadily decreased to the present day rate. However, according to Tita’s study (2003, 3-6), the downward trend experienced across the nation belies the fact that Hollenbeck’s homicide rate has remained significantly higher in comparison to Los Angeles and the nation. The aforementioned underscores that although crime rates have decreased, Boyle Heights remains a violent area in terms of comparable policing districts: one of the two or three most violent areas in Los Angeles. (Tita et al,
Boyle Heights
Boyle Heights- Introduction
Boyle Heights is infamous as being one of the major hubs of violence, most notably perpetrated by juvenile gangs. The neighborhood has even gained wide exposure in academia as made evident by our Professor’s study (Tita, 2002, Tita et al 2003). Although crime is a salient feature associated with the Boyle Heights community, crime prevention establishments such as Father Greg’s Homeboy Industries have belied the perception that Boyle Heights is a futile cause. There are numerous agents of social control (private, parochial and public) that pervade the community, yet there remains constant debate over the efficacy of such programs. Recently, …show more content…
Yet there is hope: Homeboy Industries is a crime prevention organization that offers current and former gang members a second chance. More specifically, through its myriad of small businesses (bakery, silkscreen, Café, Maintenance, etc) Homeboy employs and inculcates “at risk” individuals with valuable work experience and job training. The byproduct of such an experience is that young adults adopt the social decorum associated with conventional means of success. (Choi and Kiesner, 2007)
Homeboy Industries embodies the general framework of Offender-Based Neighborhood Programs. Job training, placement assistance, and counseling are the means of community control of individuals. According to Bursik and Grasmick (1993) they state that Offender-Based Neighborhood Programs place “emphasis on the modification of the likelihood that people would participate in illegal activities” (157). In terms of organizational dynamics, Homeboy is an indigenous establishment that not only employs local residents, but works alongside local agencies and institutions. It is a non profit organization that is comprised of community based board of directors (Choi and Kiesner, 2007). In many respects, Homeboy Industries parallels the framework of the Chicago Area Project employed by Shaw and McKay: it is an autonomous crime prevention source that utilizes at risk …show more content…
Residents are most concerned with the prevalence of violent crime; such crime is often attributed to gang members utilizing guns. In terms of statistics, Boyle Heights falls within the Hollenbeck area. The early 1990s saw a peak in homicide rates across the nation. Subsequently, homicide rates have steadily decreased to the present day rate. However, according to Tita’s study (2003, 3-6), the downward trend experienced across the nation belies the fact that Hollenbeck’s homicide rate has remained significantly higher in comparison to Los Angeles and the nation. The aforementioned underscores that although crime rates have decreased, Boyle Heights remains a violent area in terms of comparable policing districts: one of the two or three most violent areas in Los Angeles. (Tita et al,