Social Processes and Crime
Brian Gregory
Grand Canyon University
JUS 110
11/23/11

In groups we learn our social behavior, this will teach us how we either lead, follow or even question others with in our group. A social group is a powerful thing, because a leader of a group can set the tone for how this group acts. I have seen many cliques or groups since I was a child a teenager to even as a young adult and not all of these groups were bad influences, but where one might not act out alone the group might act. I believe these social groups give some a sense of belonging and as they learn from their group, so will it decide whether or not this person will be more prone to acts of violence or crime. When I was a young child I remember going to school and how the pecking order was, I obviously didn’t think about it then but now I look back and I wonder how some kids made it through the day. First off if you were a cute kid you were ok and if you could kick or catch a ball well you were ok, but if you had an oddity about you, a little overweight, glasses or red hair, most of the time you were picked on and called names and only the cute kids or athletic ones stayed together while the other kids were cast out and picked last. This might fall in line with a priority theory, because it seemed to me that kids made it a priority to pick out those who were the best at something and then pick out those who were the worst and they would praise the good and make fun of the bad. I moved to a new school when I was in high school and it was a much smaller school and less diverse then my old school. I didn’t know anyone and was worried I would have trouble fitting in and make new friends, so I felt kind of like an outcast, so the first group to offer me friendship was the other outcasts. This group led to a steady decline in my grades and poor attitude to school, where I had always been a decent student, but a great athlete, I began to change and my feelings of despair and a no care attitude towards anything started to come out through this new group I was in. This group had a penchant for trouble at school, I got into fights and detentions regularly and only got one good grade in P.E. , but I did not care anymore, because my friends did not care. The frequency theory seems to play out here, because of how much I was with this group, I was with them almost the entire time and we traveled like a pack of coyotes, eventually as I got older I started to want different things and I soon outgrew this group, but I had suffered at this group and it would take me a long time to get back to where I once was. I am a season ticket holder for the San Diego Chargers, so I am allowed to observe many different types of groups and cliques. I met a group of older Charger fans who are kind and gracious to the opposing team’s fans, they are also nice to home fans, by offering beverages and food. My family’s experience has been doubled by meeting and joining this group on game days. I have also seen the nasty groups who cuss and throw things, most of the time these people are drunk and usually between the ages of 21 and 31, mostly young men who think that their girlfriend who is wearing next to nothing is being whistled at, or because they are upset and want to take it out on something, usually their group only cheers them on or jumps in and helps, these guys are quickly arrested and taken away. My 14 year old asks me why do those guys do what they did, and I try to explain that that guy didn’t come here looking for trouble, but that no one in his group try to stop him from getting into trouble.