The theme in 13th of the evolution of how society has redefined slavery alongside the rise in privatization of prison is extremely critical today. Prior to watching, I had never thought about prison and mass incarceration in these terms. "We are living through at this time, and we are tolerating it" hits extremely hard. It's easy to think about slavery&segregation as from a different time when in reality it's still happening each and every day just redefined in other ways. #so345
@flamingosun
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An example of labeling theory I found in the documentary 13th was 'super predators'. Young mostly African American boys seeing headlines, news coverage, even their own community calling them dangerous, unempathetic, animals, etc. One of the interviewees brought up how disturbing it was to see how the black community bought into this idea and in viewing it through the labeling theory it's understandable why they did buy in. #so345
The example of Tex given in the article is incredibly disheartening. Especially in areas like Skid Row, street-level criminalization shouldn't be the methods used to solve crime in the area. Instead of handing down numerous expensive fines for small things, people should be receiving resources and help. People aren't going to be able to get back on their feet if they are fined, jailed bc they couldn't pay the fine, lose their housing, and then rack up more fines. It's ineffective. #so345
@bunnyfam24 This is an interesting point as well because I think it leads back to the idea of stigma and judgement. In addition to avoiding public spaces to avoid police, they're also avoiding the judgement of others. An identity is created of them due to the continuous criminal behavior they take part in and in turn can either lean into it or try to turn it around. #so345
@jackrabbit2 I definitely think hostility and resentment grows because the societal expectation is that others (police) will do the protecting and residents shouldn't entirely have to be solely responsible for that. If the police are not doing their duties that they sign up for, I think its expected that communities would have their issues with that. #so345
It's also extremely surprising to me that there is no standardized police training courses. Of course each state has their own issues but fundamentally we all face similar issues such as crime and deviance. If there was more thought put into training officers in terms of deviance/policing/control to understand the fundamentals of their job, I think it might do wonders for when they're faced with difficult decisions. #so345
The idea that police officers are being told to "be more dangerous" and hold a "warrior mentality" concerns me to the fullest extent. They believe that it's just the heavy media focus surrounding the rare, brutal/violent officers when I think it's not as rare as they'd like to think. After reading both Klemko and Hunt, it seems that officers are taught from the start that violence is the answer. Hunt says its worse to use too little force than too much. #so345
@aps1019 Chapter 9 also made me think a lot about the role media plays with 'becoming normal'. If the media didn't exist, people would be more focused on what their community members thought about them and would focus their identity changing efforts that way. Such as every town would become Gilmore Girl-esque where everyone knows each other's business and it takes a lot more work to redefine yourself. #so345
"The study of others' social deviance soon reveals the ubiquity of social deviance in social life" (pg. 167). This quote comes from the conclusion of Henry & Howard and explains exactly my perspective as we finish this book. Before reading, my definition of deviance was limited to just negative, extreme forms. Now I feel I notice small acts of deviance everyday. #so345
Chapter 8 discusses the "discredited" which aims to fix their 'spoiled' identity. This reminded me of Internet celebrities that are cancelled such as Shane Dawson, Colleen Ballinger, David Dobrik, James Charles, and so on. After being blasted online by millions of people, they're still trying to fix people's perception of their online persona to promote a positive self-image. #so345