• Shuffle
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Alphabetize
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Front First
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Both Sides
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
  • Read
    Toggle On
    Toggle Off
Reading...
Front

Card Range To Study

through

image

Play button

image

Play button

image

Progress

1/13

Click to flip

Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;

Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;

H to show hint;

A reads text to speech;

13 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back

public sterotypes of gangs and gang members

PUBLICSTEREOTYPES OF GANGS AND GANG MEMBERS: revolvearound the CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES OF THE POOR ON THE STREET (a stereotypecreated& sustainedbythe MEDIA and the POLICE).

criminal gangs and the media

-Focus: street-levelillicit drugs/gun trade.**Whatabout MAFIAGROUPS & COLLEGEFRATERNITIES?

-STEREOTYPES PRODUCEDBY THE MEDIA (driven byNEWSWORTHINESS & ECONOMICINTEREST).

(a) Mobilizesupport for capitalistethos:every responsible citizen must play by the rule -i.e.,participateinthe social architecture of wage labour – inorder to access the benefits of the system). That’s the only acceptable way forthose who do not own the means ofproduction.
(b) “NEWSAS BUSINESS” Thesis (Media as Corporation seeking to maximize profit; AdvertizingRevenue; “if it bleeds it leads”); (c)MEDIARELIANCE ON THE POLICE FORCRIME INFORMATION: policeinformation often regarded (wrongly)as APOLITICAL; the police as “authorizedknowers.” (c) AGENDASETTING: CorporateControl of the Media & of Public Policy(Herman & Chomsky, 1988).

the police perspective on gangs

FOCUSESON LAW-ENFORCEMENT: couldn’t care about other thingsthat “gangs” do. (Claim:“Police are not Social Workers”).

-THEPOLITICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL ADVANCEMENT (BUDGET, personnel, USEOF DISCRETION,defense against civilian accusation [e.g., RACIAL PROFILING]).

***MAJOR VICTIMS OF GANG VIOLENCE= other gang members (despite the POLICE rhetoric about PUBLIC SAFTEYand protecting the “INNOCENTBYSTANDERS”).
Smith’s (1975)Enterprise Model of Organized Crime[Smith, Dwight (1975). The Mafia Mystique. New York: Basic Books].
-organizedcrime is just like any normal business (although operates in a different/underground/illegaleconomy);

-decisionsand activities are governed bythe same market assumptions as in legitimate business (e.g.,motivationby profit, competition, entrepreneurship; hierarchy, etc);

-organizationalbehaviouralways determinedby market forces (e.g.,forces of demand and supply);

-organizedcriminal groups exist to takecare of customers not served by legitimate businesses(i.e., they exist to meet amarket demand. E.g., the Chicago Outfit during the Prohibition Era);

-it’s not enough to; target “business” (or gang)leaders; it’salso important tounderstand themotivation and behaviour of the organization (comparewith BernardMadoffand WallStreet reform– theproblem lies with the nature of regulation).
ENTERPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES OF GANGS(“TheGang as a Business” Model)
ENTREPRENEURIALATTRIBUTES OF GANGS (Jankowski, 1990) –these attributes challengethe assumption that gangsters are lazy, and have no drive to succeed(i.e.,opposed to middle-class values):

COMPETITIVENESS: astrong drive to succeed; the SocialDarwinist worldview; thus, like market economists,they believe that rules obstruct business (andthat theend justifies the means);

SHARE THE “DREAM FOR MATERIAL SUCCESS”: astrong desire and drive toaccumulate money and material possessions;

STATUS-SEEKING: likeother entrepreneurs, they seek to achieve some sorts of status(thus, theirobsession with high-class life, cars, etc);THE ABILITY TO PLAN:this contrastswith the stereotype of gang members as foolish, “uneducated”, and lackingintelligence
The Gang as a Business” Model (contd.)
-THE ABILITY TO TAKE (BUSINESS) RISKS: like other entrepreneurs (stockbrokers, investors, etc);and refusalto resign to life of poverty which their parents accepted;

-OPERATE IN AN ECONOMIC SETTING(the “UNDERGROUND ECONOMY”):offeringfor sell “commodities”and “services”in demand (e.g., drugs,guns, security, assassination, liquor,stolen propertyetc);

-PROMOTION: for those committed to theorganizational goals (just like in typical businesses); and

-USE OF CHILD LABOUR: the use of juveniles for illicitdrug sales (becauseyoung people often receive lighter sentences, and are cheaper;same as big corporations - sweatshops in China, Asia, South America, etc).

-BUREAUCRATIC STRUCTURE: operate under an administrativestructure like in any legitimate organization:e.g.,

-headedby big-timedrug suppliers (distributors/ guilds);

-then street dealers(hired dealers for distributors/like salesmen/retailers);

-runners/mules(making deliveries/likea delivery driver).

-CLIENTELE –gangs have a market/customer base,and targettheir clients’ changing demands;often supplies clients with new products (like in legitimate business) – alcohol, marijuana, opium,etc.
EXPLAININGGANG VIOLENCE
Simple linear explanation of theassociation between illicitdrug “business” and violence.(Ezeonu, 2008

-Thisalgebraic model is helpful as it usually contains a CONSTANT and aVARIABLE.Our CONSTANT in this context is dispute

(d)becauseit will always arise, and the VARIABLE is the availability (y)orabsence(-y)oflegaldispute resolution mechanisms. So,thelinear models for violence and non-violenceinmost conflict situations are:

x = d + (-y) - Model (A) - x = d + y -

Model (B)where“x”denotes “VIOLENCE”,and “-x”denotes “NON-VIOLENCE”.So,while MODEL(A)has the proclivity to generate violence, MODEL(B)creates the enabling environment for non-violent resolution of disputes.

female gang violence

-GANGS AS A MALE PHENOMENON - The tendency NOT to focus on femaleswhile talking about gangs.

-MAJORSOURCES OF INFORMATION ON YOUTH GANGSALL LINK VIOLENCE & GANGACTIVITIES TO MALES

(a) OFFICIAL STATISTICS (from the policeand courts);
(b) MASS MEDIA;
(c) SELF-REPORT SURVEYS, and
(d)VICTIMIZATION SURVEYSlthe PUBLIC STEREOTYPEOF A GANGSTER =AGGRESSIVE-LOOKING MALE.
Theoretical explanations of gangs-
-Theabove imageswere often created by male researchersworking from the dominant male perspective.qGENDER ROLE-STEREOTYPES(females aren’t supposed to be aggressive).

Role of Female Gangsters

(a)concealingand carrying weapons for the boys;

(b) working as spies,alibiproviders,etc;

(c) providing sexualfavours to male gangsters (i.e., female membership sexualized);

(d) just harmlesslove-struck girls involved in relationships with dangerous gangsters;

(e) at worst, they were presented as maladjusted tomboys.

-girls’involvements in gangs have been neglected, sexualized, and over-simplified;

-“GENDERis no longer relevant on the street, especiallyfor survival purposes;

-POORWOMENtry to survive the same/similar ways as POORMEN(e.g., sex work and entrepreneurial gang activities).
TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTON FEMALE GANGS:
-FEMALE GANG MEMBERS ARE PASSIVE:female gang members are merely girlfriends,lovers, “little sisters” of male gangsters.

(b)FEMALEGANG MEMBERS ARE ACTIVE:girls are becoming more independent, assertive,aggressive, tough, roughand brutal(just like boys)– especiallywith women’s increasing involvement in the workforce/public sphere.
WHY ARE FEMALE GANGS A CONCERN?
-Becausetheychallenge the stereotypical gender roles of womenas passive, dependent, domesticated,motherly, and fearful (and looking for men to loveand protectthem).

-Thisapprehension mayalso be driven by the concern about changesin gender relations (a challenge/threat to PATRIARCHY);

-Infact, insome U.S. cities women were not counted as part of the statistics on gangs(as a matter of official policy);and in afew other cities, they were counted only as associate gang members.

3 forms of female gang involvement

1-MEMBERSHIP IN INDEPENDENT GANG: Thistype of gang has its own unique subculture andsometimes uses extreme violence, like male gangs. It is not an auxiliaryof any male gang.

2-REGULAR MEMBERSHIP IN A MALE GANG.

3-AS FEMALE AUXILIARIES OF MALE GANGS: auxiliariesform after a male gang comes into existence, and usuallytake a FEMINIZEDVERSION ofthe boys’ gang name. e.g., VICE QUEENS (for VICE KINGS).