In Class Essay 2 : Crime, Deviance, “The Code of the Street” and The Theories

          Both crime and deviance have always been an integral part of human society. By committing criminal activities and having deviant behaviors, people find an instant way to achieve their goals rather than following the legal paths. Crime is defined as breaking the written law, while deviance means opposing the mainstream values. In the book Essentials of Sociology, sociologists had analyzed the reason why crime exists. Through their analysis, they have come out with four different theories that are; functionalist, reinforcement, conflict theory and interactionist. The article “The Code of The Street ”by Elijah Anderson, explains how crime and deviance arise among us. Based on the two reading by Anderson and Essentials of Sociology, I see that reinforcement theory as the most prominent in Anderson’s article and the sub theory of it, control theory, is best in explaining crime.

          The first sub theory of reinforcement why crime happens is learned deviance. Sociologist claims that, “[human] learn deviant behaviors from those significant others with whom we spend the greatest amount of time” (Giddens et. Al. 154). Anderson’s example in “The Code of The Street” is perfectly linked with this theory. He gives an explanation about a child whom his mother teaches him with a corporal punishment. The child might develop fear and eventually he obeys his mother but his interpretation about socializing in public tends to get deviated. The child learned that “ to solve any kind of interpersonal problem one must quickly resort to hitting or other violent behavior” (Anderson 174). Consequently, this violent behavior will be passed down from parents to their offspring. Criminal and deviant behaviors never die as it passed down from generation to the next generation. Violence is not something genetically inherited, it is learned by the interaction among particular people.

          Furthermore, Elijah explains how learned deviance occurs within peers as well. The difference in social status between ”decent “ and “street” families worsened the presence of crime.  “Decent” families encourage their children to follow the social norms whereas “street ” families show lack of ability in educating them. Anderson explains street-oriented children are often fighting with their friends and the winner will enjoy the esteem. Anderson believes,”[fighting] experiences reinforce the lessons…toughness is virtue, while humility is not. In effect they learn the social meaning of fighting”(176). Ultimately, they realize that prevailed the fight by insulting an abusing people will give them a pride. It is believed that this condition happens in everywhere. Therefore, crime always exists because people learn our body can “talk” better and faster than the mouth in order to get something.


         Another type of reinforcement theory, which I feel the best in describing crime is control theory. Hirschi suggests, “the delinquents are often individual whose low levels of self-control are a result of inadequate socialization at home or at school” (Giddens et. Al. 156).  This concept is valid with Anderson’s statement. Anderson asserts “children from street-oriented gravitate to the streets, where they ‘hang’-socialize with their peers”(175). He deems that children who grow up in such environment have likelihood to develop criminal and aggressive behavior. Lack of self-control happens as a cause of lack of education from “street” families. It is human selfish that we ought to stand above from another. Whenever a conflict happens between two different parties, the heated argument between them could lead into a fight. Then, it depends on our mind to do the fight or hold it back. All the things that occur in society are depend on one’s decision. It is their responsibility to control their action. Thus, crime happens because people unable to hold themselves from committing it.

         In the Essentials of Sociology, control theory defines crime occurs a result of “an imbalance between impulses toward criminal activity and the social or physical controls that deter it”(155). Then in “The Code of The Street”, Anderson states,” [o]ne way of campaigning for status is by taking the possessions of others”(177) .From these definitions, it can be seen that the consciousness of one’s self us the one which determine one’s should or should not to commit crime. Everybody has their own way in achieving their goals. People are easily tempted to do delinquencies when they feel hopeless for their future. Inside, their conscience knows that their actions are contradicting with the social norms. Their minds are battling with their own heart and whatever the decision they make, it determines their ability in controlling themselves. The biggest enemy in this world is our mind. We can do anything as we wish to satisfy our desire. Hence, criminal act depends on our ability in bracing ourselves from committing it.

        “The Code of the Street” has a strong correlation with the crime theories proposed by the sociologist. The reinforcement theories, learned deviance and control theory are the most prominent in his article. Criminal and deviant behaviors are acquired from our interaction in public and it is our choice to commit those behaviors or ignore it. To overcome it, all the bad influences surrounding us have to be filtered by our mind. We should be able to control ourselves in responding it. Because of this reason, I feel the control theory best explains crime. Crime starts when people have planned it in their mind.

Out of Class Essay #1 : This Is My Society, This Is Me

Nobody in this world shares the same genes. Everybody in the world carries a unique identity that largely relies upon the relationship between people and their society. Farmworker’s Daughter, a novel by Rose Castillo Guilbault, inspires us to reflect how we have changed throughout the years.  In the book, Rose is a Mexican immigrant girl that had a hard time finding her identity. Rose had to adapt to the new surrounding, when she moved to America, in which the culture and language is totally different to what she grew up with. The struggle that she went through to conform to the society and her effort to maintain it throughout the years was remarkable. After reading Giulbault’s story, I came to a realization that our identity is indeed affected by the interactions we had in our society.

The environment that surrounds us has major influences on our behavior.  As for Rose, having had lived in two distinct places with totally different cultures, it may creates confusion on her identity. She might found it confusing to determine her true identity as she was born and raised in Mexico for 6 years but grew up in America in which the culture is totally different. Jose, Rose’s stepfather who work as a farmworker, says, “ In Mexico, only whores go out with men without chaperones”(172). In America, going out on a date is something usual but it is inappropriate in Mexican culture. Even though the American society recognizes Rose as a Mexican, they do not follow Mexican culture. This is the biggest challenge for Rose, as she needs to balance her life as both Mexican and American. Rose’s parents identify her as a Mexican but her friends identify her as an American. The unclear identity of herself causes confusion for Rose as she was treated differently in two different social groups, her family and her friends.


Having had the opportunity to study abroad in America for education causes a significant change in my life. Generally, the local culture and living environment were the one that influenced me. I was raised in Indonesia, a developing country, where the city and culture are completely different from the United States. I began to learn to manage my expenses and prioritize my needs rather than my desire. The foods’ price in America quadrupled as compared Indonesia and therefore it is such a necessity for me to be able to manage my expenses efficiently in an economical way. Also, I became more disciplined ever since I came here. In Indonesia, littering and speeding are norms rather than exceptional, and for sure I cannot apply those manners in this country. American culture demands us to give a right of way for pedestrians, while in Indonesia; drivers would accelerate before someone starts to cross. Every nation develop their own set of rules. Thus, to be accepted in the society, we ought to follow the local’s norms.


Parents, the first members of one’s social life, have significant roles in constructing one’s identity. Maria Luisa and Tito are the first people whom Rose has socialized with. The kindness and mistreatment from parents would remain ingrained in child’s mind and impact his/her life. Rose felt the motherly love from Maria while Tito didn’t leave any good memories, as Rose claims, “I only remember his impatience. How he’d push me away after a hug”(12). Furthermore, the fact that Tito had a mistress that brought Rose’s parents into a divorce also affected her. As the daughter of a father who didn’t give his love and even lied to her mother about his previous wife, Rose might has a bad impression of her father. Her disappointment about father image had reached climax point when her mom dated a temperamental man, Mr. Brown. Through these incidents, Rose might think that men are rude and egoistic. Rose’s interpretation towards men has changed and it could influence her future. Her lost of trust in men might cause a dilemma for Rose in having a relationship with man. Hence, family bonds strongly influence of one’s life.


My family influences me significantly. Being raised in a Chinese family, a strict conservative environment, it is normal for parents to discipline their children with corporal punishment. My mom used to hit and punish me with a rattan whenever I did something wrong. Her treatment traumatized me and developed a fear since I was young. However, the discomforts that I had in my childhood are paid off after several years. My neighbors acclaim me as a discipline and diligent boy because their children often sneak out in the middle of the night and cause them to have low grades in school. They said that it was their mistake of giving their child freedom ever since they are young. Unquestionably, if we were to be given too much freedom in our life, we would not grow up to be a responsible adult as we would always find another way that please us. Our parents lived longer in this world; therefore they know what is the best for us as they know that it will benefit our life in the future.


In Rose’s struggle as a Mexican, she met two great mentors who brought up her self-confidence back again. Her meeting with Mrs. Rojas caused huge impacts on her personality in looking for her own self. Guilbault states,” [the] seeds of self-worth, acceptance, and pride in who I was were planted so subtly that I didn’t even realize they were growing until many years later, when I found them rooted inside me” (86). Mrs. Rojas was a Mexican American teacher who also had painful humiliation by her peers, but now she stood out as an amazing teacher. Looking at Mrs. Rojas’ life journey, Rose may introspect herself that being born as Mexican does not mean that it limits her to show her excellence. If Rojas can, why can’t Rose? Rose’s talent in writing was developed by Edith Winslow who work on Rustler Herald newspaper. She hired Rose to work as a journalist. Rose had an excellent performance and people start to recognize her. When society accepted the existence of one’s self, alternatively it will boost up one’s self-confidence. The appreciation of the society towards her work boosted her morality and encouraged her to do an even better job.


When I was 4 years old, one of my teachers scolded me as a dumb student. It leaves such a very depressing impression in my mind and it still affects me today. All these years, I have improved on my performance in school. However, I still consider myself as a mediocre student. When people praise me “ you are great ” or like ”you are smart”, I always deny it with “no, you are too much. I am not that good”. I experienced this back in my secondary socialization and it influenced me significantly as I grew up with that thought deeply ingrained in my mind. Up to today, I have the tendency to underestimate my own ability, but I always bear in mind that the incident happened in the past and who I am today will be a better person.


The presence of a lover in someone’s life undoubtedly can change one’s character and personality. Rose had her first date with Jimmy, a young soldier. To Rose, having jimmy as a male acquaintance meant more than just a friend and even best friend. Rose might discover herself turning from nobody to somebody.  Since she has no siblings, Jimmy is Rose’s shoulder to cry on, when she is sharing her problems. Having a romantic relationship can make us to be a better person since he or she understands us more rather than we ourselves do. He or she can see the part of us that we never knew. Our lover is the person whom we share our problems with and ask for his or her opinions. My girlfriend always supports me with positive words when I face difficulties and she influences my life. She comments on my bad personality and behaviors and hope I can change it. A good relationship happens where the couple talks like best friends, play like kids, argue like husband and wife, and protect each other like siblings.


Environment we lived in, family, teachers and friends are the agents of socialization. Every moment that we had with them influence our identity. The interactions between them are the process when our individuality is shaped. As time goes by, we meet new people who have different attitudes and it might changes our behaviors as well. People’s identity can be reformed over and over again without any limitation. Accept the good things and leave the bad ones. Good memories will increase one’s confidence while bad experiences will lower it down. Ourselves are strongly constructed by people around us and so do yours.

In Class Essay #1 : Uniqueness

          In this universe, nobody is same. Obviously, every single person on earth has differences in physical appearances compare with other people and so do their personalities. When people where born into this world, they inherit genes that come from their parents in which make up their identity. The identity is what they are known for. In the articles “The Self and The Organism” wrote by George Herbert Mead, “Socialization: The Internalization of Society” by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, “Socialization, the Life Course, and Aging” in a book Essentials of Sociology, and “Sociological Imagination” by C. Wright Mills elaborate that the social life that each individual experience contributes how identity of one’s self is determined or developed. After reading all of those articles, it brings me up to the thought that things outside of us have major contribution in shaping on our identity. 

          The activities that we are doing determine how our identity will be looked like. In the Essentials of Sociology it is written, “multiple social identities reflect the many dimensions of people’s life.” We can examine the interplay between society and our identity. The book explains a person could be a mother, an engineer, a Muslim and a council member. But, public will identify a man who is an engineer, a Muslim and a city council member differently compare with the woman that had explained in the book. The social environments have big influences on how people recognize us. Our identity is judged by our performance in public. 

         Another factor that affect our identity is the gap in social classes and status between our surrounding and us. Mead states,“ we are on thing to one man and another thing to another.” He notes that there are circumstances where people can have different selves. I can relate his point into my personal experience. Whenever I have a conversation with a teacher, I would remain calm and be polite instead of go wild and crazy. Teacher has higher status in school and students shall show their respect. Another illustration is a man with his domestic. The mate may give her patience to her master but she can get angry easily with her child. In man’s eye the mate is a servant but her child sees her as a mother. Although the body is one, when we show with different personalities, people will identify us as another person. Ourselves are changing depend on with whom we are dealing with. 

          Furthermore, family also takes a part in construct one’s identity. Berger and Luckmann say “primary socialization creates in the child’s consciousness a progressive abstraction from the roles and attitudes of specific others to roles’ and attitudes in general.” Parents are the first place for the child to learn about this life. This is the moment where the child becomes a member of his or her society. During this development stage, how our parents raise we up is really important to the development of ourselves. There is a wise phrase in Indonesia’s culture that states, “The fruit does not fall far away from its tree.” It means if we grow up in good family with good cares and treatments, eventually we, the fruit of the tree, will turn into a good person and vice versa. 

          Rational thought is one of the things that we learn from society and it forms our identity. People do not realize that their environment affects their life’s ups and downs. Mills claims that, “ [t]he sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the reaction between the two within society.” He urges us to see the social world through wider point of view by flashback the history of it. Since the problems that happen on each individual are linked to public issues, we need to discover what were happened back in the past. Sociological imagination skill develops our mind to think based on the facts and reality. Within this ability, we might possess a better frame of mind. Life is matter of choice and the path that we had taken will establish how society views us. 

          Our uniqueness is formed through the society. How people identify us either as a bad or good person is depend on what they have grasped from us. Besides, the testimonials from other people to another also contribute in forming our identity. Public will judge every thing that we do and it is their references in classifying people’s identity. Thus, our social environment has big influences in forming our identity.