In this paper I will examine the social structure theory, along with its definition and how the different types of theories make up the social structure theory. I will also attempt to discuss the strain, culture conflict, and social disorganization theory all of which make up the social conflict theory. I also wish to discuss the video “Tent City, Arizona” and answer the following questions, “How does the video you selected support a social structure theory? What is the primary subject or content of the video? What social issues are raised in the video? What major principles of sociological theory are addressed in the video? What might be some possible ramifications for social policy change?” The social structure theory is
(2) Denying Injury, criminals believe that the victim can afford it or they (the victim) won’t miss it. (3) Denying victims, is where the belief that because a person is rich they (the victim) should not be thought of as a victim. (4) Condemning the condemner; there are some that believe that society is the blame for their troubles and/or lack life altering goals, so they believe that they are a certain way because “society made me that way”. (5) Appealing to higher loyalties, an example would be because my uncle is a sheriff I should be excused from my criminal activities.
In the video “Tent City, Arizona”, the jail is run by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a man who believes he runs the toughest jail in America. The inmates are comprised of mixed career criminals and first time offenders who have committed crimes of shoplifting to murder with more offenders arriving every day. The inmates live in a culture where their allegiance is to their race as well as to each other. The inmate code makes it impossible for any nationality to associate with another from another type or form of nationality or culture, one example would be that the African Americans are not allowed to interact with the other cultures or races in the jail.
After viewing the video I realized the jail is packed with people who do not or choose not to conform to the standards set forth by society outside the prison walls. All the inmates believe they have a