1) Roper vs Simmons: Supreme Court ruled “the standards of decency have evolved so that executing minors is considered cruel and unusual punishment”. Graham v. Florida that holds life without parole sentences for juveniles convicted of non-homicide offenses unconstitutional. Sullivan vs Florida is similar to Graham vs Florida. Conflicts with the Eighth Amendment.
2) Risky Shift effect: the phenomenon that when placed in group situations, people will make decisions and form opinions to more of an extreme than when they are in individual situations. The phenomenon has shown that after participating in a discussion group, members tend to advocate more extreme positions and call for riskier courses of action than individuals who did not participate in any such discussion
3) Frederic Thrasher, “Isolation is common to almost every vocational, religious or cultural group of a large city. Each develops its own sentiments, attitudes, codes, even its own words, which are at best only partially intelligible to others." "Neighborhoods in transition are breeding grounds for gangs."
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5) Robert Park “Gangs are not confined to cities, nor to the slums of cities. Every village has at least its boy gang. Composed of those same foot-loose, prowling, and predacious adolescents who herd and hang together, after the manner of the undomesticated male everywhere.”
6) Motives for joining are boredom, defiance of authority figures, loyalty, adventure, money from trade or fear of being alone.
7) James Coleman, “A reservoir of resilience in some individuals that enables them to resist the allure of potentially damaging associates and activities.”
8) Yanblonsky on ‘near group’: “Diffuse role definitions, limited cohesion, impermanence, minimal consensus of norms, shifting membership, disturbed leadership, and limited definition of membership expectation.”
9) Purpose of graffiti: to