NCJ Number
57425
Date Published
1976
Length
60 pages
Annotation
PATTERNS OF TEENAGE AND YOUNG ADULT MALE DELINQUENCY IN GEORGETOWN, GUYANA, ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN THIS STUDY OF THE SOCIOCULTURAL BASIS OF THE DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR OF URBAN AFRO-AMERICANS.
Abstract
AS AN INITIAL ATTEMPT TO BLEND INTO ONE THEME TWO AREAS OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGICAL THOUGHT--THE SO-CALLED 'DELINQUENT LITERATURE' IN THE U.S. AND THE SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY OF 'PLANTATION AMERICA'--THIS PAPER SUGGESTS THAT MUCH OF THE BEHAVIOR SOCIETY IS DISPOSED TO CALL DELINQUENT MAY FURNISH NO MORE THAN A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT OF AN HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE AFRICAN LOWER CLASS IN GUYANA AND THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH ITS MEMBERS HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN LOCATED. REFERRING TO TABULAR DATA REGARDING THE COMPARATIVE INVOLVEMENT OF AFRO-GUYANANS IN TYPICAL STREET CRIME AND DELINQUENCY, THE HISTORY OF THE FOUNDING AND GROWTH OF THE GUYANAN CAPITAL OF GEORGETOWN IS RECOUNTED IN SUPPORT OF THE ARGUMENT THAT IT IS ESSENTIALLY THE CHANGES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE AFRICAN LOWER CLASS TO ITS ENVIRONMENT THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GROWTH OF CRIME, BOTH AS AN INDUSTRY AND AN OCCUPATION FOR MANY BOYS AND YOUNG MEN LIVING IN WHAT ARE LITTLE MORE THAN OLDTIME PLANTATIONS REMOVED TO THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT. THE FOCUS IN PARTICULAR IS ON SOUTH GEORGETOWN, A SECTION OF THE CITY TO WHICH MANY POOR URBAN BLACKS WERE RELOCATED. SOUTH GEORGETOWN SERVES AS THE CENTER OF UNSKILLED INDUSTRY AND JUNIOR CLERICAL LABOR AND SUFFFERS AS WELL FROM THE HIGHEST CRIME RATES IN GREATER GEORGETOWN. THIS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A LOWER CLASS POPULATION AND CRIME IS SEEN AS THE RESULT OF TENSION BETWEEN THE LOWER AND MIDDLE CLASSES AND THE TENDENCY OF THE LOWER CLASS TO TRY TO ACCOMMODATE THE NORMS OF THE DOMINANT CULTURE THROUGH A SERIES OF ADAPTATIONS HAVING THEIR ORIGINS IN SLAVERY AND IN THE SUBSEQUENT ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF A SYSTEM OF PLANTATION AGRICULTURE WHICH HAS PERSISTED TO THE PRESENT DAY. THIS HAS PRODUCED A CULTURE IN CONFLICT WITH ITSELF, AND IT IS AN EFFORT ON THE PART OF PEOPLE--PARTICULARLY MALES--TO RESOLVE THIS CONFLICT TO THEIR OWN SATISFACTION THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PREVALENCE OF CRIME AND DELINQUENCY WHICH FORMS AN INTEGRAL ASPECT OF THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR PATTERNS OF SOUTH GEORGETOWN. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. FOR SUMMARY OF ABSTRACT IN VOL IV OF THE INTERNATIONAL SUMMARIES SEE NCJ 59507. (KBL)