Urban Issues and Actions

For the past three months I have been in the process of researching gang life around the country and filiming a documentary film on gangs in the city of Richmond. A large part of my research was dedicated to the numerous popular interpretations and sociological perspectives concerning gang life. In other words, I researched the bare physiological underpinnings of gang life, and thus what type of youths are at the highest risk of joining gangs. Complementing this primarily scholarly interpretation of gang life, I also studied gangs in a more hands on fashion while making the documentary. I had the honor of interviewing community organizers, law enforcement officials, gang investigators, football coaches, resident liaisons, high school guidance counselors, inner-city pastors, and high school students. I also had the opportunity to go on numerous police ride-alongs throughout the first and second police districts of Richmond.The focus of the documentary was why gangs are prevalent in Richmond, and how to prevent or marginalize them in the future. Although gang life in Richmond may differ than that of Los Angeles and other big cities, some underlying themes concerning why gangs are still prevalent today can be extracted from the documentary and research. From my experience there a three major ingredients contributing to a self-perpetuating cycle of hopelessness and community entrenched gang activity.

First, however, we must quickly diverge to the most commonly accepted sociological perspective concerning youth subcultures to comprehend the root cause of these deviant lifestyles: alienation from mainstream society. This is seen throughout the works of major psychological thinkers including Freud, Maslow, Erikson, and Tajfel. The base cause of this alienation is now the question we must remedy as a communal society dependent on those around us; even those at the lowest rung of our class structure. If as a society we embrace a Rawlsian ‘veil of ignorance’ in which we would not know what class, gender, race, or any other primordial difference we were to be born into, we would try to eliminate these ever resilient inequalities that plague our cities to this day.The most common source of alienation regarding gang life is a sense of hopelessness. The youth that join gangs truly do not believe they have the opportunity to succeed in society. After witnessing the potential of the kids at George Wythe High school, and also observing what they have to deal with on a daily basis, even at school proved to me that society does not care about the predominantly black and Latino populations of our inner cities. These schools are under-funded, under-staffed, and implicitly neglected. The problems of our city schools do not develop in a vacuum however, as the problems in the community first and foremost cement the ‘live for the moment’ mentality that so unfairly hijacks any innocence and prospective latency from many inner-city youths . So why do these kids develop a sense of hopelessness, and then in turn join gangs?

Most importantly is the lack of family structure and sense of belonging that is crucial to the development of teenagers in the formative stages of youth. As Erik Erikson explains, if one is not able to positively identify oneself in society between the ages of 12 and 19, then they are far more likely to join subcultures “deemed deviant from society.” Without any sense of structure, whether it is through a family, a sports team, an after-school organization, or a mentor program, these kids have nowhere else to turn but the gang bangers on the corner of the street. Many of these youths have never experienced true love, and joining a gang gives them a sense of belonging however flawed it may be; this being no different than college students joining a fraternity. These gangs then in turn offer the structure which is lacking in their lives, this including a reward and punishment system.

Second, is the lack of economic opportunity which literally entrenches the youth in our inner cities. Many of these kids have never known anything else than a single mother working multiple jobs just to get by. Hence, the creation of large public projects suffering from poor planning and design creates a cesspool of poverty and desperation. For many youths, the only silver-lining to exiting this very isolated and debilitating situation is through the advent of the underground economy personified by drug related profit. It’s hard for the malleable young minds of inner city youths to resist what they think will give them profit, power, protection, and companionship.

Third and lastly, is the societal stigma of the ‘ghetto’ and the lack of positive alternatives offered by society. In Richmond, a church known as the ‘ROC’ or Richmond Outreach Center, has taken things into their own hands. Every Sunday, they bus over 1,100 kids from the projects to a local service. The ROC is locally becoming known as the ‘godsend’ of the greater Richmond community and is now the fifth fastest growing church in the nation. Aside from this, very little is being done by the local, state, or federal government to help bring a sense of community and hope back into the cities. The work of the Richmond Police Department should not go un-noticed, but it was clear from the get-go they are not given the adequate resources to really curb gang violence. The city of Richmond and cities around the country are being utterly neglected and ignored by mainstream society and left to fend for themselves as they are stigmatized as a blight rather than a place of history, beauty, and opportunity.

I am not naive enough to think that the dynamic problems that perpetuate gang life and violence in the city of Richmond are solely traceable back to these three issues. But rather these three problems presented in Richmond should be seen as a starting point to positively impact our community. If we fix these three things, I sincerely believe the rest will fall in line. The University of Richmond is starting a Richmond Families Initiative program designed to improve the structure of inner city families, this just being one example of how a institution of just 3,000 undergraduate students can truly change a entire city. No longer can the federal or local governments be relied upon, and the current economic recession is sure to cut back any possibilities of economic aid. Instead, everyday citizens, non-profit organizations, and governmental organizations must come together to create true transformative change in our city. Again, if we all had a equal chance of being born into a this environment, shouldn’t we stop glorifying the gluttonous and consumerist society we live in and truly help those who need it?

Fear can make people say things and do things they may not otherwise.  It can also keep people silent.  Gangs are known for holding a level of control in a given community by utilizing fear.  Residents fear they will be disliked, robbed or even killed if they speak out against a criminal or gang.  I believe a gang’s biggest weapon is the power to keep community members silent.  Residents may see all of the crimes that occur in their neighborhood, but they will rarely give the police details.   They wish for a greater police presence in the area so that the cops can catch the bad guys without the middle men.  No one wants to be a “snitch” or “rat”.  Behavior like this starts young.  As children, I’m sure you remember getting made at your siblings or friends for “tattling”.  Children living in areas where gang activity is high may grow up believing that telling the truth is wrong; I would go so far as to say that it makes them a traitor to their community. 

A good example is in Brockton, MA.  A news group called The Enterprise did a yearlong study on the “no snitch code” titled Deadly Silence.  It includes personal stories from the families of murder victims and statements from police about the difficulties of their job.  They found despair, frustration and anger in people who live in communities where gang activity is high.

The best way to combat this problem is to ensure the safety of witnesses who testify.  Though I am not sure,  I think many people in poor areas are not always under the protection of police after testifying against a murderer.  If law enforcement could overcome the fear with protection, they may have more support from the community.

This is my personal interpretation and I would love to hear what others think.   Do you agree? Disagree?

Modern society usually perceives urban American gangs as closely linked with the drug industry and maliciously violent towards innocent civilians. Under more careful examination, however, neither of these stereotypes proves to be true.

Gang members’ involvement with drugs is widely misunderstood. Citizens often consider gangs to be highly involved in drug trafficking, and they believe that drugs are the cause of much gang violence. In reality, the relationship between drugs and gang violence is less direct. Large drug organizations require a stricter structure than gangs provide. The leadership and organization of street gangs is much too fluid to accommodate large amounts of drug business. Therefore, the involvement of gangs with drugs is more commonly on an individual level. Individual gang members may sell drugs for profit, but most often, drugs are used as a “social lubricant” (Karen Kinnear, Gangs: A Reference Handbook, 18). Drugs may alter the state of mind of a gang member and make acts of violence more likely. (There is one notable exception to the implication that gangs do not become involved in large-scale drug trafficking. In the 1980s, the explosion of crack cocaine led many gangs to participate in the drug market. However, the involvement has sense dramatically decreased.)

Another popular misconception is the idea that gang members frequently kill innocent civilians. However, only a very small proportion of gang-related homicide involves non-gang victims. Gang homicide usually occurs in one of two forms: drive-by shooting or gangbanging. Both are almost always carried out with the intent of killing other gang members, typically rivals. The nature of drive-by shooting does mean that innocent civilians may be hurt or killed. However, the occurrences are rare. The media highly publicizes gang murders of innocent citizens, making them seem much more frequent than they are.
Much of society also fails to realize the impact that community factors have on youth who become involved with gangs. Gang members are not sociopathic or evil. Instead, their economic situations or lack of status make them feel excluded. They turn to gangs for a sense of comfort. Malcolm Klein says in The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control, “Belonging—having the status of gang membership, the identity with a particular gang, the sense (correct or otherwise) that in the gang there is protection from attack—becomes very important, very rewarding to the member. It provides what he has not obtained from his family, in school, or elsewhere in his community” (78). Gang memberships fills in a gap for youth that they experience due to exclusion from social establishments. If youths do not have access to alternative social activities and jobs, they feel alienated. Unfortunately, gang membership often leads to violent and illegal activity and further alienates youth from jobs and other opportunities.

It is important to realize the truths about gang activity and the social factors that influence youths to join gangs in order to make effective policy towards prevention and suppression of gangs.