Rocio Chavez

Rocio Chavez

597 words 

Soc. 111

19 March 2017

 

Crime Quiz 2

"I Would be a Bulldog": Tracing the spillover of carceral identity by Patrick Lopez-Aguado

The methods used in the article consisted of participant observation research as well as one-on-one interviews with teenagers who were part of the juvenile detention systems in Fresno, California. The author conducted this research for fifteen months tracking inmates through their time in the detention system and interviewing some once they were released and began to attend the San Joaquin Educational Academy, a continuation high school in Fresno, California as well. The author chose to base his research in Fresno because it was found that Fresno has the highest rates of juvenile incarceration in the state and is home to a majority Latino population.  The author conducted interviews with twenty-four teenagers ranging from 15-18 years of age who had been sentenced to juvenile detention focusing on those who were affiliated with gangs whether it be Norteño, Sureño, or Bulldog. They were asked how their experience in the detention system affected their lives upon being released and their acquaintances. The author found that all participants were victims of larger prison sorting systems that were adopted by the juvenile centers and are used to regulate those groups that do not get along. Sorting the young men and women upon arrival based on appearance and clothing would determine where they were placed and who they could encounter to avoid problems. What was found by the research was that almost all participants held a common belief that it was only a matter of when they ended up in jail. A mentality of "it's inevitable". They held this mentality because almost everyone they knew had been in juvenile detention on in jail at some point in their lives. In addition, it was found that it was more likely for those who were not gang affiliated to end up "backing up" the bulldog gang if they had to make a choice. Another finding was that many participants didn't want to be part of a gang, it was just something that was the norm in their daily lives or neighborhoods.

Ethnicity, information sources, and fear of crime By Jodi Lane and James W. Meeker

The research conducted for this paper was mostly done by using random digital dialing with residents of Orange County. The authors were in search for Latino and White residents most important source of crime news information. Although they tried to focus on just White and Latino residents, there were a few other ethnicities that took part in the study as well but were not included. I believe the information that was found was enough to generalize because the response rate for the survey was about 69% The dependent variable that was examined was overall fear of crime of residents. During the survey, they were given a point scale from 1 to 4 on the overall fear of crime ranging from not afraid to very afraid. They were also given eight scenarios of crimes which all seemed to be able to change ones' opinion and fear of crime if a victim to any one of the eight. I believe the independent variables that were mentioned were all important factors that should have been included. These were age, sex, education, victimization experiences and judicial district. I was not able to think of any meaningful ones that might have been left out. It was found that for both Latino and White residents, the most significant source of crime information was either television or the newspaper. It was interesting that as respondent sex was female and younger in age, television made their fear of crime levels increase. As for people that were older, educated, and got their crime information through the newspaper, their fear of crime levels decreased.