BLACK GANGS IN SOUTHERN CA.   Term Paper ID:19617 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Study of gangs' change from positive to negative influences from 1970s to 1990s.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Study of gangs' change from positive to negative influences from 1970s to 1990s. Paper Introduction: This study will examine black youth gangs in Southern California from a sociological perspective. Specifically, the thesis of the study will be the argument that the nature of gangs has changed in recent years to such an extent that the very social glue which held such groups together in the past has been altered. As researchers into the nature of gangs have discovered in the past, gangs are social groups which, like other social groups, display many "Positive" social characteristics. The new gangs of Southern California, however, do not display as many of these socially "positive" traits, but instead are driven by what seems to be an impulse for nihilism and self-destruction and blind greed. Jesse Katz, in the Los Angeles Times study of gangs, focuses on the murder of one relatively elderly (30) gang leader who Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. He tried to bring peaceand reach out to other gangs without losing respect in his ownneighborhood. At the same time, however, "Stone, as (Thomas) wasknown around Crenshaw Boulevard, was different from the new generation ofgangsters filling the ranks of the Rollin' 6 s, teenagers blinded by thelure of fast cash and gold chains" (Jesse Katz Al). Keith Cardell Thomas, at 3 , "was among the oldest and most respectedleaders of the Rollin' 6 s---a group of Crips whose fierceness and recklessexploits have fueled the city's worst fears about gang violence" (Katz A1). Boyer writes of a gang attack --- in the form of a speedingcar--- carried out by one gang's-member against another gang's member in LosAngeles. . As Jesse Katz writes, Stumpy's portrait of the situation in blackyouth gangs is accurate. In the early days of black gangs in SouthernCalifornia, gangs "tended to view their enemy as the society that had keptthem powerless. There have always been inter-gang battles, then, but the introductionof machine guns and drugs and potentially immense profits have intensifiedinter-gang warfare and made "turf" battles matters of utter brutality andferocity which have nothing to do with the issues which old-timers such as"Stone" say were once the sociological basis for gangs. This transformation has jarred not onlythe gang world, but has turned their neighborhoods into virtual war zones,where innocent bystanders are consumed by the mayhem, victims of geography"(Jesse Katz A22). For whatever reason or reasonshe joined the gang in the first place, he finds himself having to ---whether he wants to or not --- adhere more and more to the code of behaviorof the gang. . Now, it's like everybody's against everybody" (Jesse Katz Al). The former profootball star Jim Brown, now a worker in black communities trying to coolgang tempers, calls Stone "A kid in transition. At the same time, he argues, sometimes eloquently and always withpassion, that the socioeconomic circumstances of poor black neighborhoodsplay a major part in the nature of gangs. Drugs and guns rule thestreets in many parts of the city, creating a life of terror andhelplessness for much of the populace in those areas. warring over drug turf andterrorizing urban areas" (Bugliosi 188). 'Turf'wars and other forms of violence by ghetto youth groups are essential,literally and figuratively, to ground the myths of natural antagonism amongthe combatants" (Jack Katz 116). The high-stakes battle for drug turf turnedCrips against Crips, and, eventually, Rollin' 6 s against Rollin' 6 s. Vincent Bugliosi, in Drugs in America, arguesthat drugs are the cause of this runaway violence: " . B1.Bugliosi, Vincent. Seductions of Crime. Stumpy correctly points out that black youth gangs are anotherexample of blacks being exploited by forces far more powerful anddestructive. Specifically, the thesis of the study will bethe argument that the nature of gangs has changed in recent years to suchan extent that the very social glue which held such groups together in thepast has been altered. Specifically, the black youth gangs of Southern California createsmall societies which exist within the larger society, and which serve themembers, needs in ways the larger society does not. New York: Basic Books, 1988.Katz, Jesse. Short and Strodtbackwrite, with respect to the society of gangs, that "The stable compositionof the group and the lack of social assurance on the part of its memberscontribute toward producing a very high rate of social interaction withinthe group. Clearly, then, the black youth gangs have changed dramatically sincetheir origins, which are loosely attached to the late 196 s and early197 s. April 23, 1992. We can easily understand that the young black man who is unemployed,perhaps largely unemployable because of his lack of education and training,poor, from a broken family, living under ghetto circumstances, sufferinghis whole brief life in a racist society, feeling rage and frustrationevery day and every night, bombarded with media images and advertising fromMadison Avenue which feature goods he cannot and perhaps will never be ableto legitimately purchase --- we can easily understand how this young blackman might be tempted to join a gang for social reasons. Thus, members must engage inpractical activities that convince others that they mean it . Muchsociological research has been carried out with respect to black youthgangs in southern California and elsewhere. What removes the possible charge of the "accidental" criticalinjuring of a 5-month-old-girl in the attack is the fact that the man rundown was holding in his arms, clearly visibly, that little child. Stumpy concedes that in the ten years hehas been familiar with gangs and a part of a gang he has seen violenceescalate as drugs, especially crack cocaine, have come to play a centralrole in the life of the gangs as well as in the life of the community atlarge. There has been much media coverage of "drive-by shootings" in LosAngeles, carried out by members of black youth gangs. The group structure is a product of this interaction. Stumpy is profoundly frustrated with the situation, with what he seesas his inevitable membership in a gang which is essentially destructive tohimself and his community, but he sees no other way out. Much of thatcoverage has focused on the innocent children who have been shot in suchincidents. Violence is certainly the dominant element of gangs, particularly inthe era of rock cocaine in which immense profits are at stake. "Stone" was an old-timer who tried to bridge the transition from theold-style to the new-style gangs, from gangs based on a connection to theneighborhood, a brotherly relationship among the members of the gang, togangs based on senseless violence and drugs-for-profit. . However, posturing and intimidation are only part of the picture: "Byparading in public in bizarre, menacing disguises like those that areassociated with feudal knights, they. At the same time, it is clear that the gangs themselves---especiallyin the "old days" before rock cocaine, but still today to some degree ---fulfill for their young black members some of the social needs which thesociety at large cannot or will not fulfill. When cheap crack cocaine began pouring into the communityin the 198 s, that changed. The gangs' violence and threat of violence have created in LosAngeles a culture whose citizens feel under seige. Although some Rollin' 6 s listened --- if only out ofrespect --- Stone's assassination drove home a point they could not ignore:The violence that he had both warned against and wreaked is careening outof control" (Jesse Katz Al). There used to berespect. A1; A22.Short, James, and Strodtbeck, Fred. April14, 1992. He finds no egoidentity in society at large, but in the gang he finds an instant identityand an instant culture to which he belongs. This study will examine black youth gangs in Southern California froma sociological perspective. Thomas' body was found, "handcuffed, shot in the head and stuffed into theback of a rented Ford Explorer" (Katz Al), indicating that he may have beena respected leader but he was not immune to the violence of the gangs hehelped lead for years. Writing of "Stone" (Thomas), Katz says that "In many ways, he was athrowback to the Crips' origins in the 197 s, when the battles were overcommunity control, when loyalty to the neighborhood --- being 'down for thehood' --- meant self-determination, not self-destruction." With respect tothe changes experienced by Stone personally, Katz writes: "Even as hebecame a ruthless henchman in the gang's violent push into the rock cocainetrade, Stone clung to an old-fashioned code of honor, cautioning thatcutthroat greed within its ranks was undermining the ethos of unity anddevotion" (Jesse Katz Al). A dispute might still turnmurderous, but it was understood that the beef was only with that rival,not his entire gang" (Jesse Katz A22). It would follow, then, that the more the society at large rejects ayoung black man who is in a gang to begin with, the more the young blackman will identify with the gang and turn his back on society at large. As we read in Jesse Katz' article on Stone: "We started out asbrothers loving brothers," one veteran Rollin' 6 s member said. While gangs have alwaysbeen brutal, they resort to violence more quickly and more indiscriminatelynow because the stakes are about money, not just turf or pride, accordingto police and gang authorities. . As Short and Strodtbeck write, the gangs of earlier decades behavedviolently, to be sure, but the values they "defended" with such behaviorwere based on more than mere profits, which too often seem to motivategangs in the 199 s. . New York: Knightsbridge, 1991.Katz, Jack. The cycle ofviolence is, of course, rooted in racial, social and economic strife thatis now overburdening the police, health and social services infrastructureand costing the taxpayers millions of dollars. As Jack Katz writes, the black youth gangs of Southern Californiaare, in general, "groups of adolescent males" who "have constructed theappearance of one or another form of ancient, barbaric, feudal, orsupernatural elite that maintains its rule through physical intimidation"(Jack Katz 116). spawned a dramatic increase and proliferation ofviolent gangs like the Bloods (and) Crips . Clearly, to do away withgangs, or to reduce their significance to any meaningful degree, wouldrequire fundamental changes in the society of Southern California. . While the gangs can at least claim that such shootings ofinnocent children caught in gang crossfire are "accidents," one recentevent shows the utter cold-blooded nature of such inter-gang warfare in theblack ghetto. This is not to say that the earlier gangs were organizations of high-minded young blacks who adhered to a knightly set of behavioral standards,while today's gangs are entirely different in their blood-thirstiness andinsane greed. But there is not some magic dust that you just sprinkle on agang member and get him to go to church" (Jesse Katz A22). Chicago: University of Chicago, 1965.----------------------- 1 Stumpy offers a most discouraging portrait of life in the black youthgang and life in the poor black community in Southern California ingeneral. Stone, obviously, was unable to bridge the gap. Theywere also one of the first to heavily arm themselves" (Jesse Katz A22). The manin the car and the man holding the infant were in rival gangs (Boyer B1). Jesse Katz writes that Stone had been trying to reach out to rivalgangs with overtures of peace, but, as with other such efforts by communityleaders, the results were minimal and short-lived. He has already been ostracized from society at large, or haschosen to exacerbate that ostracization by joining the gang in the firstplace, so he has nowhere to go if he tries to leave the gang, whatever theconsequences. The new gangs ofSouthern California, however, do not display as many of these socially"positive" traits, but instead are driven by what seems to be an impulsefor nihilism and self-destruction and blind greed. As researchers into the nature of gangs havediscovered in the past, gangs are social groups which, like other socialgroups, display many "Positive" social characteristics. An interview with a current gang member of a black youth gang, whoinsisted on anonymity except for his gang name "Stumpy," supports theclaims in Jesse Katz' article. . Out ofsuch interaction there arises a system of mutual obligations which isfundamental to group cohesion" (Short and Strodtback 217). "Baby Girl Critically Hurt in Gang Attack With Car, Police Say." Los Angeles Times,. "An Ethic Dies with Gang Chief." Los Angeles Times. You didn't shoot little children or somebody's mother, letalone fire on a cemetery, hospital or church. . The prohibitionof drugs . Stone sought to try toinstill a broader sense of values and principles in his gang, "wearingwooden African beads and seeking inspiration in the teachings of Malcolm Xand Louis Farrakhan. Jesse Katz, in the Los Angeles Times study of gangs, focuses on themurder of one relatively elderly (3 ) gang leader who watched the gangs gothrough a transformation into the violenceoriented nightmare in which theyexist today in the environs of Southern California. Thedistinctive features of violence already noted --- strategic calculation,militaristic delight, symbolic representation of enemies, and melodramaticself-absorption --- indicate a pride in ruling the streets by terror" (JackKatz 115). Works CitedBoyer, Edward. Drugs in America. However, he feels trapped into the gang lifestyle and sees no wayout. However, "as in the early days of the Mob, there were also rules tobe followed. "Stone" himself, as Jesse Katz writes, was forced, despite hisleadership and elder statesman role in his gang, to conform to the changingnature of the black gang in Southern California, whether he liked it ornot, and whether he dragged his heels in defying such changes or not. The Crips gang grew into several offshoots, including the Rollin'6 s. However, it is not in dispute among researchers into blackyouth gangs in Southern California that the introduction of the big moneyassociated with the sales of rock cocaine has dramatically altered thenature of gangs and has intensified the "negative" elements of gangs,sociologically speaking, while reducing the presence of "positive"elements. He is a highschool dropout with no training for a job other than menial labor, andrealizes that he can make more money in a drug-oriented gang than he couldin any other position in the community. As a member of the gang, he is expected to do what the restof the gang does, and if he does not he will suffer the wrath of the othergang members. This inter-gang rivalry has also been well-studied in sociologicalterms. . has .... There was violence from the beginnings of the black youth gangs, asall the sources indicate. Group Process and Gang Delinquency. Stumpy also notes that blackyouth gangs do not manufacture or import machine or crack cocaine, and thatthese weapons and drugs are in fact brought into the black ghetto bycriminals more organized and higher-up on the level of drug industryactivities. This is reflected in Jesse Katz' analysis of the Rollin' 6 s blackyouth gang: "The Rollin' 6 s evolution from a unified band of neighborhoodenforcers to a collection of well-armed, for-profit factions is beingmirrored in gangs throughout Los Angeles County. While there has always been violence associated with black gangs,however, the new gangs seem to have lost control of violence as a tool ofrevenge and intimidation. . "Now, theneighborhood don't really trust each other no more . The6 s were one of the first Los Angeles gangs to cash in on the drug trade,shifting their focus from neighborhood rule to for-profit endeavors. . He privately suggests, indirectly,that he does not really want to be in a gang, that he is getting older interms of the relative ages of gang members, and that he would like to havemore security and peace in his life. As Jack Katz writes inSeductions of Crime, "The pride in displaying the symbols of terrifyingevil may be used to delineate a particular form of deviance. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.