Week 4, Blog #2 Youth and Gang Violence

Pulling three key points out of Steven Levitt's video discussion and the article by Krohn and Thornberry regarding youth and their involvement in gangs, I would like to start with Steve Levitt's comparison and charted example of the hierarchy that exists within a gang.  He compared the hierarchy with that of the major franchise corporation of McDonald's.  Within the hierarchy organization are the board of directors, or key players, (CEO's).  Next are Regional Directors, Franchisers and the lowest of the hierarchy, the workers.  He points out that as with any structured corporation there are many workers and few CEO's. Reflective of a pyramid.  This is the exact type of internal structuring system gangs are run by.

Second, is a point that denies what most of us see depicted in the media regarding gangs.  The truth is that there is not a lot of money to be made for most of the gang members.  The workers or foot soldiers that do the dirty work within the gang actually reap very little monetary benefits from the sale of drugs and violent crimes such as armed robbery.  The money rises to the top of the pyramid.  This is something that many young gang members do not realize is just a means to recruit new members by making the gang lifestyle look flashy and lucrative.

Third, I would like to discuss a type of research that is discussed in the above-mentioned article.  Its a type of study referred to as a longitudinal study.  Simply, it is a group of studied participants that are studied forward in time as they age.  Previous studies that have been conducted to evaluate gang activities were not deemed as effective because they left out important data and trends that may/may not have occurred over long periods of a gang members' affiliation.  One such important question would be when, if ever do gang members "retire"?

This type of longitudinal study is what makes Steven Levitt's research finding's so important and reliable, especially since they were able to actually infiltrate the gang and record their activities for a 10 year period.

Perhaps we aren't doing enough in Government to control this situation because the death statistics are shocking.  If you are a young black male living in the inner city, you have a 1% chance of dying.  If you are a soldier in Iraq you have HALF of 1% chance of dying! That should be a wake up call for the need for prevention and protection o four nation's youth.





Works Cited:

 

Marvin D. Krohn and Terence P. Thornberry. Longitudinal Perspectives on Adolescent Street

Gangs

TED Talks."Steven Levitt analyzes crack economics." Feb 2004. Online Video Clip. Accessed on July 27 2010.