Young men are turning to crime for a vast variety of reasons, of which rap culture is not a major one. I'd blame poor parenting, family lives, and upbringing above all else.

You don't think rap and the "respect" these guys supposedly get adds anything to a whole generation considerably concerned and willing to do just about anything for "Street Cred"?

I think the fact that these guys are willing to do just about anything for "street cred" is symptomatic of a larger problem--namely, poor family lives and upbringings, and a general lack of solid values.

People who were raised with fairly solid family upbringings, values and ethics tend not to turn to lives of crime, no matter what pop culture says is cool, and especially not for something as superficial as "street cred."

Jude, I agree wholeheartedly about parenting having a HUGE part in anything kids do, but you must not live in the burbs to think "street cred" doesn't make even well to do kids break the law.

ohhh street cred has been around since before the cash money millionaires, look at the old time gangsters and every single bully you have come across in your life. its testerone not "bling" that makes young men act like idiots

'is bling to blame?' is disappointing. rap music really can't be blamed for these wayward young men. i would be more apt to place the 'blame' on parenting, upbringing, and education.

I agree that the conditions these people grow up in has a lot to do with the way they turn out. The "get rich or die trying" attitude is nothing new, either. But I can't deny that the way popular music (hip-hop and rap mostly) glorify gangster culture has an impact on them. Your role models always help to determine your future.

Although certainly good parenting can overcome those things.

GS and Michelin, I totally see what you're saying, but I think we're arguing causality here--the chicken or the egg.

In my mind, the fact of the matter is that there always were and always will be people who choose the easy way out--the thug life, in modern times the gangsta life, whatever. Highwaymen in medieval times, opium-smoking libertines a few centuries ago...

My argument is simply that it's not specific images in culture that create crime. The images simply provide a specific icon for those types of people to latch on to and try to emulate.

The very desire to emulate pop-cultural icons or ideals, when taken to the extreme of turning to a life of crime partially because of pop culture's influence, is indicative not of the power of pop culture, but some flaw or weakness or whatever in the person who turns to the life of crime, and/or a reaction to socioeconomic hardship or hopelessness.

I'm sure that even in Roman times, there were close equivalents to our modern-day thugs and gangstas. Criminality and amorality can't be traced to pop culture alone, or even primarily.

God, I'm sorry for the super-long post, by the way. Long day at work + little sleep = no ability to organize concise thoughts

*2 more thoughts:

1. This argument is very similar, in my mind, to the debate over whether fashion and celebrities influence girls to unhealthy behaviors like eating disorders, promiscuity, etc.

2. I don't mean to say that certain images in pop culture don't play any role at all in criminality. I just don't think it's a directly causal relationship.

Jude, I think you and I are on the same page. I don't think the relationship is casual, but I wouldn't deny a relationship. Very much a chicken-egg situation. And I also see the similarities to the eating disorder/ promiscuity issues.

Exactly, Michelin

And on that note, I'm going to watch an old episode of Hell's Kitchen and then run around berating people and throwing food at the wall for a few hours

My mom used to work for a program that gave winter coats to poor kids and she said all the kids that qualified for the program still came in wearing bling. So I'm thinking there are some priority issues.

Bling---I doubt those kids had on the real thing, plastic and glass but not the real thing.