Teenagers, clothes, and gang violence (1991)

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper by Burke was to examine the relationship between gangs, school, and community life and addressed issues of why children join gangs. It also focused on ways for the community to become reinvolved in their children's lives. METHODOLOGY: A non-experimental literature review and commentary was used by the author to illustrate the issues of gangs and school. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Many of the children involved in suburban gangs came from troubled, or single family homes where the parent or parents may have been absent from their children's lives. The children grew up feeling unsafe in society and lack security in their family lives. This feeling of exclusion forced the child to seek security and acceptance from their peers in the form of gang membership. These gang members usually hung out after school in an attempt to receive some degree of safety that was lacking in their own families. There acceptance into the gang was symbolized by the use of certain clothing such as Raiders jackets and black and red clothing that were altered in some way to identify the child as a gang member. The gang members wore the clothing intentionally in an effort to communicate their membership in the gang to those around them. If gang members came in contact with rival gangs, they would fight, and even kill one another in an effort to protect their peers who wore similar attire. It is the association of gang membership with certain articles of clothing, that put the children in danger. AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS: The author recommended the development of a curriculum that strengthened the relationship between the children and the community. It was argued that programs needed to be implemented that would provide the children with a sense of belonging to society as well as impress upon the community that these gang members were their own children. The author believed that school teachers were in the best position to help children participate and receive recognition in the community. EVALUATION: This article provides a general overview of some of the gang behavior and culture that is particularly evident in schools. Building that all-important connection between community and school is emphasized. Generally speaking, the views expressed in this article make sense. However, given that there is a small amount of literature cited, and literature that is cited is from mass media, any conclusions from this article should be approached with caution as generalizability of these findings are unable to be assessed without further research. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Prevention Recommendations KW - Juvenile Offender KW - Juvenile Violence KW - Juvenile Gang KW - Gang Membership Causes KW - Gang Membership Prevention KW - Gang Violence KW - Suburban Gang KW - Suburban Youth KW - Suburban Violence KW - Violence Causes KW - Program Recommendations KW - Gang Membership Risk Factors KW - School Risk Factors KW - Community Risk Factors KW - Clothing Language: en