In: Social Issues
...law-abiding citizens who enjoy motorcycles as a hobby or form of transportation. Some enthusiasts even belong to clubs or groups devoted to motorcyclists; for example, an estimated 230,000 riders belong to the American Motorcyclist Association, one of the largest motorcycle clubs in the United States. What I will be talking about today is a small portion of motorcycle clubs that function as gangs and engage in a variety of deviant behavior and criminal activities. Individual members of such clubs proudly call themselves “One Percenters,” a nick name that originated from a comment made by the American Motorcycle Association that “99% of bikers follow the law.”! ! In an article; Leathers and Rolexs: The Symbolism and Values of the Motorcycle Club by! James F. Quinn and Craig J. Forsyth wrote “It is difficult to distinguish a modern one percenter from other bikers unless the patch is present. Further, the core traits of one percenters and their clubs are merely the extreme of a continuum that runs from law-abiding to crime immersed and from the countercultural gang member to the sophisticated subcultural entrepreneur.”! ! There are 4 distinct types of offending that can be observed with these groups:! Spontaneous expressive acts, which are typically violent crimes that arise between rivals in social settings and are committed by small numbers rather than the entire group, such as bar fights. Planned expressive acts, are usually committed against rivals and may be......
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...Anneudy Rodriguez CRJ 201 – 005 / Policing Prof. Agnes Halarewicz Current Event / Report #1 October 8, 2013 “Biker Gang Highway Assault” This article talks about one of the most spoken headlines during the month of October. While I was reading this article the main line that caught my attention was “an undercover police officer helped in the attack”, now my question is it’s a officer duty to react on another person life threatening situation? On Sunday September 30, a video footage was release on Facebook, were a range rover was chased by a group of bikers from the Henry Hudson Parkway to 178st Washington Heights right after an rampage takeoff. Everything started when one of the bikers began slowing down in front of the vehicle; the footage shows the SUV hitting the bike, in a fast motion all the bikers stopped and rushed the SUV driver’s door, not having another choice of safety for him and his family the guy reacted and took off running over 3 of the bikers in his way. Right after all the bikers started chasing the SUV until the SUV stopped on a red light on 178st in Washington Heights, that’s when one of the biker took off his helmet and started pounding the driver’s window where Alexian Lien was. Soon couple bikers joined and dragged Lien off the car where his wife and his kid where. Lien was viciously beaten, one of the bikers is in critical condition, both legs are broken, fractured spine and paralyzed from the waist down. According to the article “the......
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...Shovelhead’s, The Ultimate Biker Bar Shovelheads will be the ultimate biker bar. The name “Shovelhead” comes from a type of Harley-Davidson motor on a motorcycle. The shovelhead motor was made between the years 1966 to 1983. It is called a shovelhead because the rocker box (or the heads) looks like the top of a shovel, hints shovelhead. The name of my bar alone will help differentiate my bar from other bars and it will let my demographic group, more specific bikers, know what kind of bar it is just by seeing the name. Shovelheads will be located in Birmingham, Alabama around the 5-Points area. I chose this location because it’s a centralized location for a lot of biker. This is a heavily populated area with a lot of traffic, so a high quantity of people will be passing by and hopefully they will see us and come in for a drink. I just hate people driving and especially riding a motorcycle after they have been drinking. I want to limit the amount of riding for bikers. Hopefully I will be able to accomplish this for a large number of bikers who live in the suburbs surrounding the Birmingham area. After a while at the Birmingham location if Shovelhead’s is doing well, I would like to open one more out in the country around Columbiana. This will be in a more rural area, which will let the bikers be able to get rowdy and loud without bothering anyone around them. But that will come later. Now that I have told you where Shovelhead’s will be located, let’s see what Shovelhead’s...
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...Masculinity; Not Something for the Average Joe Take one look at a male biker, bodybuilder, or surfer and see if you can’t avoid at least some feeling of intimidation. Most people, men in particular, cannot overcome this challenge. The majority of men, despite what they may say, can’t help but to develop a sense of discomfort when put in the presence of these distinct figures. But what gives these iconic men such an intimidation factor? Is it a physical characteristic such as huge biceps or an abundance of tattoos? Or could it be an inner quality like the carefree, rebellious mindset shared by these men? Perhaps the source lies beyond internal and external traits. Maybe we shouldn’t be so interested in these people, but rather the surrounding components that define them as bikers, bodybuilders, and surfers. These can be identified as the motorcycles, surfboards, dumbbells, and accessories that make these men who they are. It is through these machines that an overwhelming amount of masculinity can be depicted as the result of superhuman performances and accomplishments caught on camera, leaving other men questioning their manliness and inspiring a desire to achieve such a level of masculinity. The W170 Bodies in Motion: Surfers, Bikers, and Bodybuilders Photo Archive contains numerous pictures that give a closer look at these groups. One of these photos features a group of about eighteen bikers standing around their motorcycles, unaware of the picture being taken. By......
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... * Schaefer and Haaland, Ch. 7 * Wolf, “The Rebels: A Brotherhood of Outlaw Bikers” * Video: Faking the Grade Unit #8: Sociological Research Methods * Schaefer and Haaland, Ch. 2 Unit #9: Social Stratification / Politics and Economics * Schaefer and Haaland, Ch. 8 and Ch.14 * Bales, “A New Slavery” OR Reiter, “Serving the Customer: Fast Food is Not about Food” Unit #10: Global Inequality * Schaefer and Haaland, Ch. 9 * Eglitis, “How Economic Inequality Benefits the West” OR Klein, “The Discarded Factory….” * Video: NO LOGO Unit #11: Racial and Ethnic Inequality * Schaefer and Haaland, Ch. 10 and Ch. 16 pp. 375-377 * Video: The Real Avatar – optional Unit #12: Gender and Family * Schaefer and Haaland, Ch. 11 and Ch. 12 pp. 254-259, 262 and 265-267 * Adam, “Why Be Queer?” * Kimmel “Masculinity as Homophobia” * Video: Tough Guise 1. Explain how Daniel Wolf used participant observation to conduct research on biker gangs and how he used the interactionist perspective and labeling theory in his analysis. Define the term counter-culture, say how this concept applies to biker gangs, and use the conflict perspective to explain why people might join a counter-culture such as a biker gang. Use Merton’s anomie theory and the cultural transmission theory of deviance to analyze biker gangs. (Chapter 7 and Wolf article) Participant observation because He joined the......
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...clubs is wrong (Thompson, 2005). Just because it’s a Motorcycle club, doesn’t mean that they are outlaws. When the word biker is mentioned, most people think of the stereotypical dirty, unshaven, leather wearing, criminal. When the truth is only a small number of bikers are these, they’re called one per centers. This means that that they live outside the law as only one percent of society does. These groups have given the other riders a bad name (Brotherman, 2009). With some motorcycle clubs committing crimes, it has been hard to shake the negative stereotypes. These crimes include murder, rape, and drug dealing (Thompson, 2005). With such a negative projection by these criminal clubs it’s hard to see past the bad stereotypes. There are positive clubs out there that are trying hard to shake this misconception. As they look to other countries, and their laws, there will be many legal means of getting rid of these bad apples (Veno, 2009). The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is the rights advocate for bikers in America and they fight hard against the negative stereotypes. There are more positive clubs out there them negative. With a ratio of 10 to 1 the good ones outnumber the negative. With positive groups out there like the Rose city, Vietnam Veterans, and the Proud Few motorcycle clubs; they are starting to change the public’s view of bikers. These groups, and many more like them, plan out events like charity rallies,...
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...Hollister and the Death of Family Riding Michael Batterman EN 1320 ITT Technical Institute Instructor, Kenneth Frawley August 9, 2013 Hollister and the Death of Family Riding In 1947 a riot occurred that caused authorities to say, "The trouble was caused by the 1% deviant that tarnishes the public image of both motorcycles and motorcyclists.” –Anonymous. In response most bikers sum up their feeling this way, “A 1%er is the one of a hundred of us who have given up on society, So stay out of our face. If you don’t think this way then walk away.” These quotes sum up the world of the outlaw biker. The first is a short attempt to explain away the mess in Hollister California 1947, the second is a subtle warning to walk away or face violence. In 1947 a small town in Central California named Hollister became the center point of the motorcycle world. This little town with a population of about 4,500 (US Census 1947) hosted an American Motorcycle Association (AMA) event that would forever change society’s perception of bikers and the world in which they live in. This normally quiet town’s peaceful record was shattered by violence and destruction changing the world of the motorcyclists forever. This of course is the media’s dramatic account of the episode. Pushed by American news agencies, that stereotype led to the formation of the Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs, and their integration into our society. One bit of dramatic licensing led to the formation of a......
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...Media Bias in Reporting Social and Racial Injustices Nakia Dale DeVry University Media Bias in Reporting Social and Racial Injustices June 26, 2015, gay marriage was legalized in all 50 states on the weekend of the annual Pride weekend. There were celebrations everywhere. Celebrities, politicians, and every representative of the LGBTQ community was interviewed. The media covered the opinions of those who supported gay marriage, those that didn’t care about same sex marriages, and those who felt the world was coming to an end because of same sex marriages. There were experts on the new law providing their thoughts and theories on the subject. Rainbows were posted everywhere on social media, cars, and in communities. Pictures of same sex couples getting married were flashed across television screens, newspapers, and websites. Celebrating the beauty of marriage equality was high on many people’s lists, but in the midst of these celebrations, if you had been carefully following the news you were aware of several news stories that immediately stopped getting air time and were no longer considered newsworthy. As a viewer, you may have felt unsatisfied in the coverage of the other stories because the media left you dangling with no ending to the stories we were following. This is all too common when relying on the media for news coverage. Many viewers such as myself rely on the media to inform and educate the country on news that matters. When the same sex marriage topic......
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...have a $20,000 insurance policy that is supposed to cover your medical and other costs, in the event you are injured in an accident without a helmet on. It has been proven time and time again that $20, 000 will not cover even one day in a critical care unit at a local hospital. Michael Dabbs, president of the Brain Injury Association of Michigan, said the $20,000 insurance coverage that riders are required to buy “would probably buy a part of the day in the ER and intensive care and not much more”. (Durkin, 2013) Motorcyclists feel that if they are required to wear a helmet it takes away their personal freedom. They feel it is a breach of their freedom and motorcyclists stand firm on this belief. Bikers think that if they choose not to wear a helmet, bikers should not have to. Bikers back up their passion about not wearing a helmet by stating that people can smoke drink, take drugs and etc. in America; so why not have the freedom of not wearing a helmet in America. “Helmets, some riders say, take away from the freedom they feel on their bike. The choice to protect their head with a helmet should be theirs, and the government should not “tell them what to do.” It is, after all, their...
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...choose the side where you are facing oncoming traffic. In North America, this is the left side of the road. This gives you the best chance to see traffic approaching closest to you and take evasive action when needed. • Cross Safely: Mom was right: look both ways before crossing any street. At controlled intersections, it is wise to cross only when you have the pedestrian crossing light, but even then, drivers and bikers may have a green light to turn and won't be expecting you to be in the crosswalk. Make eye contact with any drivers who may be turning. Give them a wave. Make sure they see you. In a car-walker interaction, you can only lose. • Walk Single File: Unless you are on a sidewalk separated from the road or a wide bike lane, you should walk in single file. This is especially important on a road with lots curves, where traffic has only a split second chance of seeing you before hitting you. While it can be enjoyable to walk down the road two to three abreast chatting merrily, drivers don't expect it and you may lose your best walking buddies. • Stay Aware of Bikes and Runners: Share the road and path with bikes and runners. Bike riders should alert you when approaching from behind with a bike bell or a "passing on the left/right." Listen for them, and move to walk single file, allowing them to pass safely. Runners should also call out for passing. Bike-walker collisions can result in broken bones or head injury for either — and you aren't wearing a helmet. • Be...
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...step the defense would like to introduce exhibits A & B 1st slide: Notice the similarities of exhibit A to our complainant, she has large breasts and fits into the category of a 34-22-30 measurement. 2nd slide: Although exhibit B has smaller breasts she still fits into the same category as N.O. So put yourself in the shoes of our client, now can you guess how old she is? The next reasonable step that Justice Jackson pointed out was…Behaviour the fact that N.O. was observed drinking alcohol& smoking marijuana at a biker bush party can be used as relevant information pertaining to Chester’s belief that N.O. was not actually 13 In relation to our case The third step stated was…. The ages and appearances of those whose company the complaint has been found in…on this particular night N.O. had been found in the presence of bikers. it is reasonable to assume that to a be a biker one must hold a valid driver’s license. This makes majority of bikers hypothetically attending this party well above the age of consent. it is also reasonable to assume that our client took the fourth step when he listened to N.O.’s claim of working as an exotic dancer to put herself through university. This claim can be seen as the relevant activities that made N.O. appear much older than she actually was. 5.) The final step set out in Regina versus...
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...Subcultures of Consumption: An Ethnography of the New Bikers JOHN W. SCHOUTEN JAMES H. MCALEXANDER* This article introduces the subculture of consumption as an analytic category through which to better understand consumers and the manner in which they organize their iives and identities. Recognizing that consumption activities, product categories, or even brands may serve as the basis for interaction and social cohesion, the concept of the subcuiture of consumption soives many problems inherent in the use of ascribed social categories as devices for understanding consumer behavior. This article is based on three years of ethnographic fieldwork with Hartey-Davidson motorcycle owners. A key feature of the fieldwork was a process of progressive contextualization of the researchers from outsiders to insiders situated within the subculture. Analysis of the social structure, dominant values, and revealing symbolic behaviors of this distinct, consumption-oriented sutKulture have led to the advancement of a theoretical framework that situates subcultures of consumption in the context of modern consumer culture and discusses, among other implications, a symbiosis tietween such subcultures and marketing institutions. Transferability of the principal findings of this research to other subcultures of consumption is established through comparisons with ethnographies of other self-selecting, consumptiorv oriented subcultures. T he most powerful organizing forces in modern life are......
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...Beobachtungsstudie vom 14. Mai, 18:30 – 19:00 Uhr Jackpot Casino Raumskizze: Beobachtet wurden Leute im Jackpot Casino in Graz, von 18:30 Uhr bis 19:00 Uhr am Freitag, dem 14. Mai 2010. Meine Wahl fiel auf das Jackpot Casino, weil es mich interessiert hat, welche Leute sich dort befinden und wie sie dort agieren. Die Personen in meiner Beschreibung markiere ich in der Farbe, in der ich sie auf meiner Raumskizze eingezeichnet habe. (Ich bin auf der Skizze der rote Punkt an der Bar) Auf der Fahrt zum Casino war mir etwas mulmig, ich fühlte mich unwohl und war nervös, weil dies mein erster Besuch in einem Casino sein sollte. Als ich schließlich beim Casino angekommen war, trat ich ein und blickte mich erst einmal um. Es tönte nerviges Automatenpiepsen durch die Luft. Die Entreekasse fiel sofort auf, sie war an einer Position, von der aus die dort sitzenden Angestellten das gesamte Casino im Auge hatten, sie schienen dadurch sogar auf einer Art Podest zu sitzen. Links von mir befand sich eben diese Entreekasse, in der sich zwei Männer mit Anzug aufhielten, während einer der beiden nur vor einem Bildschirm saß und der andere mit den Kunden sprach. Rechts von mir befand sich eine etwas desolate Garderobe, mit ein paar Jacken und Mänteln. Die Bügel waren alt und in einem schlechten Zustand, niemand war da, um auf die Gegenstände aufzupassen. Im vom Eingang aus linken Bereich der Spielhalle sah ich bereits mehrere Menschen apathisch und mit starrem Blick vor den einarmigen......
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...Personal Perception of Organized Crime Paper The United States is run by a democratic government that has laws in place to ensure order and organization. However, there are certain people and groups that wish to compromise and profit personally from breaking these laws. According to Understanding Organized Crime (2007), organized crime can be defined by the members and the activities of a group. There are many crimes in which organized crime might be involved, but what separates individual crime from crimes committed by groups of people is the term organized or organization. Organization has been described as a group of people who cooperate to accomplish objectives or goals. Organized crime has been around for centuries; from Outlaw gangs in the western days that robbed stage coaches, the pony express, and passengers of trains to today’s Blood and Crip gangs that dominate public streets for power over territories and drug sales. Gangs have been around for a long time imposing on the lives and liberties of law abiding citizens that wish to obey laws. Law abiding citizens have to live in imminent fear that their lives are not disrupted by the actions of these criminal organizations that wish to indulge in crime. In this paper, we will explore the various definitions, perception, characteristics of organized crime, and explore some high profile groups that indulge in different types of crimes. Perception of Organized Crime A University student named -------------- was asked......
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...through socialization in a particular system’s culture”(49). What he meant by this was that we value things we are taught to. Whether we are intentionally taught, even know we are learning values, or just absorbing them as we struggle through life. we are acquiring values. A person’s culture plays a huge significant role as to those values learned. I imagine there are quite a few cultures that would not understand the mentality of a biker. The meditation one gets from serene riding alone; no radio, no conversation, just open roads and thought. This is a culture that was learned as Johnson spoke of. The value one possesses was most likely a conscience choice of preference to things they were exposed to. Many cultures stereotype and fear the culture of a motorcyclist. Most motorcyclists that are not casual riders, but bikers, are not the criminals that America portrays them as. They may be obsessive about their machines, similar to a hot rod guy about his car, or a polo champ, to his horse, but it is estimated by a few random polls that only 1% are Outlaw Bikers” This is explained by Glassner as he opened the chapter with “ Start with silly scares, the kind that would be laughable were they not advanced with utter seriousness by influential organizations, politicians and news media” (3). He was saying how most of this type of fear mongering, is...
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