Youth Gang Membership and the Reasons Behind it, a case of Eastleigh,Nairobi (original) (raw)
Related papers
Introduction to Special Issue on Youth Groups and Gangs in the African Context
What is a gang? The word may conjure up different images to different people; as Moore (1998) notes, a gang may be a group of adolescents hanging out together or an internationally organised network of criminals or drug traffickers. Scholars have long been having difficulty in defining and classifying gangs, particularly when a global perspective is taken. Most agree, at least, that gangs are groups with a commitment to criminal or violent activity (Klein 1997)-though even this may be contested (Hagedorn 2005). 1 The word "gang" tends to assume certain characteristics when, in fact, gangs are hugely diverse, contingent upon the social, economic and political conditions from which they arise (Cooper and Ward 2013). 2 Therefore, the word "gang(s)" is a loose definition and one that we use with caution.
Youth gang membership: Factors influencing and maintaining membership
PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000
The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from the thesis.
FINAL REPORT African Gang Research Oct 2014
African youth face deep challenges in attaining success in the USA today. Opportunities for academic and economic success are limited, constrained by today's neoliberal conservatism in public policy and facing a harsh environment for getting a foothold in employment. This report documents the risks such youth face for becoming gang-involved, drawing forth original quantitative and qualitative study of risk factors and perspectives of key local and national leaders on community needs, assets and ideas for service supports that are likely to protect African youth, and help them reach adulthood with their futures intact.
Persistence of Youth Gang Violence in South Africa
The African Review, 2018
In South Africa, gang violence continues unabated particularly in black and coloured townships. The question addressed in this paper is why youth continue to be involved in gang violence despite South Africa being deemed the most developed African country. The response to this question goes just beyond economic reasons and includes young men and the expression of their masculine power. In this paper we reveal the ways in which young men continue to be involved in gang violence and their consequences. The paper is based on an ethnographic study from 2017 to 2018. It draws on two black townships of Gugulethu and Nyanga East in Cape Town South Africa. Keywords: South Africa, Gang, Youth, Violence, Masculinity Godfrey Maringira, Senior Postdoctoral, University of Western Cape, Email: gmaringira@gmail.com Tyanai Masiya, Lecturer, University of Pretoria, Email: masiyat2008@gmail.com
Profile of Youth Gang Members, Causes and Effects of their Activities in Tagbilaran City
The problems of youth in modern society are both international and local concerns. One of the most alarming issues the world is facing today is the existence of youth gangs, and the actions of the gang members once fully indoctrinated. This study delved into the youth gang culture in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines. It focused on children in-school and out-of-school who were particularly vulnerable to the influence of the gangs. The researchers surveyed 81 respondents who were members of any gang in the city between the ages of 10 to 18 years old. It sought to explore the gang member's reasons why he or she opted to join such gang, the activities of the gang and its effects. This study was essential because it determined the damage caused by the members to victims and its adverse effects on the community. This study utilized the quantitative approach through the distribution of questionnaires to the respondents.
Campbell Systematic Reviews, 2018
This Campbell systematic review examines the predictors of youth gang membership in low‐ and middle‐income countries. The review summarises findings from eight reports from five countries and the Caribbean region.The lack of available evidence limits the extent to which clear conclusions can be drawn about the factors associated with youth gang membership. The review is based on a very small number of studies, and has significant limitations in coverage. The limited evidence of the correlates of youth gang membership suggests factors that may drive gang membership and suggests areas where interventions may prove promising in the family, school, and community domains, as well as provide a starting point for future studies.Plain language summaryEvidence shows which factors predict gang membership in low‐ and middle‐income countries, but more studies neededYouth gang membership is associated with delinquency, violent crime and trafficking. A range of individual, peer, family, school an...
Journal of Psychology in Africa, 2020
Africa is co-published by NISC (Pty) Ltd and Informa UK Limited (trading as Taylor & Francis Group) Introduction Youth gang involvement is a common phenomenon worldwide; across all social and cultural strata (Pinnock, 2016; Webb et al ., 2011). Additionally, the cost of gang involvement in terms of violence, crime, and substance abuse are well documented (Pinnock, 2016; Pyrooz, 2014). In South Africa, various historical socioeconomic factors such as high levels of poverty, inadequate access to education, residing in high-crime neighbourhoods, and negative peer association predispose youth into gang involvement (Caracciolo, 2015; Grobler & Hesselink, 2015; Muntingh, 2009; Pinnock, 2016). Nonetheless, not all South African youth contending with these sociocultural risks to gang activity become gang members. Our study aimed to utilise qualitative data to understand the risk for youth gang involvement and related crimes in South Africa, a developing country context with a unique history of race-based population deprivations. Accounts on South African youth gang membership (e .g ., Pinnock, 2016), depict this social phenomenon as a product of the population deprivations of apartheid, with its racial segregation which created high-crime neighbourhoods. Additionally, it predisposed urban youth to poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, overcrowding, living on the streets, limited education, and negative peer association which push and pull youth in gang involvement (Caracciolo, 2015; Grobler & Hesselink, 2015). In crime-ridden neighbourhoods, youth were exposed to father absence and strong pathways to gang affiliation and criminality. Those who were incarcerated became gang members into prison gangs (Barkhuizen & Petrus, 2018; Steinberg, 2004) and continued criminality linked institutional misconduct (i .e. subordination, assault, substance abuse: Barkhuizen & Petrus, 2018). Irwin and Cressey (1962) proposed an importation theory to explain how inmates bring existing negative and criminal mindsets and behaviour into prison, which would increase their likelihood to institutional misconduct, violence, gang activities, and further criminality. Goal of the study We sought to explore incarcerated youth gang members' pathways into criminality from childhood experiences, through their community gang involvement to prison gang membership. Our specific research question was: What are the push, pull, and risks factors associated to community and prison gang involvement and further reoffending? Method Research design We adopted a multiple case study design (Gustafsson, 2017; Hyett et al ., 2014) to explore the pathways by which South African youth would become gang members. A multiple case study enabled us to understand the differences and similarities, such as the push, pull, and risk factors related to gang involvement. The approach was appropriate to this study with the goal to learn from the youth narratives and trajectories pertaining to their childhood experiences, community gang involvement, and prison gang memberships. Participants and setting We purposively recruited five male youth gang members. They were all incarcerated in correctional centres in the Gauteng province, South Africa. We describe each of the youth using pseudonyms to protect their identity. The ages of the youth gang members ranged between 21 and 24 years. None of the participants completed their schooling. Kocha completed Grade 3, while Mark and Jan completed Grade 8. Of the various cultural groups in South Africa, three participants identified as black (Kocha is Sotho, John is Zulu, and Maseko is Xhosa), Jan identified as coloured, whilst Mark identified as white. Four participants (Kocha,