Ameliorating poverty and other social ills will surely lead to a Essay

Ameliorating poverty and other social ills will surely lead to a decrease in crime. Discuss - Essay Example iota of evidence to show that crime is in the best interest of the criminal, in the long run (Ludwig et al, 1999 p.3; Jargowsky and Rebecca, 2006 p.55). Understanding the root causes of crime has been the subject of countless discourse and criminological research studies over the years. Many of these documented research attempts have linked, directly or indirectly, crime to multiple adverse social, economic, cultural and family conditions. The socioeconomic angle to crime, especially, economic status, as reflected in poverty - poor living conditions, have shown a great correlation to criminality. And as a result, improving living conditions by ameliorating poverty and the accompanying social ills are most likely to have a decreasing effect on crime rates in any society (The Root Causes of Crime, 1995 p.1-2). People who live under sub optimal conditions, lack a range of social and economic resources and opportunities are described as poor and thus living in poverty. The term poverty can be understood in a number of senses. However, in the most generalised sense, poverty is associated with the lack of material necessities, typically including the necessities of daily living such as good food, clothing, shelter and access to proper health care facility. Poverty in this sense may be understood as the deprivation of essential goods and services. Although, in another sense, poverty may be viewed from the perspective of social needs, such as social exclusion, dependency and the ability to participate in the society, or in another way, the lack of sufficient income or wealth, such as the increasingly widening gap between the rich and the poor and the feelings of inequality that is festered by such feelings (Wikipedia, 2006). All of these understandings of poverty hold serious implication for cr ime and thus any efforts towards crime reduction. Since early in the 1960s, a great number of social scientist have demonstrated that alleviating poverty would have a

American Koreans vs Korean Americans Research Paper

American Koreans vs Korean Americans - Research Paper Example Earlier migrants were mostly concentrated in Hawaii and were recruited to work in sugarcane fields in Hawaii region. Over the period of time, regional dispersion of Koreans increased throughout the mainland. From 1990 to 2000, concentration of Korean Americans was mostly in Georgia (Suarez-Orozco, Suarez-Orozco and Qin-Hilliard 192). Pre and Post 1965 wave of immigrants from Korea was associated with particular industries such as retail stores, nail salons, travel agencies, liquor stores etc. Most of such industries were labor intensive in nature; however, the major reason of why Koreans engaged into such labor intensive industries was to create better opportunities for their children to get into better schools (Choi 55). American Koreans however, is a very small group comprising those who were either defectors or were taken as prisoners during the war in Korea (Hastings 35). This group is relatively small; however, it is significant in the sense that it also represents dual cultures of America and Korea. What is critical to note also that some of the POWs were taken by China from North Korea, indicating involvement of multiple players in redefining the overall future and cultural identity of this new group. Most of the POWs were largely influenced by the Chinese ideology. As such, both groups have now developed their distinct and separate identity and political ideologies. Their distinct cultural identity is considered as an important way through which they actually separate themselves from other groups, and this also reflects their overall perceptions for admission process. This paper will discuss this, and it will also explore how American Koreans and Korean Americans actually carry the overall cultural identity for their admissions. 1. Cultural Identity and Admission Process Having students from countries where English is not a dominant language or students belonging to different cultural groups always raises certain important political as well as cultural issues. Universities require declaration of ethnic origin of the students and gaps have been observed in the admission scores of Asian and White students. Universities like Vanderbilt publically announced to increase the number of Jews students over a certain period of time however, ignore to take into consideration more able Asian students with better SAT and other scores. (Golden 69) Conflict theory, however, suggests that admission exams are often culturally biased and are made in such a way that only members from dominant groups can get admission into such universities as well as colleges. It is also critical to note that most of the American-Koreans have actually failed to get into the inner and deeper level of American society. This cultural aloofness therefore also reflects how American Koreans actually perceive the overall admission process. The monolithic and historical representation of Asian American students in universities has largely remained unstable. The race based c haracterization of the students not only remained contextual in nature but also shaped by multiple motives. (Hurh 65) Applying this theory on the American Koreans clearly suggests that American universities have certain preferences. The overall tests are designed in such a manner that only people belonging to certain ethnic and cultural groups are able to get through the admission process. Most of those who attend the church with me feel strongly that admission process is developed in a manner that favors certain groups, and despite all the merit and skills required to get into top universities, not many American Koreans are able to get through this. (Kibria, 30) There have been significant decisions by universities such as Yale and Harvard wherein minimum SAT scores