Gangs

Gangs. Three, of the Crips brandishing rifles. GALE, CENGAGE LEARNING.     

Gang Members

What are the characteristics that comprise a “gang”? What impacts do social or cultural capital have on the formation of these gangs? The definition of “gang” has gone through numerous changes throughout the years and has been modified by the individuals that reside within each generation. Gangs, and those who were a part of them, started off being known as “ the rogues or the bad guys” in society and have progressed to now being considered,    “any durable, street-oriented group whose own identity includes involvement in illegal activities”. In today’s society they are still considered to be “rogues” or “bad guys”, but most people associate the term “gangs” with one of two extremes; either today’s youth that come from “disorganized” communities or the polar opposite, the elite entrepreneur gangs who are in the gang largely for the money. Gangs are recognized through the atmosphere of fear or intimidation in which they establish their social position and through their utilization of a common symbol to represent them as a whole. Gangs are a common occurrence within all societies, that take form at all levels of age, and within all variations of people.

Common symbol representing Blood Gang

Sociological Imagination and Gang Formation

Low-End Neighborhood

In order to understand why someone would want and decide to become a member of a gang, one must use their sociological imagination and consider the person’s environment, as well as the social context in which they interact. Most people wouldn’t understand the idea of joining a group that could be viewed as a total institution, or an institution in which the members are totally immersed and controlled by the same authority and whose usual spheres of daily life are controlled as well. This is where the sociological imagination comes in to play. One must understand the individual troubles that a particular person faces on a day-to-day basis, in addition to the public issues, which has a major influence on their actions. This allows us to view the familiar conception of gangs, which are normally feared or frowned upon, in a completely new light. One’s sociological imagination permits one to see how, in a sense; gangs can be beneficial to those who decide to become members. Gang formation is greatly influenced by social and cultural capital, as well as the individual’s material and nonmaterial culture. The individuals who chose to join gangs are usually searching for their social identity and this identity is naturally explored and enforced through Goffman’s theory of presentation of self or “dramaturgical theory".

This video reveals that the alienation and discrimination that theses people face on a day-to-day basis is one of the main reasons that individuals chose to join gangs. It forces them to seek alternative ways of living because they aren't given equal chances to create successful life styles. Gangs offer them a community in which they are able to unite with those individuals who experience the same inequality and therefore an outlet to compensate for their lack of social and cultural capital.   

Social Capital

Number of Gang Members: Creation of Social Networks

Social capital is defined as “resources one is able to access through the social networks they are able to form.” Most of those who chose to participate in gangs live in communities with lower economic profiles and have less stability in their populations. Due to their surroundings, these people are unable to form beneficial social networks. Their social networks normally consist of people of lower socioeconomic status, which prohibits them from moving up in social class and they are perpetually forced to remain in their lower class status. Along with this lower social class, these individuals typically face problems with adequate jobs, isolation and segregation from mainstream society, and harsh interactions with public institutions. This discrimination created by the dominant system in society forces these individuals to find an outlet within each other and seek alternative identities that will unite them and provide them a sense of family and identity. 

Low End School: Formation of Poor Social Networks

Cultural Capital

Presence of Gangs

Poverty Cycle Causes Formation of Gangs

An individual’s cultural capital consists of the “styles, skills, and knowledge in which a they are able to obtain from their family background.” Cultural capital has three distinguishing forms: embodied, objectified, and institutionalized. The people who are born within these less stable and lower socioeconomic communities don’t usually possess those characteristics correlated with mainstream society. These individuals are typically raised with the parenting technique formally known as “natural growth.” This technique is associated with the working class and allows children almost complete autonomy and instills a sense of constraint within the child. This difference in parenting technique sets these children apart from their middle class peers, who are raised through the parenting technique deemed "concerted cultivation," and introduces the inequality that they experience throughout their entire lives. Their lack of economic resources, due to the lack of jobs available that pay a living wage, also limits the amount of material possessions in which they can attain. Material possessions are a major indication of cultural capital that this social class doesn’t have the privilege of having. This deficiency of material objects maintains their lower socioeconomic status and consequently ostracizes them from mainstream society. These two things combined, as well as the communities in which they reside, disallow these individuals to obtain substantial institutionalized cultural capital. Institutionalized cultural capital is a sign of a person’s intelligence and competence, and therefore correlates with the occupation an individual is able to acquire. Consequently, these children grow up lacking economic and educational resources, as well as confidence to stand up for themselves as individuals and recreate this never ending cycle of social class, which causes them to turn to gangs.

Lack of Institutionalized Cultural Capital: Job Insecurity

Locations of Gangs

Nonmaterial Culture

Race and Gang Membership

Racism and the attitudes of prejudice have devalued and belittled these lower class individuals, and therefore this segregation and isolation are central to understanding the emergence and perpetuation of gangs. Race and class are both heavily implicated in the marginalization of each of these populations and both represent major forms of nonmaterial culture within our society. Gang membership usually has its roots in the longing for acceptance and sense of belonging. Gangs usually consist of distinct structures and traditions, which these people would otherwise never receive. This structure they are able to obtain provides them with a sense of security, which offers them that feeling of acceptance that they don’t receive from their home life or from society. Typically, these individuals grow up in such rough communities where their families aggressively socialize them. The parents feel as though they need to have some sort of control in their lives, due to the fact that they constantly face discrimination, therefore taking it out on their kids. Becoming a member of a gang provides them that sense of security, belonging, and a home, so to speak, which they would never be able to experience otherwise. 

                                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SMmkC5phA

This video displays how race and lower social class can cause an individual to turn to gang membership. The nonmaterial culture of our society has a direct impact in the formation of gangs.