Street Life

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In a society where the “code of the street” is more powerful than the law, the way of life within urban disadvantaged neighbourhoods and communities revolves around instances of violence, and simultaneously, the positive influence of family and community. This paper will first examine the role that community plays in inner-city street life in deterring or invoking violence, demonstrated by experiences of Pharoah and Lafayette in Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here and substantiated with the observations of Anderson in Code of the Street. Next, it will contrast the way Anderson and Kotlowitz define the role of family within street life. Finally, it will review the influence of family on criminal and street behaviour in the modern age, discussing …show more content…
The interconnectedness of these three concepts is central to the life of inner-city youth growing up, as exemplified by the experiences of Lafayette and Pharoah. The family of the youth may either instill good moral values, or make them more inclined to enter into a world of violence, drugs and crime. In the event of grief and loss, the traumatic experiences of violence may serve to bring families closer together, reinforcing the importance of family in the youth’s lives. Like the family of the youth, the community may be instrumental in instilling values of moral and familial values in street youth; additionally, it can be the basis for the violence, as demonstrated by the existence of the Vice Lords gang and the subsequent violence in Lafayette and Pharoah 's lives. The community may tear the youth away from their family, or exist as a stronger family within itself. In the intensity of their connectedness, Anderson and Kotlowitz draw upon these themes throughout their studies to argue their respective points about the significance of the inner-city family and community, and the larger effects of wide-scale crime and violence within urban …show more content…
Because of the violent gang activity and conflict in the neighbourhood, the Henry Horner community existed within a constant state of uncertainty, affecting the actions of the youth as they struggled to succeed within a precarious environment. In this way, death and violence may serve as a vehicle for grief and mourning within the community, and also as a vehicle for more violence and disruption, in the form of retribution and anger. Anderson and Kotlowitz both demonstrate the sheer strength of death and violence on the community in a profound and meaningful way, by documenting the delicate balance that the community exists in during instances of

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