It has been portrayed throughout many years in movies and television shows, a poor boy overcomes the social and economic class that he was born into to become a wealthy and successful person. Our nation loves to see a “rags to riches” story, which is why so many of them exist. For that most part it is just a story which can be labeled as the “American dream”, but really it’s just a myth. Both “Class in America” by Gregory Mantsios and “Horatio Alger” by Harlon L. Dalton challenge the American myths of success by providing information and reason that shows how the “American dream” can only be achieved by a few people and is a rare occurrence. Both writers are focused on the reality of life in America and how hard it is to move past your economic status you’re born into…
Crime occurs when society does not provide its members with equal opportunities in society. The individuals are not given equal opportunity in society will not have the same investment in their community as members of society that are afforded job and educational opportunities. When social functions are not equal the members of society are not recognized by society, he or she will develop their own unique subculture is more accepting of crime (Rock, 2012). This type of subculture appears in lower income and poverty…
Polyestra states, “Fewer than one percent of Americans break out of the class they are born into.” (Tea 67) She goes on to tell about her parents and their dream of class jumping, and how they devote their lives to it. To her parents, the working class neighborhood, where they lived, was only temporary. Her parents wanted better. Even her grandparents wanted better. It was embedded into each generation that you could move higher up in class, with just the right job, the right education, and the right privileges. Her family struggled with this for years. The only purpose of the “children” was to become rich. When her father landed a job that provided more money, her parents felt that they had fulfilled their dream, the American Dream. Polyestra states:…
In fact, in situations of extreme poverty with no roof over their head, it is sometimes done with good intentions by the system. In their eyes, this allows the now labeled criminal to have a roof over their head. In situations like these, excluding the things the criminal could learn in prison, they will come out with a criminal record, which personally seems worse than before. Stern (2006) brings up the topic of life after prison, where she briefly explains certain things that happen to an ex-convict when they are trying to get their life back together. Those people who are put in jail for the lack of money, representation or suffer from mental illness/addictions often struggle with necessities like, getting a job, housing, etc. These things ultimately define if they will be able to live life outside of prison…
In Prison Writings in 20th Century, Franklin illuminates a positive correlation between poverty and incarceration after the 1929 stock market crash. Over a roughly ten-year period, the Great Depression elucidates an intersection of poverty and “criminality,” where impoverished conditions created behavioral responses that American society has criminalized. In addition, the crash created a profusion of cheap labor and therefore decreased the demand for prison labor. In 2008, the Great Recession destroyed countless people’s wealth, employment, and hope. The increase in poverty created by the recession should, according to the 1929 crash, also have a corresponding increase in incarceration and decrease in the use of prison labor. Yet incarceration…
At first glance of the cityscape the thought may arise on why crime is not the principle personal concern. However, decades of research suggest poverty is the driving force for crime. The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote “poverty is the parent of crime.” Nevertheless, poverty, crime and the lack of education are all related.…
In the past 3 years it shows from studies done around the country that 67% of inmates have gotten released and 57%of inmates have gotten arrested again either for the same crime they committed or for a new crime. In the past 30 years it has shown that sentencing has become more of longer sentences for punishment then for rehabilitation to help. Due to that a lot of prisons and jails have become over crowded. And less and less inmates have received the attention that they need to stop them from committing crimes. Honestly who wouldn’t want 3 free meals a day and roof over their head and not have to pay for anything? A lot of people don’t have places to go or things to eat so committing a crime and getting caught gives them…
Have you thought to yourself, what causes a convicted felon to get out of prison and commit another crime? After being punished by having to serve time in prison, why? In this essay we are going to discuss a reason why. The average person knows people who commit felonies are punished by being forced to spend time in prison. However, convicted felons lose more than this type of freedom as part of their punishment. It is as if the punishment is never over and the sentence never ends. That is what I believe causes most convicted felons to get out of prison and commit another crime.…
On the other hand, what about people from poor families who have not fallen into criminal behavior? I have a friend who was raised in Chicago Illinois, to a drug abusing mother. My friend was taught that you have to do whatever it takes to survive, even if that meant breaking the law. I remember having conversations with her where she told me she had to steal money, break into peoples’ houses,…
In the book Crime and the American Dream there are many values that shape our country for the American heros (honest citizens who do honorable deeds for the society) and American villains (criminals who do great harms to the society). “The term American Dream was introduced in the early 1930s by a historian named James Truslow Adams to describe his vision of a society open to individual achievement” (Messner and Rosenfeld, 6). By the introducing this term to the American people it gave them a whole new meaning to the opportunities that they could achieve. By the American Dream “people were socialized to accept the desirability of pursuing the goal of material success, and they are encouraged to believe that the chances of realizing the dream are sufficiently high to justify…
Crime is a major problem in America and it all leads back to poverty. In the words of Aristotle, “Poverty is the parent of crime,” but was he right? People who tend to have a lower income, or people who have no money, tend to have to steal just to get what they need to survive. In the same way,…
Our society fuels a cycle of poverty and incarceration. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, incarcerated people had a median income (prior to their incarceration) of $19,185 which is 41% less than non-incarcerated people. A large number of people enter prison in poverty and are released with a slim chance to escape poverty due to employment discrimination for prisoners. Poverty is a huge factor in the reason why America’s recidivism and re-incarceration rates are so high. Released prisoners are at a huge disadvantage and have limited opportunities to find jobs which leads them to participate in criminal activity. In order to break this vicious cycle, the policies in place in America need to be changed. These policies make it very…
United States of America (USA) is known for having the “American Dream” where everyone lives a happy surreal life. The American dream is difficult to achieve for most, because not everyone is given an equal opportunity to attain the material goods that come with the dream. This leads a person to commit crimes which further gets them into trouble with the law. All countries have their own perspectives on how criminals should be punished, some using retributive punishment while others use restorative justice. The Americans are lacking in thier direction of crime control, and there prison system is not very successful in the sense that incarceration solves all criminal problems. Therefore, Canada should not follow in the footsteps of USA instead they should think of new policies and laws in an effort to decrease their crime rates and their prison populations.…
Poverty correlates with social economic status. Living in poverty limits your ability to achieve the American dream to an extent. In “All Americans are victims of Katrina, amid systems failures” by Walter Mosley, he says [G]overnment fails each day to rebuild, redeem, rescue those because of poverty, race, and old age. This quote by Mosley summarizes the few reasons why it is challenging to accomplish the American Dream. Poverty consumes ambitions, intensifies your mentally, and cultivates crime. Urban areas and the inner-city are often riddled with poverty. These assets, if we would like to refer them as assets, blind those living in these conditions from achieving or being exposed to the American dream. Limited resources and knowledge hinders the likelihood to…
When crime, undernourishment and poverty prosper in society, it is a feature of the fact that the political system has failed to educate and equip the average individual in society with means to survive.…