Guns Use for Status

Gang participation is equivalent to association. In many cases, associations are made in nearby, neighborhoods, schools, or a local parks. What begins as a friendship between peers becomes a form of education into the norms of street life. With violence in many urban communities at such a high levels, youth have learned there is strength in numbers, and to confront the fear of harm, many young people ban together to protect themselves. Gang participation begins through socialization of street life norm and participation is motivated by fear and the need for protection and acceptance by peers.

The article is Peers and Guns Use Among Urban Adolescents Males, by Deanna Wilkinson et al. It claims that young people carry guns for self-protection. Statistics show that homicides are the leading cause of death for African Americans age 15-24 since 1981 (20). The idea of safety in numbers is also a part of this research project. Wilkinson offers, youth in the lower socioeconomic status communities are associated with gun possession by the time they are 9th and 10th grade students, she also argues that groups of peers with firearms are more like to escalate a conflict. This does not mean that the crimes the youth commit are gang related; the violence could be a group-on–group phenomenon without gang ties or affiliations. Cooffenders are not seen as delinquent or as a criminal associates. Wilkinson argues there is an element of social exchange, which leads to delinquent and criminal acts (Wilkinson).

The research articles Gang-Related Gun Violence, Socialization, Identity and Self, by Paul B Stretesky and Mark R. Pogrebin seek to explain the mechanisms in play that lead gang member to commit violent acts. It is their hypothesis that socialization builds a self-image and self-identity from which violence can enhance. Stretesky and Pogrebin also argue that gangs act as a primary group and are used as a way of socialization into the gang. This brings a greater propensity to...