Comments on The General Blog of Crime: Shocking Gun Violence in Detroit

Good post and discussion. I'll have to look up...

2009-07-03T11:37:22.022-04:00

Good post and discussion. I'll have to look up the book that you all are describing and add it to the reading list.

I agree wholeheartedly, Scoob. And yes, I have fo...

2009-07-02T17:32:43.201-04:00

I agree wholeheartedly, Scoob.

And yes, I have fond memories of those months spent coding homicide files...especially being invited to Homicide's annual BBQ on Belle Isle! : )

amen brother

2009-07-02T15:08:52.397-04:00

amen brother

Damn Dr. H., I totally forgot you coded MANY of th...

2009-07-02T15:06:57.572-04:00

Damn Dr. H., I totally forgot you coded MANY of these cases. That's right, hanging on the 5th floor of DPD headquarters for days on end! I am so sorry I forgot!

The power of Anderson's book (which has been the most influential in my academic career) is that Anderson, in my estimation, does not shy away from the subcultural perspective. The power of Anderson's ideas are that he contextualizes the subcultural explanation. He links the macro-level with the micro-level. This is where I think conservative and liberal ideologues go wrong. Conservatives spend WAY too much time discounting the role of structural factors, liberals spend WAY too much time pretending there aren't subcultures in neighborhoods, communities, or among certain populations. My read of Anderson is that he doesn't sugar coat things (which I find so refreshing). He essentially says, this is the way things are....now let's try to explain why. The fact is, individual agency exists for most people in most situations. These forms of extreme violence are, thankfully, rare even in the most destitute neighborhoods. Anderson is, to some degree, my intellectual hero. He is simply brilliant, clear, and I think, dead on point.

Velma: I think you hit the nail on the head. How ...

2009-07-02T13:13:38.423-04:00

Velma: I think you hit the nail on the head. How do (or can?) these programs work -- no matter how well-conceived they may be -- in the context of concentrated disadvantage?

Scoob: I remember that case. As I recall, it led us to revise the coding instrument to include a "senseless act of violence (S.A.V.)" option for the incident cause. We had all of the other options covered -- gang dispute, drug deal/armed robbery gone bad, domestic violence, etc. -- but after the third or fourth case in which the perp killed the victim in response to a minor transgression, we added the "SAV" category and used it quite a lot. Cases like that usually get tons of news coverage (e.g., kids being shot over Air Jordans or whatever), but I was surprised at the frequency with which it happened "in real life," so to speak.

Still, I don't see the subculture explanation (in which SAVs seem reasonable) as being necessarily separate from the structural explanation (that includes poverty, racism, etc.). On the contrary, I think they go hand-in-hand. SOMETHING has to prompt the creation/adoption of that alternative value system, right? Or have I read Code of the Street too many times? ; )

Unfortunately, in more than just a few areas of De...

2009-07-02T11:17:36.604-04:00

Unfortunately, in more than just a few areas of Detroit acts of extreme violence are simply not uncommon. It reminds me of when we were reviewing nearly 300 homicide cases in Detroit. Shaggy and I could come to no other conclusion that many murders in Detroit were simply "senseless acts of violence." I regularly think back to a case on 8 mile when a guy was shot in the head at a party store for accidentially bumping into someone (the victim even apologized after bumping into the perp). Although possibly explained by a host of factors Dr. H indicates, there simply is a subculture in some communities where acts of violence that are incomprehensible to most of us seem, well, reasonable. It certainly doesn't help when you have public officials that are so caught up in covering their own scandals that the forget they have a job to do in the meantime.

I can't even watch the video. I think you pro...

2009-07-02T11:09:35.743-04:00

I can't even watch the video. I think you provide a good summary of the issues facing Detroit. We have PSN and similar programs in the StL. We are always struggling with enforcement techniques in a context of concentrated poverty. The new unemployment numbers don't help either.