The Effect of Gangs in There Are No Children Here Essay -- There are N

The Effect of Gangs in There Are No Children Here passim There Are No Children Here, a continuous, powerful tension everlastingly lurks in the background. The gangs that are rampant in the housing projects of Chicago pay back this tension. In the Henry Horner Homes, according to Kotlowitz, mavin person is beaten, shot, or stabbed receivable to gangs every three days. In one week during the authors study of the projects, constabulary confiscated 22 guns and 330 grams of cocaine in Horner alone (Kotlowitz 32). For the children of the projects, the pressure to join a gang never waivers. Quick cash and protection are dangerous forces to resist in a world of poverty and violence. However, the childrens role in these gangs is inferior to that of the leaders. At first, the concept of joining is quite attractive. According to Lafeyette, one of the two brothers profiled in the book, When you first join you think its good. Theyll buy you what you want (31). However, You give bir th to do anything they tell you to do. If they tell you to kill somebody, you have to do that (31). What Lafeyette refers to is frighteningly true. In the inner city, gangs often recruit young children to do their corruptive work. Shortly after joining, a fourteen-year-old friend of Lafayettes allegedly shoots and kills an older valet de chambre in an alley half a block north of Lafayettes building (31). Acording to Kotlowitz, life in the Henry Horner Homes is controlled to a great extent by gangs, particularly the Conservative wickedness Lords. Residents so fear and respect the Vice Lords control that they refuse to call 911 (34). Snitching can get a resident physician killed. Even though the Chicago Police Department installed a hot-line follow and promise confidentia... ...rime, affectionate Forces, Vol. 75 No. 2 December 1996, pg. 619-645. Lo, Chun-Nui, A Social Model of Gang Related Violence, Free Inquiry In Creative Sociology, Vol 19 no. 1, May 1991, pg. 36-43. Osgood, Wayne et al., tour Activities and Deviant Behavior, American Sociological Review, Vol. 61 no. 4, August 1996, pg 635-655. Brantley, Gangs, Vol.63, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, May 1,1994, pp1-8 (Article) Kennedy, Leslie and Stephen Baron, Routine Activities And A Subculture Of Violence A Study Of Violence On The Street, ledger of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 30 No. 1, Febuary 1993, pp. 88-112 (Journal) Lo, Chun-Nui (Celia), A Social Model Of Gang-Related Violence, Free Inquiry In Creative Sociology, Vol 19 No 1, May1991, pp. 36-43 (Journal) Shakur, Sanyika, Monster The Autobiography Of An L.A. Gang Member,Penguin Book Ltd., 1993