Hernan Ramirez

SBS 402
Dr. Bales
4/30/18

MLO IV

MLO IV is the senior capstone project. Primarily, in order to create a capstone research

project, all social behavioral Science students at CSU Monterey Bay must choose a relevant

research topic in order to proceed with the capstone. The final capstone project must be

divided into the following sections: title, an abstract, the research question, introduction,

literature review, theory, methodology, findings/results and a conclusion. It is important to

include the mentioned components because it’s a research project in which you informed the

social issue to the reader about your topic. The components of the capstone project also

complement the graduating requirements that the Social Behavior Science Department

suggests in the graduation portfolio. In addition, students are require to present their capstone

research project by creating a poster or a PowerPoint presentation to present the research in

the capstone festival. In the Social Behavioral sciences students are thought how to apply

critical knowledge and thinking to understand real world issues. As researchers, in order to

understand and explain social issues, we need to gather information and collect the data to

back up the claims to the issue.

What I applied from the social behavioral sciences are the components and practices in

which required me as a critical thinker to develop my research project. The main points that

helped me to develop my capstone were the social behavior science (SBS) courses in which I

was able to interact with my college peers to share ideas and received feed backs as well as
collaborate with them to proof read their capstone research projects. The SBS courses provided

me with support of my peers and the guidance from my professors and advisor. Some of the

experiences that I got from the SBS courses were how to become a social scientist researcher

and build social connections with my college peers.

For the social economic stand point, it was pointed out by scholar Raymond Harvey that

in society, class and race are divided by their social economic status in which poverty has

affected the living conditions and the locations of some Mexican Americans. Harvey indicated

that society has marginalized ethnicity in which it was said to “Those who are low in

acculturation or otherwise slow or unwilling to assimilate are confronted time and against with

individuals or contexts from the majority culture, which reaffirm their disadvantaged position in

the social order” (Harvey 2011, p.334).

In a philosophic perspective, understanding the principles of social and behavioral

science practices in the real world is important for the researcher to precede the investigation

on a social issue. By applying the principles of social and behavioral sciences helped me to

gather important data for my research project. The topic that I focused on my capstone project

was on Hispanic Adolescent Street Gang Involvement in Santa Cruz County. My intention about

this social issue was to understand why adolescents get involved into gangs. To find results to

my research topic I had analyzed problem to understand the origin. Hispanic/Latino gang

affiliation is an ongoing phenomenon with a repeating cycle. According to previous researchers

on this topic, gangs are known to terrorize the low social class in which gang activity harms the

individuals in society. For instance, Robert Calabrese and James Noboa indicated in their 1995

study that the majority of individuals that join gangs are young males due to large amounts of
youth domination on streets and neighborhoods. “Mexican American adolescents females

trade their physical capital for a sense of belonging and a desire for the protection that male

gang will provide” (Calabrese 1995, pp.230).

As for the economic stand point, it was pointed out by scholar Raymond Harvey that in

society, class and race are divided by their social economic status in which poverty has affected

the living conditions and the locations of some Mexican-Americans. Harvey also indicated that

society has marginalized their ethnicity in which it was said to “serve as an impediment to

future assimilation and reduce the youth’s like hood of becoming acculturated” (Harvey 2007,

p.334).

Finally, as for the historical perspective, there have been historical facts about gangs in

which has been an extension broad of information. Scholar William Reidolt that indicated over

the past decade, gangs have dramatically impacted society in the United States even though

“gang activity is not a new phenomenon in the United States. Since the 1920’s, scholars have

been studying gangs. Currently, there are approximately 4,800 gangs nationwide, consisting of

250,000 member” (Reidolt, 2001, p.212).By providing helpful publish articles by studies that

scholars have conduct it has helped me to address the social problem of what contributes gang

affiliation.

For my research capstone I applied the social cognitive with the social learning concept

by theorist Albert Bandura. His theory consists of learning by observing other individuals’

behavior. The theory includes Albert Bandura’s Social Learning in which supported my thesis on

gang affiliation. Influence came from behavioral and social psychology. In psychology,
Bandura’s concept of social learning states that the modeling of actions and behaviors are

determined by a person’s definition of that action or behavior as favorable, the differential

reinforcement y others, and the differential associations between the action or behavior and

positive outcomes (Bandura 1977).

From my service learning I volunteered to tutor migrant students at Watsonville High

School. I volunteered in the ELD (English Learning Development) class with teacher Juan Carlos

Pozo. During my service learning I assisted students with their classwork. Working individual or

in groups of 2-4 students we read and analyzed short stories. Most of the students I assisted

were new comers and beginners learning English so we practiced word pronunciation, meaning,

and spelling which are the basic learning skills to learn a second language. This experience of

helping individual with a similar background as me made me reflect on how I was in their shoes

when I first moved to California and how I was able to assist them after I became more fluent

with the language. Definitely this experience contribute to my thoughts on how important it is

to assist those in need hoping that one day they will assist others struggling with the same

situation so the cycle will continue.