ipl-logo

Walter B. Miller's Focal Concern Theory

1070 Words5 Pages

In 1958 Walter B. Miller came up with a theory in order to explain the subculture in low-income neighborhood. The theory was called the focal concerns theory, and was divided into six different concepts that Miller thought explained the subculture in Low-income neighborhoods. In the movie Carlito’s way we are shown how some scenes correlate to Miller’s Focal concern theory, and explain the actions that the main character Carlito takes. Trouble, Toughness, smartness, fate, and autonomy are five out of the six focal concerns theory that Miller used in explaining the development of the subculture that existed in low-income neighborhoods, and the reasons why youth in these neighborhoods acted in the fashion that they did (Miller, W. B. 1958, pg.7). …show more content…

Miller’s article “Lower class culture as a generating milieu of gang delinquency” the focal concerns theory explain what each of the six focal concerns focuses on. Trouble in the focal concerns theory refers to the behavior of acting in a matter that brings conflict for the person with people in authority, such as police officer, as well as those in the middle class of society (Miller, W. B. 1958, pg.8). For men trouble tends to have a major focus on fighting, “sexual adventures with women”, and for women it represents sexual involvement that yield unwanted consequences, such as an unplanned pregnancy (Miller, W. B. 1958,

Show More
Related
1265 Words | 6 Pages

John Singleton’s film, Boyz N the Hood, displays the challenging upbringing of adolescents who have to live with harsh conditions around not only their home but also their surrounding town. The film compares the differences between the lifestyles of Tre Styles and his friends’, Darren and Ricky Baker. Darren and Ricky are half-brothers who are nothing alike. Singleton demonstrates the importance of male leadership in a home in the ghetto of Los Angeles by comparing the difference between the lifestyles of Tre and his friends. While many adolescents in the hood have close friendships, some form close relationships by assembling gangs and create a world of violence due to alcohol abuse, which together ultimately breeds discrimination.

Read More
1319 Words | 6 Pages

This African-American culture within Detroit shapes and gives meaning to the lives of Dude Freeman and Rodney Phelps. The overarching cultural element of African-American culture within Detroit affecting the two main interlocutors is the street drug trade. The culture of the street drug trade can be thought of as having three overarching effects on the adolescents which shape and give meaning to their lives, economic effects, kinship effects, and political effects.

Read More
577 Words | 3 Pages

During his time studying these boys, he found that most cases of conflict were resolved without the use of weapon(s), but rather with “harsh conversation”. This observation highly contradicts the typical view of gang members who are commonly stereotyped by their local community and justice system in Oakland. Rios describes how the boys “Conversations often involved references to guns as analogies for resolving conflict and demonstrating manhood”. The fact that most conflicts are dealt with in non-violent ways, highlights the negative role

Read More
947 Words | 4 Pages

Many of the boys pretended that negative interactions and stereotyping did not affect them, but their bravo personas only masked the fear inside. Fear made the boys feel weaker and less masculine, so they would deviate from social norms to regain respect and dignity among their peers and for themselves. Routine patterns of punishment eventually lead the boys to develop an altered view of thoughts, beliefs, and ways of behaving in order to survive the tough life set them. Chapter two concentrates on the history of Oakland, incarceration rates, youth systems of control, and the boy’s resistance to punishment and brutalization. The Oakland ghetto consists of a multiracial community, predominantly African-American and Latino, that are equally targeted and brutalized by police

Read More
1021 Words | 5 Pages

In “The Outsiders” by S.E Hinton, we are introduced to a wide range of characters whose actions and personalities are widely affected by the environment in which they grew up in. This is a very pervasive theme in the book, as the main element of the story is the rivalry between the street gangs “The Socs” (short for Socials), and “The Greasers' ' In Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Socs are depicted as a gang of well-off rich kids who aren’t afraid to show it off, and the Greasers are the polar opposite of this, most of the Greaers grew up impoverished, without one or both of their parents, or grew up in abusive households. This dynamic and disparancy between the individuals of the gangs leads to some interesting interactions between the characters.

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

How well Wes Moore describes the culture of the streets, and particularly disenfranchised adolescents that resort to violence, is extraordinary considering the unbiased perspective Moore gives. Amid Moore’s book one primary theme is street culture. Particularly Moore describes the street culture in two cities, which are Baltimore and the Bronx. In Baltimore city the climate and atmosphere, of high dropout rates, high unemployment and poor public infrastructure creates a perfect trifecta for gang violence to occur. Due to what was stated above, lower income adolescent residents in Baltimore are forced to resort to crime and drugs as a scapegoat of their missed opportunities.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

These effects additionally bleed into the subsequent generation. Arleen and Vanetta’s children were not given the opportunity to settle in a single neighborhood, matriculate at a single school, and build long-lasting relationships with peers and mentors. This cycle of poverty speaks to the greater effects that a trend can enact on a

Read More
1898 Words | 8 Pages

Exactly how culture impacts people depends on the environment of the culture as it can create deviant behavior. This theory is supported by Elijah Andersons’ Code of the Streets as, according to Anderson (2000), he indicates that crime is the result of varying cultural influences on the people within the community, specifically urban communities (p. 11). What better way to depict the effects of culture on a community than by comparing it to the community of Crenshaw? Crenshaw is filled with deviant behavior and this behavior has caused the people within the community to acclimate to it. Not only is the community filled with immoral behavior, but it is an area that is filled with struggling ethnic minorities.

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

How well does Moore describe the culture of the streets, where young boys grow up believing that violence transforms them into men? Talk about the street culture—its violence, drug dealing, disdain for education. What creates that ethos and why do so many young men find it attractive? Moore describes the culture of the street in a very detailed manner.

Read More
1007 Words | 5 Pages

When people make choices that could drastically change their life, the decision they make is based on the influence of others. In the novel, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton a gang called the Greasers is stereotyped for being the "mean types" that slack off at school. Then there are the Socials who are know as the rich kids with cool cars that happen to like "jumping" Greasers. As these two gangs are rivaling, they both go through some dramatic events that change their perspectives on life. In the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton the character Darrel Curtis is unquestionably influenced by his gang as it prevents him from being successful, leading him to becoming the father of the gang, and overall being someone to look up to.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

In Chapter 12 of Readings for Sociology, Garth Massey included and piece titled “The Code of the Streets,” written by Elijah Anderson. Anderson describes both a subculture and a counterculture found in inner-city neighborhoods in America. Anderson discusses “decent families,” and “street families,” he differentiates the two in in doing so he describes the so called “Code of the Streets.” This code is an exemplifies, norms, deviance, socialization, and the ideas of subcultures and countercultures.

Read More
625 Words | 3 Pages

Criminal and conflict gang whose primarily intent of crimes for tangible gains. Social structure theorists consider that the main components to illegal behavior are the ascendancy of social and economic influences that are distinguished in rundown communities where the population is predominantly lower-class citizens (Siegel, 2010). This following theory goes into helping us comprehend ways the human behavior, is the result of physical

Read More
1081 Words | 5 Pages

Many issues pertaining to this struggle is discussed in The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore. Moore discusses the adversities of growing up in inner city neighborhoods,

Read More
1004 Words | 5 Pages

Without proper education, the young adults do not receive the prospect of a bright future like those living in privileged neighborhoods do. Instead, the undereducated urban youth are led down the path of stealing, violence, substance abuse, and eventually, drug trading. Later on in life, El Barrio drug dealers discover that they do not have the cultural capital to gain legitimate work. Cultural capital in the workplace entails types of knowledge and education, skills, and any advantages one has—such as family or friendly connections—to improve their societal status. In In Search of Respect, Primo learns of his unawareness of professional propriety.

Read More
520 Words | 3 Pages

The lower-class subculture has a unique set of values and beliefs, which are invariably in conflict with conventional social norms. An example of cultural deviance applying to criminal behavior because the theory reflects how the subculture is attractive to many youths in the inner city because role models such as drug dealers, thieves, and pimps are so readily observable. The scene from Goodfellas that applies to cultural deviance theory is where Henry talks about his dad not understanding that he was a part of something and how he felt he finally belonged

Read More

More about Walter B. Miller's Focal Concern Theory

Open Document