Gang Leader For A Day Summary

Gang Leader for A Day Response Paper “Just another day as an outsider looking at life from the inside”, says Sudhir Venkatesh, who is referring to his research study. Venkatesh is a self proclaimed “rogue sociologist” who wanted to study the lives of poor black families living in Chicago. Instead of solely conducting interviews and surveys, Venkatesh took it a step further and immersed himself in the environment that he was studying. Gang Leader for A Day describes Venkatesh’s experiences with the Black Kings, and ultimately explores gang life through a lens that not many would be willing to adopt. The methods and techniques that were used in both of the research projects were actually very similar. In Venkatesh’s study, he uses the

According to the book, Venkatesh was an Indian male who came from an immigrant background. He was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, and he essentially led a sheltered life. Sudhir describes his homeplace as the “lily-white suburbs of Southern California” and lived in “a studio apartment in a ten-story building” next to “a beautifully manicured Gothic campus” (Venkatesh 1). Sudhir didn’t struggle through life the same way that the residents of Robert Taylor did. Robert Taylor was composed of I think his background affected the results of the study because Venkatesh had his own opinions and perspectives on certain situations, and reacted differently because of them. For example, when Clarisse tells Sudhir that Ms. Bailey has not fed her children, he takes it upon himself to find food and water for her family. Ms. Bailey informs him later on that she feeds all the hungry children of the building, and that he cannot trust everyone, because “they’ll take advantage of you, and you won’t know what hit you. And I won’t be there to protect you” (Venkatesh 157). Sudhir’s need to protect and provide for these women, who are less fortunate than he is, causes him to react quickly to the situation. This affected the data in a positive manner because it highlights the need for truth and lack of interference. Sudhir learned that he could not take everything at face

In the beginning of the book, Sudhir convinces J.T. that he is observing him because he wants to write a biography about the life experiences of a gang leader. Venkatesh is aware that he is conducting this research study in order to understand how black families live in poverty, but he never clarifies what the research project intends to do. In addition to this, there is another ethical issue revolving around the “cause no harm to subjects” clause. After Venkatesh collected the information about the underground economy and the wages that each individual earned, he shared that information with Ms. Bailey and J.T. This led to the suspension of aid from Ms. Bailey, or violence from J.T. and his gang members. Sudhir was responsible for causing harm to his subjects, and he was unable to remediate the issues that had arisen between the tenants and J.T. Another issue that was prevalent in Venkatesh’s study was the idea of “benefits outweighing risks”. To be quite frank, the only person that benefited from the research study was Venkatesh. At the end of the day, he was the one receiving academic recognition for partaking in a study that was deemed “dangerous” and “unique”. The residents of Robert Taylor ended up losing their homes, and Venkatesh experienced economic and social success. It demonstrates that researchers cannot always deem what is ethical or unethical, and thus calls for a