Enrique Sarabia Sánchez - personal identifier: G6533073
DD310 - TMA 02 - 1500 words
Critically apply the relevant socio-cultural factors of race, gender, age
and class, and the ways in which they intersect with each other, to a
specific case study. Word limit: 1500 words
Víctor is a 22-year-old man of African descent currently serving a 5-year sentence for
serious bodily injury. Victor’s parents arrived in the United Kingdom from Nigeria and
his father left them to relocate to the EEUU when he was 4 years old. His mother had
several partners and some of them were violent, Victor tried to protect his mother and
his sister from these men and was a witness of some of these violent attacks. Victor has
had little contact with his mother and stepfather and at the same time has been very
isolated from his mother and sister while living on a housing estate in the city of
Nottingham. Victor was 12 years old at the time of his mother's remarriage and his first
prison sentence in a juvenile institution was at the age of 15. Already at a very young
age, he was involved in drug trafficking, gangs and participated in different types of
crimes such as violent assaults and robberies and was also a habitual drug user. As a
minor, he underwent a study in which he was evaluated by a psychologist who
diagnosed him with TDAH.
This essay intends to critically find and analyses the social class, race and the influence
that these factors may have had on the delinquent and criminal behavior that has led to
Victor's deprivation of liberty. If we bear in mind the concept of intersectionality
(Crenshaw, 1991, p.116), and the different socio-cultural elements of Victor's behavior
that may have influenced his behavior, we could explain that being involved in a home
that was not very stable and in which there were very often moments of violence,
together with his age and his race, may have led to what later became criminal habits on
the part of the young man. Therefore, all cultural and social components, as well as a
person's agency, identity and mental health shape their intersection. On the other hand,
there are less important factors, such as gender or color, to which less attention needs to
be paid. In the following, socio-cultural aspects and how they are mixed in the case
study will be discussed. A child with an environment marked by violence is more likely
to repeat these behaviors throughout his or her adult life. Statistics from the US criminal
justice system show that black people are over-represented in mental health and
criminal justice settings and are more likely to receive custodial sentences and longer
sentences (Rhodes, Kling, Luallen & Dyous, 2015, p.75). In this sense, inequalities
linked to, among other factors, race, age, class and gender are common. They influence
them every day and their professional life. The fact of being a black man, among others,
entails a series of social expectations such as being angry or aggressive, these are some
of the racist stereotypes that are taken into account even by the collective itself, being
aware that they have this image in part of society and institutions. Victor, from an early
age, got mixed up with gangs and got involved in fights and robberies.
Once in one of these incidents he felt mistreated by the police and acted violently by
pushing an officer, this led to him entering a detention and training programme (Open
University, 2021), he was doing a painting course which was stopped due to lack of
funding and in which his tutor felt he was making good progress towards changing his
life. Here the system failed him at a time that could have been key to his reintegration.
Also, family ties have the particularity of shaping the adolescent's perception of the ties
with others and his behavior in the relationships he establishes later in life. His parents
DD310 - TMA 02 - 1500 words
Critically apply the relevant socio-cultural factors of race, gender, age
and class, and the ways in which they intersect with each other, to a
specific case study. Word limit: 1500 words
Víctor is a 22-year-old man of African descent currently serving a 5-year sentence for
serious bodily injury. Victor’s parents arrived in the United Kingdom from Nigeria and
his father left them to relocate to the EEUU when he was 4 years old. His mother had
several partners and some of them were violent, Victor tried to protect his mother and
his sister from these men and was a witness of some of these violent attacks. Victor has
had little contact with his mother and stepfather and at the same time has been very
isolated from his mother and sister while living on a housing estate in the city of
Nottingham. Victor was 12 years old at the time of his mother's remarriage and his first
prison sentence in a juvenile institution was at the age of 15. Already at a very young
age, he was involved in drug trafficking, gangs and participated in different types of
crimes such as violent assaults and robberies and was also a habitual drug user. As a
minor, he underwent a study in which he was evaluated by a psychologist who
diagnosed him with TDAH.
This essay intends to critically find and analyses the social class, race and the influence
that these factors may have had on the delinquent and criminal behavior that has led to
Victor's deprivation of liberty. If we bear in mind the concept of intersectionality
(Crenshaw, 1991, p.116), and the different socio-cultural elements of Victor's behavior
that may have influenced his behavior, we could explain that being involved in a home
that was not very stable and in which there were very often moments of violence,
together with his age and his race, may have led to what later became criminal habits on
the part of the young man. Therefore, all cultural and social components, as well as a
person's agency, identity and mental health shape their intersection. On the other hand,
there are less important factors, such as gender or color, to which less attention needs to
be paid. In the following, socio-cultural aspects and how they are mixed in the case
study will be discussed. A child with an environment marked by violence is more likely
to repeat these behaviors throughout his or her adult life. Statistics from the US criminal
justice system show that black people are over-represented in mental health and
criminal justice settings and are more likely to receive custodial sentences and longer
sentences (Rhodes, Kling, Luallen & Dyous, 2015, p.75). In this sense, inequalities
linked to, among other factors, race, age, class and gender are common. They influence
them every day and their professional life. The fact of being a black man, among others,
entails a series of social expectations such as being angry or aggressive, these are some
of the racist stereotypes that are taken into account even by the collective itself, being
aware that they have this image in part of society and institutions. Victor, from an early
age, got mixed up with gangs and got involved in fights and robberies.
Once in one of these incidents he felt mistreated by the police and acted violently by
pushing an officer, this led to him entering a detention and training programme (Open
University, 2021), he was doing a painting course which was stopped due to lack of
funding and in which his tutor felt he was making good progress towards changing his
life. Here the system failed him at a time that could have been key to his reintegration.
Also, family ties have the particularity of shaping the adolescent's perception of the ties
with others and his behavior in the relationships he establishes later in life. His parents
