“Belonging” in Gangs
This article posted in “The Telegraph” (UK news) describes the phenomenon of youth gang violence and the effects it’s had on the child murder rate. The title of the article “Youth Gangs triple Child murder Rate” is startling to think of, especially since this piece highlights that, children as young as 5 years old are joining gangs! It’s no secret that gangs are still very much alive to this day and are spreading all over the world. Many people are aware of the reoccurring dangers that are associated with youth gangs such as drugs, guns, and deaths. If you go to google news and simply type in “youth gangs” the first words you see are “drugs”, “rape”, and “killings”!
The question to be further investigated is “why”? Why are the numbers of gangs increasing? Why are the numbers of gang murders increasing? And why are youth becoming more and more attracted to being apart of a gang?
For these questions I turn to theories on the negotiation of identities and acts of belonging. Paul Erhahon, a 14-year-old boy featured in this article, was stabbed to death outside his home by a gang so that boys as young as 13 could “earn their spurs” (Wynne-Jones, Leapman: 2008). Theorists Erik H. Erikson (1950) explains that children “are now primarily concerned with what they appear to be in the eyes of others as compared with what they feel they are” (pg.335). Killing to “earn their spurs” has much to do with ego identity, which is also what Erikson describes as an issue with today’s youth. Youth just want to find a place where they belong, and apparently killing to belong to a gang is one of the ways. Not only that, but once a child has entered a gang, they have certain obligations to that gang. If you explore the readers comments posted at the bottom of this news article “Youth of today” explains that “a gang is a group of youngsters that stay LOYAL to their territory”. So not only is becoming a gang an act of belonging, once your in a gang, you have to hold certain obligations and
More specifically, Frederic M. Thraser (1927) describes the personality and status within a gang. With ideas of ego and hierarchy, Thrasher states, “he [a gang member] is formed by the discipline the gang imposes upon himself” (pg.257). Within groups, every person will perform his or her characteristics in relation to others. This again has much to do with the act of belonging. One of the most important explanations, in relation to gangs, that I feel Thrasher makes is:
“Participation in gang activities means everything to the boy. It not only defines for him his position in the only society he is greatly concerned with, but it becomes the basis for his conception of himself” (pg.258).
With that being said, this could possibly answer the question of why youth are becoming more and more attracted to gangs. Societies within the world today are so caught up with belonging that they’ll take unreasonable measures to find a group or “gang” where they belong. I think that working on how to make your differences into strengths is a goal that our societies can work on, instead of settling for acts of violence.
Erik H. Erikson-“Youth and American Identity” (1950)
Frederic M. Thrasher- “Personality and Status Within the Gang” (1927)
