1. Explaining poverty BRENDA ssu
COMMENTARY #2

2. Social Structure theory
The theory explains that the poorer, lower-classes are to blame for crimes.
To some extent I agree with what this theory has to explain, because if the people that are committing the crimes were given a “fighting chance” they would not have to commit crimes in the first place.
EX: Tyler, who does not have a high school diplomas, sells drugs on the streets to support his family.
While some may argue that he could have simply applied for a ”normal” job, most of these “normal” jobs require at least a high school diploma, even for a job at McDonald's.
So in theory for some cases, some times the lower classes are responsible for crimes, because it is out of necessity rather than the actual crimes themselves (Walker, 2016)
The war on the middle class creates for a hostile society, preventing the lower-classes from ever becoming successful.

3. Broken windows theory
This theory explained and demonstrated what poverty and wealth could do, and was a metaphor for the dysfunction within a community.
They placed 2 cars in fair condition, one car was placed in a suburban, and wealthy area, and the other was placed and a lower-class area
Can you guess what happened after the end of the experiment?
The car that was placed in the lower-class area, was almost dismantled and unrecognizable, while the car placed in the suburban area remained untouched.
This happens for a couple of reasons because the car was “so nice” the people in the lower-class area took social cues from the environment and internalizing them causing them to vandalize the car.
However, still the people who vandalized the car some may have did it out of necessity rather than the actual crime itself. (Mkee, 2013)
Video explains in action what the purpose of the Broken Windows theory was and why it was so important to study.

4. Who is to blame? Why?
When thinking of who is to blame you must go to the root of the problem, which includes the criminal justice system, and the educational system.
It becomes a vicious cycle when seeing the how many people fill our cells, that could have filled our classrooms
Neglected school systems are causing our children to dive into criminal activity, they are not feeling the support that they need to continue getting their education.
A study was conducted on third-graders to see how many jail cells would be needed in the future, which showed the criminal justice system sees a trend and instead of helping they are actually making the situation worse(Ford, 2017).
Both systems feed off of each other instead of the educational system helping, in some cases it actually hurts the kids in impoverished areas, pushing the kids to find another way of means.
Such shows such as the 13th (can bee seen on Netlfix) Discusses the New Jim Crows and the mass incarceration that has been plaguing the countries minorities groups and has allowed for the minority groups to fill jail cells rather than classrooms. What is also troubling is that the government instead of preventive actions and putting proper resources where they are needed it further allows these already disadvantaged groups to further become another statistic.

5. Lock’d up: RAW in relationship to poverty
Shows such as “Lock’d Up: Raw” interview people from all walks of life, from small burglary charges to murder.
Most of these stories are all the same because they explain that they were not given the proper education and/or grew up in lower-class communities
TtC2UthIvXOX4 (highlights some of the stories of prisoners)
Given the information had they had the adequate resources, these people would have taken a different path. It somes times sad to think that our criminal justice system rather spend money incarcerating someone rather than put someone in school. On average it costs more to house somebody in a jail cell rather than send them to a four-year university.
Whats troubling to think is that they rather have a nation filled with criminals rather than a nation filled with educated indiviauls.

6. Refrences
Broken Windows Theory. (2014, December 09). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from
Ford, Kathleen. Kathleen Ford says private prisons use third-grade data to plan for prison beds. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from ford/kathleen-ford-says-private-prisons-use-third-grade/
Mkee, A. J. (2013, June 13). Broken windows theory. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from
Walker, S., Spohn, C., & DeLone, M. (2018). The color of justice: race, ethnicity, and crime in America. Boston MA: Cengage Learning.