"Code of the Street"

Paper Summary:

This paper explores Elijah Anderson's book "Code of the Street" which details the manner in which popular culture glamorizes gangster life while the news media depicts urban slums as being overrun with violent criminals. In his book Anderson explains that there is in fact an intricate culture to life in poor minority communities. The author contends that this "code," or way of life, encompasses ideas regarding the manner in which families interact among themselves. This "code" is the result of the structural circumstances and cultural adaptations made by the people who live in these violent communities. In the context of Anderson's book, these structural circumstances are the situations individuals become involved in due to their place in society. This paper also discusses the film "Boyz N the Hood" which exemplifies and provides support for Anderson's theories. The film, designed to create awareness about life in violent communities, offers several significant scenes which are analyzed in this paper.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Significant Events in "Boyz N the Hood"
The Film's Events as They Apply to Anderson's Book
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The "code" is the result of the structural circumstances and cultural adaptations made by the people who live in these violent communities. In the context of Anderson's book, structural circumstances are the situations individuals become involved in due to their place in society. An example of a structural circumstance would be the life of a decent single mother. Without the structure of a nuclear family, who become role models in the community the single mother "must work even harder to neutralize the draw of the street, and she does so mainly be being strict and by instilling decent values in her children. Cultural adaptations are the way they alter their behavior in order to survive in particular situations or environments. For example, decent families will often have to "code-switch" which means they may have to behave in a violent or vulgar street manner instead of the decent, respectful manner in which they have been taught in order to survive a situation."

More papers on "Code of the Street":

• Book Review # 98733 : "The Code of the Street"
• Analytical Essay # 133452 : "Anderson's "Code of the Street"
• Book Review # 118995 : "Code of the Street"
• Book Review # 93891 : "Code of the Street" by Elijah Anderson"

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