The environment plays a big role on how people interact in social structures, simply living in an environment full of crime and violence is enough to "place young people at special risk of falling victim to aggressive behavior" (p.109). Elijah Anderson focuses on how a particular group of young people are influenced by the community in which they live in. In particular, Elijah Anderson writes about the formation of a the culture known as street code. In the chapter, "Social Structure", Jess Manza states that the best way to think of a social structure is in terms of a building, in order to fully change the building the foundation needs to be reconstructed. This can be applied to the street culture because the street code is a cycle that is almost impossible to break. The foundation, similar experiences, is the start to the cycle and without the foundation being reconstructed the code of the street is not likely to change.
The code of the streets "amounts to a set of informal rules governing interpersonal public behavior, including violence. The rules prescribe both a proper comportment and a proper way to respond if challenged" (p.110). Like any other social structure, if rules are disobeyed, there are consequences. Knowing the in and outs of the code gives individuals the advantage of being treated right, or in other words being respected. In this culture, respect is literally something to die for. Since "the code of the streets is actually a cultural adaption to a profound lack of faith in the police and the judicial system" the young people have no one to rely on besides themselves. With experience, the majority of the youth in this community learn how to navigate around the system. They know respect is everything and they do anything to keep it. This itself creates a big cycle of violence, if a individual is beaten up he will do everything in his power to seek revenge, which usually includes takes violence to another level. In my opinion this culture creates an even bigger social structure. I would say it reaches a point where people realize that some other young people are not so different from them after all, so they decided to help each other out by "watching each others backs." From their they realize that numbers equal power so they recruit other individuals with similar experiences. Finally, a gang is constructed and rules are set and a new social structure is constructed.
I think that the movie Freedom Writers, does a great job of highlighting a portion of the culture of the streets.
There's a scene in particular that is a good example of both a proper comportment and a proper way of response in terms of the rules of the code of the streets:
Andre: It's the dumb class cuz. It means you too dumb.
Jamal: Man, say it to my face cuz
Andre: I just did. See what I mean? Dumb?
From this the confrontation escalates, and since no one wants to be viewed as weak the both stand up and put themselves in a position where they are willing to fight for their protect their manhood. Even though this is a movie, I think it is a good example because things like this happen all the time. I remember when I was in high school students would get into fights over the smallest things. It was even worse when there was a crowed watching because it got to a point where backing down was not even an option. Students would do anything to protect their manhood.
In the movie, what can also be seen is how the students are dressed and many of the students are dressed similar to each other, and those who are dressed differently are often made fun of. To relate this back to the "Code of Street" chapter one's appearance can help individuals gain respect. Lets say for example; Eva in the movie has a ankle tether bracelet, people in this culture who look at it know she is tough and people like her are not someone to mess with. Like in the reading, Eva and other females, the in the movie Freedom Writers serves as a prime examples of females fighting to protect their manhood. There are a couple scenes in the movies where this is visible.
Overall, I think the social structure and the environment definitely has an impact on who people become. Many teens in poor communities are introduced to cycles where they are expected to fail, students drop out of high school, girls end up pregnant, and many end up in jail or dead. These individuals do not go up in the social latter, which means there is no social capital being constructed, so when they have children they will be in the same predicament.
