Wes Moore Street Culture Analysis

In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers, who are getting involved in some dangerous things very early in life. In the novel The Outsiders, the “Greasers” which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one. There is a number of reasons that range from simple to complex, on why teenagers join gangs, and we can help by finding solutions to their specific problem before they choose to join one. To help someone get out of a gang, we as a society need to show there’s more out there in the world that they could do that will make a positive impact.

Since the beginning, humans have been held to certain standards regarding morality our rights as humans. History shows us leaders and rulers who, in their reign of power, have misused their power and attacked human’s rights to agency and liberty. By looking at all the wars, violence, criminals, and acts of immorality that humans have accomplished, many assume that humans are not good at fighting for the rights of others. However, in every war, and every act of violence, there is an opposing force. There will always be someone fighting for the good of others, whether it be one person or a whole army, which comes to show that humans are essentially good at fighting for the rights of others.

In Chicago, and all over the nation, the effects of gang activity have been displayed, specifically in low income and poverty torn communities. Poverty is measured depending on a family’s annual income and determining if the amount falls below the poverty threshold for the family’s size. If the annual income does fall below the threshold, then the family and every individual in it is considered to be in poverty. Gang activity is more visible in the areas specifically in major cities similar to Chicago where poverty is a commonality in communities. although gangs might add structure in order where the government fails to do so in the projects and and similar low income communities the negative effects such as the distribution of drugs, violence,

This essay, largely drawn from Elijah Anderson's forthcoming book, Code of the Street, offers an ethnographic representation of the workings of the code of the street in the context of the trying socioeconomic situation in which the inner-city black community finds itself, as jobs have become ever more scarce, public assistance has increasingly disappeared, and frustration has been building for many. The material presented here was gathered through many visits to various inner-city families and neighborhood settings, including carry-outs, laundromats, taverns, playgrounds, and street corners. In these settings, Anderson conducted indepth interviews with adolescent boys and girls, young men (some incarcerated, some not), older men, teenage mothers,

In the newspaper paper article, “No Sanctuary in Chicago’s street Gang wars,” Kass (2017) focuses on a recent murder in Chicago. Kass states that Chicago is a place of death do to the ongoing gang wars that Chicago is experiencing. Kass (2017) further points out Chicago gang crime is an “intergenerational problem, of grandfathers and fathers and sons and mothers and daughters wearing their gang colors.”

Mona Ruiz was raised in the middle class neighborhoods of central Santa Ana in a household of two parents, and seven siblings. Although Ruiz had family members affiliated with gangs, her father despised gang members. Both of them would have talks about how proud he’d be if she furthered her education and became a police officer. He had said to her and her sisters, “gangs promise only shame and danger for a young girl.” (Ruiz 27). Ruiz’s father’s hopes were lost when high school came around for her. She became a high school dropout once she associated herself with the F-Troop gang. She was then disowned by her father, which only worsened her decision-making at the time. The less time she spent with her family the more time she spent out with

In “The Code of the Streets”, Elijah Anderson go in details and shows us on how teens are getting killed on a daily basis. Dr. Anderson discuss some social intuitions that influence crime in the urban neighborhoods. The first one I would discuss is the “Decent and Street Families”.

In No Way Out, Waverly Duck examines an urban neighborhood referred to as Bristol Hill, where the drug trade is prevalent among the residents. Duck challenges the popular misconception that these communities characterized by the drug trade, crime, and violence are tumultuous areas with no social order. Duck argues that the residents of this community have created an interaction order that is a complex social organization that allows for survival in such dangerous conditions. For seven years, Duck lived on Lyford Street in Bristol Hill, and his theory is built on his personal experiences and information gathered from residents in this community. Through residents’ personal narratives of their experiences and detailed observations, Duck validates his theory and shows how social order exists in these communities.

“[What goes] into the making of a young thug?” (Staples 242). In his short story, “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,” Brent Staples shares what it is like to grow up as an African American male in America. Staples suggests that a person will become “a young thug” as a repercussion from their home life (242). Staples was raised in a neighborhood with “a backdrop of gang warfare, street knifings, and murders” (242). As a result, an adolescent who was raised in this environment would have difficulty staying out of trouble and avoiding becoming a thug. The norm of his neighborhood was ultimately to become a thug who commits crimes. In contrast, if a person goes against the norm they were considered “good boys

Gang violence is a growing problem in this world. No parent would like to imagine their kids dealing with weapons or being threatened by them. These violence’s affects each child individually and their families as well. These gangs recruit multiple different individuals for many reasons such as bribery, family traditions, or even threatening. Although, many kids feel like they have to be a part of it but there are many resources out in this world to prevent them from believing so.

Human nature is perceived as a delightful entity. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, several characters demonstrate the dark side of human nature and display how simple it is to get carried away with emotions. This includes Iago, who only cares for himself, Brabantio who has many doubts, and Roderigo who lacks intellect.

Youth violence in school continues to be a significant issue in the United States and research has repeatedly acknowledged being in a gang as one of the main causes of the violence in youths (Egley, Howell, & Harris, 2014; Huizinga & Lovegrove, 2009; Miller, 2001; Snyder & Sickmund, 2006). Youth violence can range from bullying, pushing/shoving, or emotional harm to gang violence or assault, with or without a weapon (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Research shows that in recent years, gang activity has been steadily growing—outward from larger cities (Egley, Howell, & Harris, 2014)—and about 8 percent of the youths, who surveyed for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, had belonged to a gang at some point between the

Gangs has their own culture and characteristics that includes their dress codes, identifying symbols, language, graffiti, drugs use &trafficking, use of other narcotics, and involvement in other illegal activities. However the nature and characteristics of gangs differ from community to community. Gangs however are found to be more prevalent in high crime areas and are also responsible for the majority of crimes committed.

Juvenile delinquency due to gang relation has increased drastically. Many people fail to realize that gangs have a considerable influence on the decisions juveniles are making. Adolescents are easily influenced by the members of the gangs and manipulated to commit certain crimes. As juveniles they are not mentally and emotionally mature to make such critical decisions, which in turn allow gang members to manipulate and control the youth they recruit. Juveniles become a part of gangs for several reasons, including, gaining protection, governmental, and social issues. Overall, gang engagement has evidently shown to negatively impact the youth.

Why are some successful? Why do some commit crimes? Society has general laws, offenders who break those laws are known as being deviants. Society views robbery, assault, and murder, as deviant acts. Cultural Deviance Theory is a, “branch of social structure theory that sees strain and social disorganization together resulting in a unique lower-class culture that conflicts with conventional social norms” (Siegel, 2018, P. 581). Acts that are viewed as deviant vary between social orders. Deviance can be said to be socially built; the general public chooses what is degenerate, individuals or an individual can be named as aberrance because of their societal position, race, ethnicity