Short Summary: Gang Leader For A Day

2382 Words5 Pages

Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh is an ethnographic study of a Black King Gang in the Robert Taylor community. Venkatesh accidentally stumbles upon the gang lead by J.T. and decided to study him and the gang. J.T. is familiar with sociology because he a taken a sociology class so he allows Venkatesh to shadow and document the gang which includes the way J.T. uses violence to maintain his power. Venkatesh also worked with Ms. Bailey, the community leader. She helps him learn how she solves problems, the impact of her power and affiliation with the gang, and how to extort money out of the community members. In his journey Venkatesh learns from the violence and illegal activity he witnesses that “in the projects it’s more important that …show more content…

One day, Vankatesh came to Taneesha’s rescue while he was working with Ms. Bailey. Bee-Bee, a gang member, violently attacked her over some money issues. Venkatesh faced the tough decision of whether he continues to observe and record gang behavior or he intervenes when a fight breaks out between Bee-Bee and C-Note. Unfortunately, Venkatesh decides to intervene and he started “running over to them, I [Vankatesh] kicked Bee-Bee in the stomach, which made him relax his grip on Blue” (Venkatesh. 2008: 170). His action was ethically wrong, especially because he was not a member of the gang. Sociologist should not physically nor mentally hurt people in the study. Kicking someone goes against this ethical principal. There is a difference between what is morally right and ethically correct. With an established procedure in place, Venkatesh could have chosen to do something that was both morally right and ethically correct, and in this case the best action was to call police. Calling the police is lawful way to help the situation without using violence or anything that can hurt people. He was also involved in situations when he brought mental harm with his reasoning and decisions. Harming people to save someone else is still uneasily wrong but has a different moral ideals then wrongly perceiving an

Show More
Related

  • The Stay Together Gang Summary

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    As time went by, J.T. and Venkatesh met less and less and in the year 1998, most of the Robert Taylor buildings would be demolished. As their encounters were coming to an end, J.T. offers Venkatesh names of gang members in Newark and in New York, to enable Venkatesh to pursue his research elsewhere since his dissertation had long ago been finished which was written on the ways that people living in poverty made a living to get them by day-to-day.

    Read More

  • The Mighty Vice Lords: Book Review Of The Mighty Vice Lords

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    This book was about a street gang called the Mighty Vice Lords. They were the second largest gang in Chicago with about 30,000 members. The Vice Lords started in the Illinois Training center (Juvenile Correctional Facility) for boys in St. Charles Illinois during 1958 and was led by Edward “Pepalo” Perry and Alfonso Alfred. This group was known to be brutal and violent. It discussed how a violent gang can become a community organization and change the way things were done for the betterment of the community. This information is important because it showed that gangs can become a positive force.

    Read More

  • Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Where I came from, in order to be down you had to be 'in'" (Shakur, 226). This quote, taken from Sanyika Shakur's (aka Monster Kody Scott) Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member relates the mind set of those growing up the concrete jungle of South Central L.A. This powerful account of the triumph of the human spirit over insurmountable odds brings the reader into the daily battles for survival. His story starts at the beginning of his gang life (being initiated at age 11), moves through his teen years (mostly spent in various correctional facilities) and ends up with his transformation in a member of the New Afrikan Independence Movement.

    Read More

  • Book Summary Of A Gang Leader For A Day

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gang Leader for a Day: A Rouge Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh is the ideologies rooted in the African American community. The ideal facts cannot be denied here. The idea of being black and poor is not a simple answer of, very bad, somewhat bad, neither, somewhat good or very good. Being black and poor is a lifestyle. Being black and poor is a community. This book will give you understanding how structural racism among blacks is installed throughout history. The system is created to make sure the subject matter, blacks, in this case are subjected to fail. The crack epidemic in a Chicago neighborhood was only the beginning.

    Read More

  • The Gang Crackdown Summary

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Climate of Fear “The Gang Crackdown”, provided by PBS, communicates the everyday struggles that the communities of Nassau County face every day. The video’s focus revolves around the homicidal and violent crimes that have been provided by the “MS-13” and the details of cracking down on their development. The Latin American gang from El Salvador is known for their audacity to target the young population of Long Island and their homicidal tendencies. They have targeted children and teenagers at their workplace, their home, and their school. These gang members have left the community defenseless and struck fear into the hearts of many parents along with the government itself.

    Read More

  • Themes Of Monster The Autobiography Of An L. A. Gang Member

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    The year of 1993 was characterized by gang life along the United States streets. Initially, the lifestyle defined by the gang life was part of the foundation of the book: Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Shakur Sanyika. Based on the arguments presented in the book, different analysts have presented their perception on the contribution of the book towards the criminal justice concerns. The acts of sensationalist and violence are clearly represented in the chapter. Besides, the book gives a preventative and pedagogic stance of the anti-gang.

    Read More

  • Book Review: Policing Gangs in America

    1721 Words  | 4 Pages

    This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.

    Read More

  • 38th Street Gang Research Paper

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    1-The story tells, Real facts occurred in the 1940s, where it was a racist society. Gangs were scattered throughout the cities, and regions, and the streets. To live, you have full get away, or belonging to one of them. You should help the gang members that they were right or on falsehood. Also, it is a kind of bigotry, not much different from intolerance, national, ethnic, and sectarian That were prevalent in American society. in fact, it is the inevitable result of this society. When the corruption becomes prevails, injustice and lawless prevails too, and justice will disappear.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Gang Leader For A Day

    2143 Words  | 5 Pages

    Avoiding harm means that “social research should never injure the people being studied” (Babbie. 1992: 465). Harm is not only physical, but very often psychological also. The avoiding all harm ethical standard is very hard to fulfil in practice because “there is no way for the researcher to ensure against all these possible injuries” and there can always be small problems that no one can predict (Babbie. 1992: 466). That being said, research have an ethical obligation to prevent all harm that they can. If Venkatesh applied this ethical standard in his study, he would have learned how to avoid bringing harm to gang members. It is very important to understand that he must immediately report to police as soon as he learns if someone’s life is put in danger. Tacitly accepting gang’s rules puts everyone he met on the streets at risk. J.T. explains that “you [gang leaders] have to realize that if you [they] do that, then you [they] lose respect. They need to see that you [the gang leader] are the boss, which means that you hand out the beatings” (Venkatesh. 2008: 130). The participants need to know the risk that Venkatesh because he can put them in trouble with the law. If Venkatesh does not disclose this information to the people before they choose to be a part of his study he is putting them in unethical

    Read More

  • Gangster Life Portrayed in the Movie, Scarface

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    As an exile from Communist Cuba, ….Montana…wha you say? You say wrong Scarface? Maybe I say you wrong, man. Maybe I say you in wrong place at wrong time chico. Maybe I no even speak to you, maybe I let someone else talk. I got someone you should meet. Say hello to my lil’ frie…. I’m sorry, let me start over.

    Read More

  • Gangs in America

    2717 Words  | 6 Pages

    This paper will cover issues that young minorities encounter in the movies; Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008), Gran Torino (2008), A Better Life (2011). Movies will be summarize, and compare and contrast youths experienced. Criminological theories shall be utilized to further elaborate issues. Finally steps and theories will be utilized towards solving issues, also possible methods to correct the issues will be addressed in the end.

    Read More

  • Gangs In Prison Essay

    1458 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prison gangs were created by inmates as a way to protect themselves from other inmates. Each prison gang has their reasons for existing. There are five prison gangs in the United States. These gangs are as follow: The Aryan Brotherhood, The Black Guerilla Family, Texas Syndicate, Mexican Mafia, and Lanuestra Familia. They all have similar beliefs, meanings of their tattoos, how gangs impact their lives and society, and the challenges they bring the prison system in order to decrease gang population.

    Read More

  • National Gang Report

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the 2015 National Gang Report (NGR) from the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) almost half of law enforcement juristictions across the United States reported a rise in street gang membership and street gang activitiy. My communitty is no exception.

    Read More

  • Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh

    1369 Words  | 3 Pages

    Venkatesh, S. A. (2008). Gang leader for a day: a rogue sociologist takes to the streets. New York: Penguin Press.

    Read More

  • Is Criminal Behaviour Inherited or Learned?

    1438 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hallswort, S. And Young, T. (2004) Getting Real About Gang. Criminal Justice Matters [online]. 55. (1), pp 12-13 [Accessed 10 December 2013]

    Read More

More about Short Summary: Gang Leader For A Day

Open Document