NCJ Number
76142
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 106-121
Date Published
1981
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Based on experiences of work with Chicago youth, this article relates radical criminology theory to economic and social problems confronting urban youths and the organizations that serve them.
Abstract
Radical criminology defines crime as a violation of a political or human right and contends that economic class is the primary influence in the legal and criminal justice systems. In a capitalist society, most criminals are from working or impoverished classes and have committed crimes against property, while corporate crimes against people receive less attention. Both the Industrial Revolution and the consequent social reform movement undermined the family and isolated youths from the community. During the 1930's depression, the Federal Government did not attempt to solve basic economic and social problems, but implemented educational and employment programs to help the growing numbers of unemployed youth adapt to society as it was. Youth policies still follow this approach, as evidenced in the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, and largely ignore the social context. The political and economic system, however, does take youths seriously since they can become volatile when they have nothing to lose. Today a massive consolidation of the economy is lowering workers' real wages and increasing employment, particularly in urban communities. There is increasing pressure to replace populations that drain resources from the city with people who can pay more taxes, have smaller families, and have more disposable income. Youth agencies and their workers, as well as community residents, are caught in this crisis. Although youth problems reflect economic and social difficulties facing the entire community, policymakers and youth agencies tend to separate youth programs from other community organizations. A different approach which unites community resources to resist pressures is illustrated by the Chicago Youth Alliance, a coalition of youth agencies which gradually become involved in greater issues facing the community. The Uptown team of the Alliance helped a racially and economically diverse neighborhood targeted for intense redevelopment resist pressures to remove many residents and eliminate social services. When problems such as delinquency stem from the economic system, youth workers must establish a partnership with other services and the community to obtain political power for their clients. The paper includes 13 footnotes.