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I do not think that this article is correct about the motivation of the gang members low in the hierarchy. The Robert Taylor Homes were poor, isolated, and cut

I do not think that this article is correct about the motivation of the gang members low in the hierarchy. The Robert Taylor Homes were poor, isolated, and cut off from the rest of Chicago by a highway. The young men who joined the gang didn't have many other options. Most of the men who lived there worked ad hoc jobs. Sudhir Venkatesh coached young drug dealers for interviews (ex: to become a janitor). I suspect that low-level drug dealers start dealing because it's easy for them to get into and they don't have better options. The gangs probably hold more appeal as a social organization than they do as a way to make money.

consonants 13y ago
This. Thank you for presenting your argument in a much less combative way than I would have. There are basic survival and social pressures at play, protection from harm and corrupt law enforcement is a primary motivator for people to join gangs. Drugs are a means to an end in terms of literal survival, ie having a roof over one's head and food on one's table. Isolation from society due to social, economic and logistical/geographic factors is isolation from the things that society tries to offer: protection from harm and ability to make a living. People in gangs are under no illusion that they might be on the path to great wealth through their actions, because they understand the state of their community and the status of their senior members: poverty ridden/unsafe/neglected and in jail/dead/still in the same place they've been. It seems as if this author has some preconceived notions of the motivations behind gang membership and decided to regurgitate them.
DaveWalk 13y ago
I see a parallel that I don't believe was mentioned in the article: that the "young men" can be compared to "undergraduate degree holders." It's a crude comparison, and I feel guilty making it, but if you have a BS in Biology, your options can feel limited, and it may be mentally easier to apply to graduate school than to figure out what you'd like to do with your life. And once you join graduate school, you've got at least 5 more years to make a decision (in the US, in the biomedical sciences).

consonants 13y ago

This. Thank you for presenting your argument in a much less combative way than I would have. There are basic survival and social pressures at play, protection from harm and corrupt law enforcement is a primary motivator for people to join gangs. Drugs are a means to an end in terms of literal survival, ie having a roof over one's head and food on one's table. Isolation from society due to social, economic and logistical/geographic factors is isolation from the things that society tries to offer: protection from harm and ability to make a living. People in gangs are under no illusion that they might be on the path to great wealth through their actions, because they understand the state of their community and the status of their senior members: poverty ridden/unsafe/neglected and in jail/dead/still in the same place they've been. It seems as if this author has some preconceived notions of the motivations behind gang membership and decided to regurgitate them.

DaveWalk 13y ago

I see a parallel that I don't believe was mentioned in the article: that the "young men" can be compared to "undergraduate degree holders." It's a crude comparison, and I feel guilty making it, but if you have a BS in Biology, your options can feel limited, and it may be mentally easier to apply to graduate school than to figure out what you'd like to do with your life. And once you join graduate school, you've got at least 5 more years to make a decision (in the US, in the biomedical sciences).