Gangs, Groups and Decisions

Tonight in class we watched a rather disturbing video on gang activity in Alabama. (watch it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXJOvihczms) I suppose what was most disturbing, beyond the usual reaction of "wow, such senseless violence" was the realization that the violence was not senseless at all. In fact, the longer I study conflict, the more I realize that this concept of 'senseless" violence doesn't actually exist. All violence is caused by something, and in most cases, it's caused by violence in a different form.

I suppose I should take a moment here and explain the different types of violence out there. Violence can most easily accurately be defined as something which hinders a person from reaching his/her potential. While there are countless different ways that violence is manifested, the two largest and most common categories are "structural violence" and "physical violence". Physical violence is what most people think of when they hear the word "violence." It is violence against another person's somatic being. Structural violence is a bit similar to what people call "social injustice". It is violence that is inherent within a system, be it something as large as a governing system or as small as a family unit.

Back to the gang activity and what disturbed me. There's a part of the film that explores the reason for these young kids (and they are young, mostly under 17) to join gangs. Pushing past the angry stereotypes of gang members being evil or bad-apples, it becomes clear that the main reason the youths join gangs is because of sense of structural violence-- a lack of community, love and support. They join the gangs to be a part of something. Hearing one girl talk about why she joined one of the gangs in little rock made me sit up straight. Her reasons resonated with me-- and I'd venture to say they'd resonate with any young person. And when she talked about what the gang means to her, it all seemed natural-- when a society oppresses and hurts, and the structures in place cause pain or collapse, people want to be a part of a loving group that takes care of and protects eachother. It's a need for identity and security that society had failed to give them. Take away the extreme violence and cruelty, and you've got yourself a group of kids providing what their structures could not: a community.

After viewing the film, the class was split into two large groups. We had around 45 minutes to come up with a proposal for a mock workshop in Little Rock that will address the tension between the gangs, the police and the civilians. Obviously, ~20 people with completely contrasting decision making styles and various interpretations of the situation made for an interesting time. I've always thought of myself as an indecisive person, but judging from my behavior tonight, it's clear that my decision making personality is completely contingent on the situation at hand. Large groups + various opinions + huge task + limited time = stressed out decisive jessica.

Nice.