Farzan Doost
Department of English, Kennesaw State University.
ENGL 1102: English
Dr. Douglas Bradburd
April 6th, 2024
Safety in Chicago
Chicago, a city in the state of Illinois, is infamously known for its dangerous neighborhoods, specifically neighborhoods that are impoverished and filled with gangs, such as the South and West Side. Through immense research concerning safety in Chicago and its persistent high rates of crime, it has been found that there are several reasons for the violent reputation that Chicago has maintained. Factors such as but not limited to poverty, lack of employment, low-quality education or inaccessibility, exposure to gang-related violence, etc. have a detrimental …show more content…
Besides these factors, organized crime has an immense historical context and is one of the primary reasons why Chicago is infamously known for its gang rivalry. Since the 20th century, Chicago has been one of the largest ports for organized crime, originating from the period of prohibition. on. Then he went on. Consequently, the history of Chicago plays an influential role in why Chicago contains communities that are at risk of danger. This is brought into perspective by the researcher, Chris Smith, along with his fellow researcher, Andrew Papachristos, in which they discuss the history of Chicago and the era of prohibition. During the prohibition era, which lasted from 1920 until 1933, the United States banned alcohol throughout the whole region. However, the prohibition of alcohol legally did not necessarily mean the consumption, nor the trade of alcohol, stopped. As the prohibition years passed, people began getting extremely good at the art of smuggling alcohol, selling it, and creating business from it. It was even found that legal enforcement, such as police or officials, who should have originally been policing, were consuming alcohol through the means it was being sold to them …show more content…
In certain neighborhoods of Chicago, it is found that besides the statistics pointing to victims of homicides being gang members killed by other gangs, children have been involved in their murders, too. Researcher, Anne Benedlow, author of the research report, Firearm Safety, Gun Violence and Chicago Families: Voices of Child Health in Chicago Report, finds that children become the victim of vicious crime both indirectly and directly. She begins by stating that 22% of children reside in homes with parents owning guns. Although this may not seem like an issue at first, the reason for such a large number of parents owning firearms is not because they simply want to protect their family, although that does play a part, but because they are involved in crime and must be able to protect themselves, their family, and defend themselves if matters come to light. Benedlow states, “However, 46% said that the firearms in their home were stored loaded, contrary to safe storage recommendations. Concerningly, in the Central city region where rates of gun ownership among parents were the highest, parents also were less likely to store their guns safely (i.e., locked and unloaded) than parents in other regions (16% vs. 48–74%)” (4). There have been many unfortunate cases of children finding guns stored and killing themselves and in Injury