The purpose of this study is to encourage further study and attention to girls that are at high risk of becoming members of a gang. The more that can be learned about this group the more can be done to implement appropriate policies and programs to effectively target and assist this population. This study is based on an existing data set that profiled the needs and characteristics of girls that were incarcerated May 1996 at a California Youth Authority facility in Ventura, now called The Division of Juvenile Justice.

This essay aims to explore in what way a biased reporting from the media can contribute to a weakening trust among youngsters that politicians can solve problems existing in Sweden as a growing percentage either partly or fully believes are the case. This is stated in a poll issued by the company Ungdomsbarometern AB. During the last year the percentage has risen nine percentiles to 56 % of youngsters aged 15 – 24. In an empirical study the news coverage regarding gang violence in the Swedish news distributors Aftonbladet and SVT is studied under the period September 4 – October 4. The study shows that perspectives in the news coverage that are leaning towards a descriptive an reactive manner as well as descriptions of gangs and gang members are hugely overrepresented. These angles accounts for between 50 and 67 percent of all studied publications. On the other hand perspectives that are more proactive and geared towards possible solutions or alleviations to the crisis with gang violence are very much underrepresented. These perspectives accounts for less than 20 percent of all studied publications.  The results of the studies is then analyzed through the filter of the British sociologist Steven Lukes so called third dimension of power – that is power without conflict between parties and without intention, a sort of  “power over thought”, maintained somehow by the continuing prevalence of  the existing ongoing social order (to put it very briefly).  Seen through the lens of Lukes conception of power it is then argued in the essay that it does matter how events in society are described in the media. A strongly biased media coverage of  an issue in society does exercise an element of mind over thought and might, drawing on Lukes conception of power, contribute to perhaps some extent to an image among the public that the politicians doesn’t have control over the situation with gang violence and thus trust in what politicians could achieve might begin to erode. In the essay it is suggested that teachers in social sciences (“samhällskunskap”) could act as a counterweight to biased media reporting and lift perspectives that are underrepresented in media. It is also suggested that teachers in social sciences promotes discussions and debates and prioritizes the task to foster democratic engaged citizens. / Denna uppsats har som mål  att utforska på vilket sätt en vinklad nyhetsrapportering från media kan bidra till ett minska förtroende hos ungdomar till att politiker kan lösa problem som finns i Sverige, något som en växande procentandel antingen delvis eller helt anser är fallet. Detta är resultatet av en enkät gjord av företaget Ungdomsbarometern AB. Under det senaste året har procentandelen ökat med nio procentenheter till 56 % av ungdomar i åldern 15 – 24 år. I en empirisk studie av Aftonbladets och SVT nyhetsbevakningen av gängkriminalitet undersöktes publiceringar under perioden the period September 4 – 4 Oktober. Undersökningen visar att perspektiv i nyhetsbevakningen  som är deskriptiva och reaktiva , liksom perspektiv där gäng och gängmedlemmar beskrivs är starkt överrepresenterade. Dessa vinklar står för mellan 50 och 67 procent av alla studerade publiceringar. Å andra sidan är perspektiv som är mer proaktiva och inriktade mot möjliga lösningar eller lindringar av gängvåldskrisen starkt underrepresenterade. Dessa perspektiv står för mindre än 20 procent av alla studerade publiceringar.  Resultatet av studien analyseras sedan genom användandet av den brittiske sociologen Steven Lukes så kallade tredje maktdimension, det vill säga makt utan konflikt mellan parter och utan intention – en slags ”makt över tanken”, upprätthållen på sätt och vis genom det fortgående upprätthållandet av den rådande pågående sociala ordningen (mycket kort sammanfattat).  Sett genom Lukes “maktlins” argumenteras det sedan i uppsatsen för att det faktiskt spelar roll hur händelser I samhället beskrivs I media. Baserat på Lukes maktbegrepp kan en starkt vinklad mediebevakning av en samhällsfråga utöva en slags makt över tanken och kanske i viss utsträckning bidra till en bild hos allmänheten att politiker inte har kontroll över situationen med gängkriminalitet, och därmed kan tilltron till vad politiker kan tänkas kunna uppnå börja erodera.  I denna uppsats argumenteras det för att samhällskunskapslärare skulle kunna fungera som en motvikt när vissa perspektiv i medias rapportering i en samhällsfråga har större utrymme i den samlade nyhetsrapporteringen i samhällsfrågan, medan andra perspektiv har mindre utrymme. Det föreslås också att samhällskunskapslärare uppmuntrar diskussioner och debatter och prioriterar uppdraget att fostra demokratiska och engagerade medborgare.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / W. Richard Goe / Criminologists have traditionally studied criminal offending and violent victimization separately. Extant studies, however, demonstrates that criminals and victims overlap to some degree, hinting that a common underlying trait explains both criminal offending and violent victimization. This study tests whether Gottfredson and Hirschi’s self-control theory explains the overlap in criminal offending and violent victimization exposure among gang members. Using cross-sectional survey data from the Evaluation of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) Program in the United States, 1995-1999, results from the regression models show that low self-control is to some degree correlated with criminal offending and violent victimization. Gang members were more likely than non-gang members to participate in some forms of criminal activities, but they were not more likely to be victimized. When variables stemming from social learning and social bonding are included in the regression models, results show that associating with delinquent peers had the strongest effect in predicting criminal offending, contradicting Gottfredson and Hirschi’s claim that self-control is the only cause of criminal behavior. In concert with previous studies that have found a link between low self-control and violent victimization, results show that youths with low self-control were somewhat more likely than youths with higher self-control to report being victimized. The results of the study, as well as venues for future research, are discussed.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

The subculture of gang violence has become a most feared phenomenon in many povertystricken communities in South Africa and especially in the Western Cape. The gang violence that is prevalent in these communities affects mostly the adolescents, who are supposed to be &lsquo / the leaders of tomorrow&rsquo / . The purpose of this research study was to focus on adolescents in a community where gang violence is rife and in turn reveals their perceptions on gang violence, what the causes of gang violence are and how they are affected by it as expressed in their own words. The researcher establishes the significance and necessity of focusing on adolescents as influenced by gang violence through a phenomenological exploration of their lives. The position that is developed affirms that adolescents are adversely affected by gang violence both from a behavioral and cognitive standpoint. The dire extent of gang violence on these adolescents&rsquo / lives is illustrated by using Fanon&rsquo / s six dimensions of violence. Furthermore various theoretical hypotheses are provided to explain the or igin of gang violence in comparison to the explanations expressed by the adolescents themselves from the interviews conducted. The study is concluded with recommendations extracted from relevant literature as well as comments expressed by the participants of this study. The main limitation within this study was the lack of research outputs within the South African context on the topic of how gang violence affects adolescents who are not gang members. The rich information produced by this study in conducting in-depth interviews with adolescents makes this study significant.

<p>People outside of prison tend to imagine sex in prison as violent gang attacks on defenceless individuals, but in actual fact, sex in prison is more complicated than the isolated gang rapes that take place. For the purpose of this study, the researcher followed the qualitative research approach from a constructivist perspective to understand how participants portrayed or constructed their experiences of victimization and/or perceprion of rape.</p>

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

This study explores recidivism rates of gang-related adolescents newly enrolled in the Project BRIDGE (Building Resources for the Intervention and Deterrence of Gang Engagement) Program. The goal of this project is to reduce the incidence of youth gang violence, gang membership, and gang related activities in the city of Riverside, California.

L'exode rural des Maori suivant la seconde guerre mondiale a bouleversé le paysage socioculturel néo-zélandais. Cette thèse explore une de ses conséquences directes : l'émergence de gangs maori comme tentative de re-territorialisation de l'espace environnant dans une logique de différentiation par rapport à l'ordre établi. La rupture avec la ville européenne et les traditions ancestrales maori s'imposait. Le gang dit " maori " ne pouvait, et ne peut plus, dès lors être pensé dans le prolongement du tribalisme et du bellicisme maori pré-colonial, analyse figeant le Maori dans des considérations essentialistes. Cette thèse présente le gang maori comme un produit historique contingent et vise, sans cautionner l'approche essentialiste, à déterminer les effets de cette posture analytique sur les pratiques quotidiennes du membre de gang, ainsi que ses rapports au public.Les gangs, qui souhaitaient inventer un espace qui leur était propre, finirent par admettre leur héritage maori, si bien que les membres allaient non seulement réécrire l'histoire de leur organisation en lui trouvant d'autres origines, mais aussi celle du passé maori pré-colonial en y introduisant des éléments propres au gang de rue contemporain

For a short period during the 1960s Toronto’s Yorkville district was found at the centre of Canada’s youthful bohemian scene. Students, artists, hippies, greasers, bikers, and “weekenders” congregated in and around the district, enjoying the live music and theatre in its many coffee houses, its low-rent housing in overcrowded Victorian walk-ups, and its perceived saturation with anti-establishmentarian energy. For a period of roughly ten years, Yorkville served as a crossroads for Torontonian (and even English Canadian) youth, as a venue for experimentation with alternative lifestyles and beliefs, and an apparent refuge from the dominant culture and the stifling expectations it had placed upon them. Indeed, by 1964 every young Torontonian (and many young Canadians) likely knew that social rebellion and Yorkville went together as fingers interlaced. Making the Scene unpacks the complicated history of this fraught community, examining the various meanings represented by this alternative scene in an anxious 1960s. Throughout, this dissertation emphasizes the relationship between power, authenticity and identity on the figurative stage for identity performance that was Yorkville. / Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2007-10-02 09:46:00.077