Paper on Unveiling the Roots of Crime: A Criminological Analysis of Kody's Journey into Deviancy

Crime is an evil that has affected society from time immemorial, even noting deviant behavior from various individuals in performing harmful, which is illegal under the law. Criminal theories are essential in explaining various delinquent behavior among other deviant forms associated with crime, including gang violence, theft and drug trafficking, and peddling. Individuals engaging in different crimes may be motivated by different areas that may be biological or psychological while causing them to engage in crime. Kody, who ventured into a life of crime from a younger age after elementary school, is an example of the interplay of various factors, which can be elucidated through criminological theories (Scott, 1993). Crime does not only involve the acts but also the individuals doing them in transgressing the law.

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Monster as a name for Kody extensively describes his character even in developing a criminal gang called Crip through different stages of its growth, passing through the criminal justice system through incarceration many times over up to his rehabilitation and change of life to everyday living. The evolution incredibly comes out clearly through a criminal's eyes in how deviant behaviors form up to the highest living, including harming people and creating disorder in their process. The law-enforced process of measuring crime is with the arrests and the crimes individuals are booked under. The grime statistics are evidence of a larger problem in society, particularly in South Central. Thus in looking at crime and the various theories involved through criminological terms, there is a need to focus on how individuals progressively engage in it and the part of the society in bringing about such deviant acts.

It is evident that Shakur, formally known as Kody Scott, started crime from an early age, even as seen by his display of a “gang sign” that led to his suspension from elementary school days to graduation (Scott, 1993, p. 1). Shakur links his destination to the “streets.” Tray Ball, his cousin, was already a “ghetto” and thus on top of crime in dealing drugs and “gangbanging” (Scott, 1993, p. 12). This was the life Shakur admired and wanted for himself. Kody took the initiation and the stealing as his destiny. The sociological theory explains how the bonds developed between Kody and gang members and his eventual initiation and rise in the criminal world. Shakur notes his “moral obligation” and the “hood” as a point of great interest in his younger years, when he was going to be initiated into the gang (Scott, 1993, p. 4). Mens rea is an essential aspect of criminology, which refers to a person knowing when committing a crime. Kody knowingly committed crimes with Trey, his cousin. Trey has a guilty mind since he was the leader and knows what he did was against the law.

A crime results through a body-mind agreement where an act is against the law in harming a person. Kody, in acting on Tray’s order to finish the bullets in his gun by killing the blood, meant that he knowingly committed murder. Jerome Hall came up with various elements associated with crime. For there to be a crime, there are multiple requirements, which include the act, “legality,” harm, concurrence, “mens rea,” causation, and “punishment” requirements (Adler et al., 2017, p. 25).

There is the conflict view and the consensus view in defining acts related to crimes concerning laws and communal norms. Various causes lead to crime among multiple individuals, including “vulnerable livelihoods,” poverty, weak states, and migration (Adler et al., 2017, p. 21). Psychological treatises can explain the various motivations including base greed, which further points to individuals' tendency to engage in crime (Adler et al., 2017). Kody admired the gang and wanted to be part of them, even at the young age of eleven years. Current criminologists focus on the economic and sociological aspects of society in contributing to the different offenses.

Other explanations are related to subcultures associated with violent crimes, merging with Kody’s setting and involvement in the crime (Adler et al., 2017). Different societies have different ways of defining crimes. In the American context, crimes are classified according to the acts that lead to crimes against the Constitution as a result. The rights to life are enshrined in the constitution, and Kody killing other people during his younger years was a crime. Crimes are taken as begin social phenomenon and hence involve people and not all of society, pointing to the need to decipher why some individuals commit deviant acts.

Various theories help explain why people commit crimes. The “genetic” linkage to crime is inherent in Kody’s narrative in that he had his cousin Tray initiate him and teach him about crime. Genetics does not come out even as we are not told of Kody’s uncle engaging in a life of crime or even his brother or other family members. Genetic influences do further not bring about violence in a person. Kody is noted for his “acts” in being aggressive in handling the shooting situation (Adler et al., 2017, p. 12). He is thus prone to violence. Moreover, there is a connection between learning violence and aggression, as exhibited through Kody's initiation stage.

When Kody is told of being a “snitch” after the shooting, he defends himself in maintains his loyalty (Scott, 1993, p. 12). Tray Ball tells Kody that gangbanging is not a “part-time” thing and was thus for life while also loving the “set” or group and hating “the enemy” (Scott, 1993, p. 12). The “psychological causation” dramatically helps deal with the causation while linking criminal behavior to neglect in parenting, where children may learn antisocial behaviors from parents (96). Parents play a significant role in molding the behavior of children to avoid criminal activities. Kody notes his father's “mistreating” without him knowing the reason. Such acts would have added to the psychological distress in his life and led to him choosing a life of crime since there was no voice to guide him. The name monster is depictive of heinous acts by an individual using it, in this case, Kody. Thus, the involvement of his mother was relatively small. His uncle was involved in his life, showing that he lacked a father figure.

Intellectual development further explains why individuals engage in crime through the moral development model (Adler et al., 86). Those who have not transited well in their academic development usually end up in a life of crime. Kody, in this case, comes from the “hood,” a term linking him to the African American residential areas that are mostly attaining higher levels. Tray speaks to him, for instance, by saying; “gangbangin” and other terms that resonate with the language in the hood, which is slang (Scott, 1993, p. 12). Kody started deviant behavior in elementary school by displaying gang signs and even noting his “destiny” as the street. He did not have any other focus apart from entering crime and being a “ghetto star” (Scott, 1993, p. 5). He notes “the shack,” which further portrays the tray's low economic status and the other gang members. He only notes “G.C.” as being the “well-off” person in the group (Scott, 1993, p. 5). Low education attainment, coupled with the group's low economic status, further shows how crime comes about together with the wrong models, even those who may be of the same family. He admired Tray, and hence he had no people to ape that could have enabled him to live a crime-free life. The low education attainment and the amplification of crime life in the stress contributed significantly to Kody’s life of crime.

Conclusion

It is essential to not on the causative factors that help guide the process of crime in terms of the perpetrators and the resulting victims—societal factors much help in understanding together with various theories that are either psychological or biological. There are various aspects associated with the behavior of different individuals and from different ages. Criminal acts further stem from how the law defines it and becomes essential in guiding society to begin law-abiding and avoiding any lawbreaking. Kody also portrays a society riddled with crimes while showing how role models in crime like Tray Ball pull him into a life of crime with disastrous results from the killings and violence meted on people and against rival gangs. Thus, it is essential to find the root of the matter in terms of criminal behavior and further look into the various causes concerning society and its contribution to crime among specific individuals.

References

Adler, F. S., Mueller, G. O. W., & Laufer, W. S. (2017). Criminology. McGraw-Hill.

Scott, K. (1993). Monster: The autobiography of an L.A. Crip. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.