Trouble en Route: Drug Trafficking and Clientelism in Rio de Janeiro Shantytowns

This article examines the ways that endemic drug trafficking has affected local level politics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Drawing on ethnographic analysis of political exchanges in the 1998 national elections in three favelas (shantytowns), I argue that drug trafficking has changed the practice of clientelism. Evidence and analysis in this paper will show that the persistence of drug trafficking in the city has led to the emergence of a two-tiered clientelist system in which politicians make exchanges with traffickers who then, in turn, provide some benefits to favela residents in return for their votes. This results in an arrangement that provides votes to politicians and limited assistance to the poor but does little to build the legitimacy of the political system.

Shaved heads and sonnenrads: comparing white supremacist skinheads and the alt-right in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

This article looks at two periods in the history of white supremacy in New Zealand: the short-lived explosion of skinhead groups in the 1990s, and the contemporary rise of the internet-driven alt-right. It looks at the similarities and differences between the two groups, looking at style, symbols, ideology, and behaviour. It looks at the history of these two movements in New Zealand and compares the economic and social factors that contributed to their rise, in particular how the different social class of members produced groups with near-identical ideology but radically different presentation and modes of action.     

Gangs,clubs, and alcohol: The effect of organizational membership on adolescent drinking behavior

How does adolescent organizational membership in general, and simultaneous membership in distinct types of organizations in particular, impact drinking behavior? While past studies have focused either on the learning effect of involvement with gangs or on the constraining influence of conventional organizations on adolescent problem behavior, we explore the possibility that conventional school clubs can serve as socializing opportunities for existing gang members to engage in drinking behavior with non-gang club members. Using the Add Health data, we show that gang members drink more often, and engage in more binge drinking, than non-members. More importantly, individuals who are members of both gangs and school clubs drink alcohol at greater levels than those who are solely involved in gangs. In addition, non-gang adolescents who are co-members with gang members in the same school club are more likely to drink alcohol than non-members. This result has important implications for understanding the role of organizations in adolescent behavior and suggests that the study of delinquent behaviors would benefit from devoting more attention to individuals who bridge distinct types of organizations.     

African American Street Gangs: A Quest for Identity

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of African American street gangs. It examines the scope of the gang problem, gives a historical review of gangs in America, and examines gang activity and membership for African American youth. Some of the causes for gang formation are delineated, and comprehensive programs for addressing the gang problem are proposed.     

Youthful Violence: Problems and Prospects

This is a study of 758 adolescents, aged 13 to 18 years, randomly selected from two public high schools in the South. The purpose is to examine the relative relationships between several predictors and violence in two age groups (ages 15 and younger versus 16 and older), and to investigate interactions between several of the predictors within these age groups. As hypothesized, there are differences in which factors predict violence according to age, and interactions between these predictors also differ between the two age groups. The social work practice implications of these findings are discussed.     

School Gangs of Yogyakarta: Mass Fighting Strategies and Masculine Charisma in the City of Students

In Yogyakarta twenty-three school gangs including secular, Catholic, Christian and Islamic school gangs were identified in 2007/2008. Gangs not only proliferated in city settlements or kampong after the fall of the New Order regime in 1998, but they also developed in urban secondary schools and many are beholden to political parties. The growth of gangs is due to a number of conditions, including weakening authority of the state, absence of state surveillance and the reduction in social control from families and schools. This article addresses three questions: how and why did schoolboy gangs emerge in Yogyakarta; what is the pattern of hostility and what drives the young men to confront each other through violence and; how do the leaders of the gangs express their identities and charisma both in front of their enemies and in front of their anak buah (followers)? The first part of this essay gives an overview of the emergence of Indonesian youth gangs; the second considers contestation and hostility including tawuran (mass fighting) and stealth and attack strategies, such as nglitih (a sudden attack by a few); and the third addresses the nature of charismatic leadership through depictions of gentho (the powerful leader). I also describe how a student builds prowess as a leader during the preparation of tawuran and when carrying out attacks on the enemy school.     

‘Going viral’ and ‘Going country’: the expressive and instrumental activities of street gangs on social media

Based on social media content analysis and focus groups with young people, the current study explores expressive and instrumental uses of the internet among street gangs. ‘Trap rap’ videos posted on YouTube and orientated around life as a drug dealer are identified as the ultimate cultural artefact for denoting London, UK, gang culture. These videos serve an expressive purpose in terms of reputation building, but also shed light on the instrumental business of gangs – specifically, illicit drugs sales via ‘country lines’. Looking beyond the artefact toward how these videos are created, disseminated, and consumed, reveals the instrumental organisation of gangs and how social rules and behaviours within them are monitored and enforced. The current study thus contributes to gang research from the UK, and the growing body of literature on gang and gang member use of the Internet, with implications for research and practice.     

增上寺的香堂——1933年东北青帮代表团的访日之行

1933年7月,曾经发生过一起东北青帮组团访问日本的事件,该事件的导演是在东北的日本人团体和关东军,正是他们策划并促成了青帮代表团访日计划的实行。面对“九一八”事变后东北政治格局的变化,一些青帮头目投日本人和关东军所好,谎称青帮为宗教团体,积极参与关东军的伪满洲国建设。这个颇有荒诞剧意味的事件说明,战前日本对中国社会的认识远不像一般所说的那么深透。如同日本学者野村浩一的反省:日本在近代的失败,就是其中国认识的失败。     

Sources of Resilience Among Chicano/a Youth: Forging Identities in the Borderlands

This ethnographic study explores the relationship between ethnic identity, particularly identification with traditional Mexican values and beliefs, and contemporary Chicano/a adolescents' perceptions of life challenges. Findings suggest that identification with core values and beliefs rooted in traditional Mexican American culture may be a protective factor contributing to resilience among second generation Mexican American adolescents. The authors discuss implications for practice and research based on the respondents' narratives.