Life-course Criminology Portrayal in Boyz N The Hood

Research Log: Boyz n the Hood and Life-Course Criminology

Boyz n the Hood is a tale of boys who are raised in the streets of Los Angeles. It’s a very authentic story, taken from the lives of those who go through these things every day, the cycles that are born and continue unbroken as long as the community is still the same. Life-course criminology is the easiest way to analyze the lives and the crimes that are riddled throughout this movie. I believe there are three key turning points that change the main character Tre’s trajectory from that of crime towards a better future: when he is still a child he sees his best friend of around the same age taken out of his house in handcuffs, secondly when his father takes him to a billboard in Compton to prove a point about gentrification and force Tre to learn that there are things and tangible places beyond the hood, and lastly is the turning point that occurs as he sees his best friend shot and killed in the streets.

Tre, the main character, is a young man raised in part by both the streets and by his father Furious. Thankfully he had someone to look up to, in order to lead him the right way. As we see with many of his friends, the struggles they face ultimately consume them all too often. The first half hour or so of the movie we see him as a child, running about in the streets and gaining his knowledge from those older thugs that he sees out there. Eventually, his mother sends him off to live with his father, who is well educated and cares about him deeply. This does not allow an escape from crime however, even the first night in his father’s house there is a break-in and a subsequent shooting. The streets continue to be a factor, although Furious is able to steer him in the right direction more often than not; his friends, however, are not so lucky.

Life-course criminology takes a unique, macro approach like we have not seen before. John Laub and Robert Sampson authored three books, Crime in the Making, Shared Beginnings, and Divergent Lives that re-wrote the rules of this theory and its intricacies. This theory centers on trajectories and turning points. A trajectory refers to a long-term pattern of behavior, and a turning point is a realization that leads to a change in that trajectory. This theory, although basic, is the perfect lens through which to analyze this emotional and crime-riddled film. Each character is born into the same hood, the same streets. The crime that happens in this area is all too often a way they use to problem-solve. It’s a way of life, and the boys in this film are born into and raised by it. Life-course criminology offers up an understanding for this, and gives them an out or a way to immerse themselves even deeper in lives of crime. For Tre, he sees an out and luckily grabs at it until it becomes real, but he is the only character out of his friend group to manage this. The rest have turning points that aim them in the exact opposite direction, their trajectories were poor to begin with and only worsen as the movie moves through its emotional and criminal plot. Life-course theory makes the most sense in this situation because of the amount of weight that turning points in this film have, even in a thematic sense. Using these points as explanations for each of the boys outcomes and trajectories makes almost too much sense.

As the boys are young, running around their neighborhood, they don’t cause any direct trouble. Some horseplay, name-calling, nothing too wild. They encounter a lot of things well beyond their years, drinking and drug dealing, crime, even murder. One of their friends brings them all to see a dead body, and it doesn’t even shock any of them a measurable amount. Tre sees all of this from the outside, it is directly taking its toll but never is his trajectory defined as that of a criminal. It is not this turning point that leads to a criminal trajectory either, this merely realizes the possibility. His friend ‘dough boy’ is kind-hearted underneath it all, but definitely has a tough outer shell. Tre is in the car with his father returning from a day of fishing in the bay when he approaches his house and looks acros the street to see his best friend entering a police car in handcuffs. It is never clear what the exact situation was, but it is also not important. The important part is recognizing that crime is real and it happens even to delinquents, and this is when Tre truly sees the effect it has on lives, families, and even himself.

Tre’s father is an intellectual quit like the hood has never seen before. He works somewhere in the real-estate or banking world, it is never explicit what he does. That is also not important, however; the key part here is the fact hat his father Furious earns an honest living. Not only that, but he goes on to educate himself and pass his ideals off to his child. There is a scene where Ricky and Tre go to visit Furious at his workplace after they take the SAT test. He then takes them into a bad neighborhood in Compton to prove a point. He walks them up to a billboard, and begins to speak on the condition of the neighborhood and how it could improve. Quickly, they are surrounded by thugs that reside in the surrounding houses, and an older man too. Furious speaks on how the ”Jews, Mexicans Italians, and Koreans” keep their neighborhoods completely composed of their own kind, with their own money, and no ‘outsiders’ can come in to screw things up. He makes an effort to help those from this neighborhood think about their futures, and understand that their actions have consequences. This is an essential scene in this movie. It brings knowledge to Tre about things outside of South Central Los Angeles, it makes him realize there are futures beyond this crime-ridden neighborhood, although not explicitly stated. This turning point may be the one to change Tre’s trajectory for the better, allowing him to go on to university and have a better life.

Finally, there is the turning point that is most powerful. It’s hard for the death of a friend to not bring about strong feelings and self-observation. But even before that, just the run-in that brings about the conflict between the two gangs. Directly after they all flee the scene because of an automatic weapon firing into the air, (they don’t know he’s just firing into the air to be hard and scare them, though) when Tre and Ricky are in the car Tre says how he’s getting out of LA if it takes all he’s got. It takes this encounter to start Ricky thinking about specific ways out of this life. Unfortunately, this entire situation is what ultimately leads to his friend’s death. More frightening yet, Ricky was a blossoming football star being offered a scholarship to USC. Just adds weight to the ordeal. I believe, though, that even without the death of Ricky, Tre knew he’d had enough and was going to get out. The turning point was the run-in and subsequent mentality it put him in. Combine this with his father’s amazing support and his trajectory was that of a lower-class black man from the hood destined to succeed in a collegiate world.

South Central Los Angeles is a frightening place to grow up. Somehow, Tre makes it out alive and goes on to college. Some of his friends are not so lucky. Actually, while luck may have a played a small role in the story, it was the turning points that changed all of the characters’ life course trajectories in ways that were beyond their understanding. As a third party observer it was vaguely hinted where each of the characters were headed, maybe they even knew, but when you observe through the life-course theory it makes it all the more clear. A person’s trajectory in life cannot be too easily swayed, it takes a major event, a turning point. There are several for each of the characters in this film, arguably. Tre faces some stark turning points wherein he sees his childhood friend arrested before he’s even out of elementary school, his father shows him there are ways out of his world and educates him, and finally through a confrontation that sends his friends into a downward, gun-fueled spiral.