The 6th Street Boys were the gang that Goffman spent six years in Philadelphia with, and who she wrote her book about. While Goffman mainly focuses on a handful of the 6th Street Boys, one could assume that the gang consisted of almost every young male who lived on, or near the block. Everyone who she encountered during her time living in this neighborhood was an African- American, and this includes the young men who were in the gang. This being said, however, the gang lets Goffman become a “member” and even give her a nickname. This leads us to believe that the 6th Street Boys allowed women who lived on the block, and their girlfriends who may not have lived on the block to join the gang as well, but not as on official 6th Street Boys member, …show more content…
The age range is mid-twenties and up. The members of the gang that we saw were all white men. Women were referred to as “old ladies”, and this could mean either a wife, mother, girlfriend, etc., but they were not full members of gang. Before one could become a member of the gang, they had to go through a one year probationary period. The symbols they used were a reaper, crossing an AR-15 rifle and a scythe in its hands. The gangs was involved in many violent acts, such as murders, robberies, and gun running. The Sons had an alliance with the 1-9ers, and their main rival was another motorcycle gang known as the Mayans, and the white supremacist group, also located in Charming. This gang has more than five members, ample amounts of organization and permanence, members identify as a member of the Sons, involved in criminal acts, and they have a subculture and use …show more content…
The neighborhood of Philadelphia in which the 6th Street Boys reside is not the poorest neighborhood in the city, however, it can still be classified as poor section. The young men being examined have never really had a positive male role model in their lives, and were exposed to crime at a very young age. Institutional bodies are also at play here. The gang did commit crimes, however, the police that patrolled the neighborhood were portrayed as bad guys, who just wanted to make these young men’s lives a living hell, by harassing them, their loved ones, and neighbors. The other institutional body at play was the high school that the gang members went to. A simple schoolyard tussle was blown out of proportion, thus leading the men to not trust authority figures. Drug use also seemed to run rampant throughout the neighborhood. This led to one of two things, either becoming a junkie, or becoming a dealer. While some people emerge from these backgrounds as successful adults, many do not, and Goffman made sure to ram that point home. The in depth description of Miss Linda’s (a drug user and abuser) home almost made me sick. According to Goffman, it was a mess, smelt like animal urine, and had cockroaches roaming all around it. This leads us to assume that this was the state of many of the homes in the
Some kids have no other choice but to join the gangs at an early age. Lack of parent supervision has been shown to be linked with both boys and girls joining a gang. Even though most have men to prove they are the violent ones, not every gang member is shown to be violent. While the rest of Luis’s gang members treat women with disrespect, Luis seems to respect everyone no matter what gender they are. Being told his own mom the pain she had to go through influenced his ways of viewing and treating
Poorly kept neighborhoods house more amounts of criminal behavior than other areas in the community because over time, everyone in the community stopped caring about the upkeep of the neighborhood’s appearance as well as the neighborhood as a whole. This lowers the social control of the neighborhood, or the strength of people holding each other accountable for the rules of society. According to Wilson, if the boys continue living in in the run down, poverty-stricken environment of Henry Horner Homes as they grow up, they will be more likely to engage in criminal behaviors when later in their
Starting off the discussion we will start with chapter one. Chapter one is about Decent and street families. Decent families are families who live by society’s norms and try to avoid violence, drugs, confrontation, whereas street families embrace violence and fear because it is a way to stay alive within their neighborhoods. In the chapter they discuss how many families in the inner city actually have the decent family values, but can also harbor the street values. For example in the chapter they actually discussed an instance where Marge a women they had interviewed had a problem with others in her neighborhood. Her story s...
Throughout There Are No Children Here, a continuous, powerful tension always lurks in the background. The gangs that are rampant in the housing projects of Chicago cause this tension. In the Henry Horner Homes, according to Kotlowitz, one person is beaten, shot, or stabbed due to gangs every three days. In one week during the author's study of the projects, police confiscated 22 guns and 330 grams of cocaine in Horner alone (Kotlowitz 32).
Burglaries, robberies, and shootings, all of which may leave victims or innocent bystanders severely hurt or dead, are now frequent enough to concern all urban and many suburban residents. Living in a dangerous environment places young people at risk of falling victim to such malicious and aggressive behavior observed and learned from others. Social institution such as education, family, religion, peer groups, etc., play a major role in the influence of crime in the urban neighborhoods that Anderson describes. As said in the essay, "although almost everyone in poor inner-...
McGuire, Danielle L. At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance- A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power. New York, New York: Vintage Books. 2011.
The Bloods and the Crips are the two well-known gang families that started in the 1940’s in Los Angeles as a defense approach by the blacks against the whites (Dorais, Corriveau, 2009, p 8). Gangs are most often visible in specific areas such as restaurants, bars, metro stations, etc.: “The appearance of street gangs in Quebec and Canada dates from the 1980’s, when these groups started to become larger, more visible, and more disruptive to authorities and residents (Dorais, Corriveau, 2009, p 8-9). There are six definable features that can be used to identify the presents of a gang: “ a structured or degree of organization, an identifiab...
Lost Boys of South Sudan was a name given to the thousands of young boys orphaned or torn from their families by the Sudanese Civil War. These young boys walked sometimes as much as a thousand miles to reach refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. The US allowed as many as 4000 Lost Boys to emigrate to America providing them with endless opportunities. Gia Nyok and Lopez Lomong were able to reach prominence in America and help their communities in Sudan despite the struggles they endured as Lost Boys.
on where gang members can live. Gang members living in the suburbs share traits with recruits
The book emphasizes the idea of how difficult it is to leave the gang lifestyle. There are frequent cases of relapse by individuals in the book, who were once out to again return to gangs. This case is brought by what gangs represent to this in the book and what leaving entails them to give up. The definition of gangs presented to the class was, three or more members, share name, color, or affiliation, or must exist in a geopolitical context. To members associated with gangs, this definition can include your family members, neighborhood, everyone that they associate with. Take for example Ronnie from Jumped in by Jorja Leap it states,” Ronny’s role models are gangbangers. His family is a hood. His mentors are older homies in county jail.”(102). Ronnie and other gang members like him do not
This book was about a street gang called the Mighty Vice Lords. They were the second largest gang in Chicago with about 30,000 members. The Vice Lords started in the Illinois Training center (Juvenile Correctional Facility) for boys in St. Charles Illinois during 1958 and was led by Edward “Pepalo” Perry and Alfonso Alfred. This group was known to be brutal and violent. It discussed how a violent gang can become a community organization and change the way things were done for the betterment of the community. This information is important because it showed that gangs can become a positive force.
Gangs originated in the mid 1800’s in the cardinal direction using it as a method to defend themselves against outsiders.The idea of gangs became populous, powerful, and a broad influence. But like all powers, they tend to corrupt and recognizes violence as a way of getting what they want faster than other methods.They turn violence into fun, profit, and control.Creating a situation that affects youth in today’s society.
The Bowery Boys originally consisted of volunteer firefighters, though through the years they had members in all walks of life from butchers to mechanics though most importantly they were born and raised in New York City many residing as middle-class workers during the day and abiding by the law. They were one of the most notorious gangs in New York City during the 1800’s and were strictly nativist as well as being anti-catholic and anti-immigrant.. As seen in most gangs they had a sort of dress code that paid respect to their origins as volunteer firefighters.
Gang violence is a major problem in our society today. If nothing is done soon, gang violence could take place in our neighborhoods. MW Klein, a gang researcher, says that gangs are an aggregation of youths who perceive themselves as distinct, and that are viewed as distinct by the community. Klein also states that the gangs call forth a consistently negative image of themselves through their actions (Klein). To those involved in gangs however, gang membership provided a youth means of attempting to consolidate their gender identities (Douglas). Most of the early American street gangs have historically been ethnically based. Early gangs were mainly Irish, Polish, or Italian (Klein).
Hallswort, S. And Young, T. (2004) Getting Real About Gang. Criminal Justice Matters [online]. 55. (1), pp 12-13 [Accessed 10 December 2013]