John Leverso Blog3
Why adolescent males join street gangs
An interesting analysis can be made when you compare adolescents and the reasons they join street gangs to Weber and his sociological concepts of class, status and power. In this blog, I will compare these concepts and use them to answer the question of why adolescents join street gangs. I will show how Weber’s sociological concepts of class, status and power provide a concise explanation as to why young men join gangs.
The first concept, class, is already in place before the youth joins the gang because he was born into it. Weber defines class as the life chances and opportunities a group of individuals share. These individuals also share market chances and job positions. In relation to street gangs the youth is born into a class which is stricken with poverty and the opportunities for advancement are not as great as those in other communities. For example, adolescents growing up in the suburbs have greater life chances and more opportunities for advancement. The adolescent gang member on the other hand is born into a class where gangbanging, selling drugs and violence are prevalent. Belonging
to the class that the youth does makes him more likely to become a gang member.
Next, I will fast forward to when the young man becomes a teenager.
Since many gang members grow up without fathers the adolescent is looking
for acceptance and male role models. He receives acceptance and mentorship from older gang members, but acceptance and guidance are conditional. The youth must increase his status to keep his place and rise in the hierarchy of the gang.
Weber defines status by lifestyle. This means that statuses differ depending on the class and context. In gangs there are a number of ways for a youth to gain status. For example, a youth could gain status by selling a large amount of drugs or by
winning a lot of physical altercations. Most illegal activities could give the youth status such as, robbing, shooting, stealing etc. Status is important because it could transform into greater life chances for the youth. For example, a youth that gains status by selling drugs would have more income to improve his life chances.
All of Weber’s concepts are interrelated. For example, with status comes power.
Power, according to Weber is the ability to get others to do what you
want by coercing them to bend to your will. As the youth increases in status he
increases in power and authority. When the youth engages in and succeeds in activities that are in the gang’s best interest (fighting and selling drugs etc.)
he is given authority, or as the gang says he,” is given a spot”. With his new status he has a rational legal authority and with this comes power. The other gang members must abide by his rules or they will be subject to gang law violations, i.e. he can have them assaulted. If the youth succeeds at his lower level position then he can earn a higher level position and increase his power. The youth at the beginning of his career as a gang member sees all of this by observing the older gang members and he aspires to do the same, therefore, he joins the gang, attempts to work his way up the hierarchy of the gang’s infrastructure first to gain status and then power.
When using Weber’s concepts it is easy to see why adolescent males join
street gangs. One could argue that they were born into it. The class into which a person is born is an indicator of the life chances a person will have. If you are
born into a class where gangs thrive then there is a good chance that you will
be a gang member. If class and life chances give adolescents a predisposition to join gangs then the perceived importance of status and power actually make the youth join the gang because status could equate to greater life chances. These young men see the fancy cars, money and girls that the gang members with status have and they aspire to have these things as well. Of course it is highly unlikely that young gang members will make it to the top of the hierarchy, but their class and life chances does not leave them too many viable options, therefore, they try to be the exception to the rule.
Why adolescent males join street gangs
An interesting analysis can be made when you compare adolescents and the reasons they join street gangs to Weber and his sociological concepts of class, status and power. In this blog, I will compare these concepts and use them to answer the question of why adolescents join street gangs. I will show how Weber’s sociological concepts of class, status and power provide a concise explanation as to why young men join gangs.
The first concept, class, is already in place before the youth joins the gang because he was born into it. Weber defines class as the life chances and opportunities a group of individuals share. These individuals also share market chances and job positions. In relation to street gangs the youth is born into a class which is stricken with poverty and the opportunities for advancement are not as great as those in other communities. For example, adolescents growing up in the suburbs have greater life chances and more opportunities for advancement. The adolescent gang member on the other hand is born into a class where gangbanging, selling drugs and violence are prevalent. Belonging
to the class that the youth does makes him more likely to become a gang member.
Next, I will fast forward to when the young man becomes a teenager.
Since many gang members grow up without fathers the adolescent is looking
for acceptance and male role models. He receives acceptance and mentorship from older gang members, but acceptance and guidance are conditional. The youth must increase his status to keep his place and rise in the hierarchy of the gang.
Weber defines status by lifestyle. This means that statuses differ depending on the class and context. In gangs there are a number of ways for a youth to gain status. For example, a youth could gain status by selling a large amount of drugs or by
winning a lot of physical altercations. Most illegal activities could give the youth status such as, robbing, shooting, stealing etc. Status is important because it could transform into greater life chances for the youth. For example, a youth that gains status by selling drugs would have more income to improve his life chances.
All of Weber’s concepts are interrelated. For example, with status comes power.
Power, according to Weber is the ability to get others to do what you
want by coercing them to bend to your will. As the youth increases in status he
increases in power and authority. When the youth engages in and succeeds in activities that are in the gang’s best interest (fighting and selling drugs etc.)
he is given authority, or as the gang says he,” is given a spot”. With his new status he has a rational legal authority and with this comes power. The other gang members must abide by his rules or they will be subject to gang law violations, i.e. he can have them assaulted. If the youth succeeds at his lower level position then he can earn a higher level position and increase his power. The youth at the beginning of his career as a gang member sees all of this by observing the older gang members and he aspires to do the same, therefore, he joins the gang, attempts to work his way up the hierarchy of the gang’s infrastructure first to gain status and then power.
When using Weber’s concepts it is easy to see why adolescent males join
street gangs. One could argue that they were born into it. The class into which a person is born is an indicator of the life chances a person will have. If you are
born into a class where gangs thrive then there is a good chance that you will
be a gang member. If class and life chances give adolescents a predisposition to join gangs then the perceived importance of status and power actually make the youth join the gang because status could equate to greater life chances. These young men see the fancy cars, money and girls that the gang members with status have and they aspire to have these things as well. Of course it is highly unlikely that young gang members will make it to the top of the hierarchy, but their class and life chances does not leave them too many viable options, therefore, they try to be the exception to the rule.