Gangs Psychology
Gangs are a violent reality that people have to deal with in today's
cities.
What has made these groups come about? Why do kids feel that
being in a gang is
both an acceptable and prestigious way to live? The
psychological answer to
these questions can only be speculated upon, but in
the immediate reasons and
benefits are much easier to find. On the surface,
they are a direct result of
human beings' personal wants and peer pressure.
To determine how to effectively
end gang violence, we must find the way that
these morals are given to the
individual. Individually, these can only be
hypothesised. However, by looking at
the way humans are influenced by the
cultural practices of society, I believe
there is good evidence to point the
blame at several institutions. These include
the forces of the media, the
government, theatre, illicit drugs and our economic
system. On the surface,
gangs are caused by peer pressure and greed. Many teens
in gangs will
pressure peers into becoming involved in a gang by making it all
sound
glamorous. Money is also a crucial factor. A teen is shown that he could
make
$200 to $400 for small part time gang jobs. Although money is a
strong
motivator, it is usually not strong enough to make kids do things that
are
strongly against their morals. One of the ways that children’s morals are
bent
so that gang violence becomes more acceptable is through the influence
of
television and movies. The average child spends more time in front of
a
television than she or he spends actively participating in a classroom.
Since
nobody can completely turn off their minds, kids must be learning
something
while watching TV. Very few hours of programming are educational,
and these are
not often watched by children, so other ideas are being
absorbed during this
period of time. Many shows on television today are
extremely violent and are
often show a gang's perspective. An adult can see
that this is showing how
foully that gangs are living. However, to a child
this portrays a violent gang
existence as acceptable. 'The Ends Justifies the
Means' mentality is also taught
through many shows where the "good guy"
captures the "bad
guy" through violence and is then being commended. A young
child sees this
a perfectly acceptable because he knows that the "bad guy"
was wrong
but has no idea of what acceptable apprehension techniques are.
Gore in
television also takes a big part in influencing young minds. Children
see gory
scenes and are fascinated by these things that they have not seen
before. Older
viewers see gore and are not concerned with the blood but
rather with the pain
the victim must feel. A younger mind does not make this
connection, thus a gore
fascination is formed, and has been seen in several
of my peers. Unfortunately
kids raised with this sort of television end up
growing up with a stronger
propensity to becoming a violent gang member or
'violence- acceptant' person.
"Gangs bring the delinquent norms of society
into intimate contact with the
individual."1, (Marshall B Clinard, 1963). So,
if television leads a child
to believe that violence is the norm, this will
manifest itself in the actions
of the child, quite often in a gang situation.
This is especially the case when
parents do not spend a lot of time with
their children explaining what is right
and what is wrong. Quite often newer
books and some types of music will enforce
this type of thought and ideas.
Rap music is the most recent genre’ to emerge
promoting the gang lifestyle.
While this music at first only attracted black
youth, it has now infiltrated
pop music culture. Groups such as the Gang Bangers
and 2Pac Shakur glorify
gang life and the privileges obtained through such
associations. We all know
that music is the most power influence in our society,
whether blatant or
subliminal, so the gang message is spread. Once this
mentality is instilled
in youngsters, they become increasingly aware of the
advantage of using gang
power in any situation, whether at home or elsewhere.
For instance, in
poor families with many children or upper-middle class families
where parents
are always working, the children will often feel deprived of
love.
Parents can often feel that putting food on the table is enough
love. Children
of these families may often go to the gang possibly out of
boredom and to belong
somewhere. As time goes on, a form of love or kinship
develops between the gang
members and the individual. It is then that the
bond between the person and the
gang is completed because the gang has
effectively taken the place of the
family. The new anti-social structure of
cities also effects the ease in which a
gang can be joined. " The formation
of gangs in cities, and most recently
in suburbs, is facilitated by the same
lack of community among parents. The
parents do not know what their children
are doing for two reasons: First, much
of the parents' lives is outside the
local community, while the children's lives
are lived almost totally within
it. Second, in a fully developed community, the
network of relations gives
every parent, in a sense, a community of sentries who
can keep him informed
of his child's activities. In modern living-places (city
or suburban), where
such a network is attenuated, he no longer has such
sentries."2, (Merton
Nisbet, 1971). Within male gangs, problems occur as
certain members try to be
the leader with numerous supporters. This often leads
to members
participating in "one-up-manship". Quite often this will
then lead to each
member trying to commit a bigger and more violent crime or
simply more crimes
than the others. With all members participating in this sort
of activity it
makes for a never ending unorganised violence spree. In gangs
with more
intelligent members, these feelings end up making each member want to
be the
star when the groups commit a crime. This makes the gang much more
organised
and improves the morale of members which in turn makes them more
dangerous
and very hard for the police to deal with and catch. This sort of gang
is
usually common of middle or upper class people, although it can happen
in
gangs in the projects and other low rent districts too. This
"one-up-manship"
is often the reason between rival gangs fighting. All gangs
feel powerful, and
they want to be respected. To do this, they try to
establish themselves as the
only gang in a certain neighbourhood. After a few
gang fights, hatred forms and
gang murders and drive-bye’s begin to take
place. When two gangs are at war,
it makes life very dangerous for citizens
in the area. Less that 40% of
drive-bye’s kill their intended victim yet over
60% do kill someone. As you
can see, often the intended victim is not killed.
This gang application is one
of the many reasons that sexual stereotypes and
pressure to conform to the same
must be stopped. Lastly one of the great
benefits in joining a gang is for
protection. Although from an objective
point of view, we can see joining a gang
brings more danger than it saves you
from, this is not always the way it is seen
by kids. In slums such as the
Bronx or Bedford Styvesant of NYC, children will
no doubt be beaten and
robbed if they do not join a gang. Of course they can
probably get the same
treatment from rivals when in a gang. The gang also
provides some money for
these children who quite often need to feed their
families. The reason kids
think that the gang will keep them safe is from
propaganda spouted by the
gangs. Gang members will say that no one will get hurt
and make a public show
of revenge if a member is hurt or killed. People in low
rent areas are most
often being repressed due to poverty or race. This often
results in an
attitude that motivates the person to base his life on doing what
the system
that oppresses them does not want. Although this accomplishes little,
it is a
big factor in gang enrolment. "Bucking the system" and
"Down with the
establishment" were cries begun in the sixties and
brought to a new level in
the nineties. So, as you have seen, gangs are a
product of the environment
created by music, media, cultural, and financial
circumstances. There seems
to be no way to end the problem of gangs without
totally restructuring the
modern economy and value system. Since the chance of
this happening is
minimal, we must learn to cope with gangs and try to keep
their following to
a minimum. Unfortunately, there is no real organised force to
help fight
gangs. Of course the police are supposed to do this, but since gangs
are a
type of family, police cannot fairly with these issues and can only deal
with
their manifestations not root causes. What might help is if there were
more
organisations like the "Guardian Angels", a gang-like
group
originating in New York City, that makes life very tough for street
gangs that
are breaking laws. This group would need to be sanctioned by the
current law
enforcement administrations to be most effective. Group or
organisations
equipped to meet the heart needs of the gang members and
victims would possibly
get to the root of the problem. Dave Wilkerson is best
known for his book The
Cross and the Switchblade, which tells how he
brought God into gang members’
lives. Through God they found inner peace and
freedom from their addictions.
Scripturally, we know the answer to this
and every problem is found through a
personal relationship with Jesus
Christ.
Bibliography
Grolier Multimedia Encyclopaedia, 1995 Margot
Webb, Coping with Street Gangs.
Rosen Publishing Group, New York, 1990.
David Wilkerson, The Cross and the
Switchblade. William Foote Whyte,
Street Corner Society. University of Chicago,
Chicago, 1955. Footnotes 1.
Marshall B. Clinard, Sociology of Deviant Behaviour
University of
Wisconsin, Wisconsin, 1963, Page 179. 2. Merton Nisbet,
Contemporary
Social Problems. Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1971,
Page
588.