boys in the hood

Boys in the Hood; Girls in

the Backseat: Adults making sense of youth gangs

BYDDr. Fiona Beals

Gangs are a bit more complex than a group of hoodlums

attacking law-abiding citizens

(http://www.cartoonstock.com/)

Contextualising Gangs

“Groups of boys, sometimes drunken, obstructed footpaths, shocked passer-bys with crude obscenities, and interrupted concerts and lectures with jeers, cat-calls, and abuse”

“‘The liberals in our society are gutless in their prosecution of this sort of crime. ‘We spend millions of dollars cleaning up graffiti and vandalism from young louts who don't know the difference between right and wrong.’”

2000s

1800s

“These youths do not stop to consider their "nuisance value". They do not think of the menace that they form to the public as a whole and the dangers to which they also expose themselves when they race about the city.”

1950s

Part 1: Putting gangs into context – the story from the

street

(http://www.hudsonvalleyprotection.com/advancedgangdescrip.htm)

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/flissphil/with/176945867/)

(http://www.aerialimages.com/fineart/scenic/Los_Angeles/los_angeles.html)

(http://www.stormfront.org/whitehistory/hwr66.htm and http://www.mikemilken.com/photos.taf?photo=10)

http://www.stormfront.org/whitehistory/hwr66.htm

http://www.mikemilken.com/photos.taf?photo=10

(http://www.newsreel.us/panthers/index.htm)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Washington)(http://www.newsreel.us/panthers/index.htm)

(http://www.mattszabo.com/Tookie%20Williams2.html)

(http://www.mattszabo.com/Tookie%20Williams2.html) (http://www.houseofcanes.com/catalog/canes_and_sticks.php)

(http://politicalpartypoop.com/?m=200607)(http://www.doggs.com.ar/crips.html)

(http://luyki.tripod.com/luis_herrera/)

(http://www.comptonpolicegangs.com/photo-gallery-2.htm)

(http://www.divinetruthishere.com/The%20fruitsIII.htm)

(http://www.zaanzone.nl/actions/profiel/index.php?uid=10330)

(http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/1999_08_29/story_8.asp)

(http://stuff.co.nz/waikatotimes/3926488a6004.html)

(http://web.archive.org/web/20010607104224/blackpower.co.nz/pics/002.jpg)(http://web.archive.org/web/20030412102335/blackpower.co.nz/pics/003.jpg)

(http://www.amazon.com/Colors-Sean-Penn/dp/B00005N89M/sr=1-1/qid=1169428602/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-7808873-8226262?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

What is a gang?


The academic description

• Groups of youth engaging in violence (Sheldon, 1890s)

• The creation of a society in response to a void (Thrasher, 1930s)

• Crime?– A reflection of conditions– A reason for being in a gang

• Groups of wannabes (Klein, 1990s)• A method which allows young people to

identify with each other (Lyon et al., 1990s)

• An extreme of adolescence

“‘A group of youths, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a loose structure, a common identifier (colours, a name, hand signals etc),

whose activities are not primarily criminal but involve (mostly) petty

crimes, and who see themselves as a gang and are identified as such by

others in the community’” (Gilbert, cited in Ministry of Social Policy,

2006)

Is a gang a subculture• Subcultures

– Chicago School = style– Birmingham School = deviance (resistance)

• What they share– Arose out of the affluence of the 1950s– Respond to social pressures and changes

• How they differ: Campbell, Munce, & Galea (1982)– Subcultures are not a single group and tend to

be a cultural movement by youth– Gangs have face to face contact, an internal

structure, are defined by territories, and have a stable membership

Why join a gang?


The academic perspective• Pulls

– Status– Friendship– Group activities (excitement)– A sense of belonging– Opportunities (money, drugs etc)

• Pushes– Social, cultural, and economic factors– Feeling marginal– The experience of adolescence– Protection/safety– Active recruitment– Being ‘born’ into the gang

The word from the street

• Eggleston’s (2000) research:– For a sense of belonging

• A sense of family• A sense of friendship

– For protection• From a feeling of vulnerability

– For girls “‘Gangs are for men’ and ‘caring for women’” (Eggleston, 2000, p.156)

• American youth– Belonging, protection, identity, respect,

money, and power

The public and gangs


The Public

• The role of the media

• Gang depictions– A danger and threat– Violent– Structural focus

(gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity)

– The missing voice(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7244879/site/newsweek/)

Listen to the youth …

Sometimes adults are so busy trying to control gangs they are not hearing the

stories and needs of those youth in gangs.

It’s time to stop talking about youth gangs and talking with youth from gangs – hear their stories and see the world through

their eyes

Gangs are a bit more complex than a group of hoodlums

attacking law-abiding citizens


REFERENCESAlonso, A. A. Black street gangs in Los Angeles: A history (excerpts from territoriality among African American street gangs in Los Angeles. Retrieved 17 January, 2007, from http://www.streetgangs.com/history/hist01.htmlAlonso, A. A. (1999). Territoriality among African American street gangs in Los Angeles. Retrieved 17 January, 2007, from http://www.streetgangs.com/slides/territory/frame.htmBlack power New Zealand. (January 2007). Retrieved 07 March, 2007, from http://www.blackpower.co.nz/Branch, C. W. (1999). Introduction: Adolescents gangs. In C. W. Branch (Ed.), Adolescent gangs: Old issues, new approaches (pp. xv-xxi ). Philadelphia: Brunner/Mazel (Taylor and Francis Group).Campbell, A., Munce, S., & Galea, J. (1982). American gangs and British subcultures: A comparison International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 26, 78-89.Eggleston, E. J. (2000). New Zealand youth gangs: Key findings and recommendations from an urban ethnography. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand(14), 148-161.Howell, J. C. (1998). Youth gangs: An overview: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Klein, M., Maxson, C., & Miller, J. (Eds.). (1995). The modern gang reader. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing.Krikorian, M. (2005, 15 December). Tookie's mistaken identity. LA Weekly News Retrieved 21 January, 2007, from http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/tookies-mistaken-identity/48/Ministry of Social Development. (2006). From wannabes to youth offenders: Youth gangs in Counties Manukau (Research Report). Wellington: Ministry of Social Development.Mongrel mob. (2007, 18 January). Retrieved 07 March, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_BoysMongrel mob web forum. (January 2007). Retrieved 07 March, 2007, from http://www.streetgangs.com/billboard/viewtopic.php?t=14279Shuker, R. (1987). Moral panics and social control: Juvenile delinquency in late 19th century New Zealand. In R. Openshaw & D. McKenzie (Eds.), Reinterpreting the educational past: Essays in the history of New Zealand education (pp. 122-131). Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER).White, R. (2002). Understanding youth gangs. Retrieved 26 March, 2005, from www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ti237.pdfWhite, R., Perrone, S., Guerra, C., & Lampugnani, R. (1999). Ethnic youth gangs in Australia: Do they exist? (Overview Report). Australia: Australian Multicultural Foundation.