The Wire By Charles Hurst: Chapter Analysis

The second episode of The Wire is about continuing the investigation on Avon Barksdale and the drug ring that the gang is involved in. Major Daniels and the rest of his unit still have not seen Avon Barksdale. McNulty goes to Judge Phelan again about the case and almost gets himself in trouble. D’Angelo was brought in again but was saved by his lawyer. Chapter 2 from the book Social Inequality, Forms, Causes, and Consequences by Charles Hurst is all about the class system in America. It discusses the different types of class and about the definition of class. People disagree on how many class levels there are and what the definition of class is based on. Income, education and occupation are all concepts that are included in the definition of class. Wealth is a way of separating the each class into a certain category. In The Wire is clear line between the

Comparing the gang members to the police units is a good way to distinguish the differences between the two class systems. Hurst defines class into three sections, “occupational status, education, and/or income. Individuals or families that fall in the same category on these dimensions are then said to be in the same social class” (Hurst 17). All of the gang members fall into the same social class. They all have similar occupational status, education and income. The police unit also falls under the same categories except the have a higher occupational status, education and income. Hurst states, “Occupational status is essentially a measure of the prestige of an occupation—that is, it reflects the subjective judgment” (Hurst 17). The lower the occupational status the more judgment there is on that group