Introduction
Sociologists have always been interested in exploring different aspects of people’s lives and various trends in human society. Some areas, however, remain difficult to analyze or even access. Gangs are an example of one of these hard-to-study groups. This is due to many reasons. The criminal activity of gangs makes gang members cautious about accepting new people, as well as revealing any information and details associated with their lives.
Sociologists have to rely mainly on surveys, criminal justice statistics, and interviews. Observations have been rarely employed due to the reasons mentioned above, as well as the considerable risk to the researcher’s health, or even life, that fieldwork would entail. Sudhir Venkatesh is one sociologist who did manage to gain certain insights into the life of a Chicago gang. This paper is the review of his book, Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets (2008). This review includes a brief analysis of the contents of the book and its value, as well as a brief comparison with another sociological study on gangs.
Contents
The book under analysis provides Venkatesh’s description of the research he carried over a decade. The purpose of his study was the exploration of a gang’s life and activities and its members’ interactions with various stakeholders. The author tried to look into the way the gang and the community interacted. Venkatesh investigated the life inside the Black Kings, a Chicago gang that was involved in a myriad of illegal activities including, but not confined to, drug distribution, squatting, prostitution, and robbery.
The primary business of the gang was drug dealing, and the leader was a young man named J.T. The author explained the details of his future research and asked the permission of the gang leader to observe their lives. The permission was granted, and the young sociologist began his journey through observing different criminal activities, as well as talking with the members of the gang, their parents, officials, prostitutes, drug dealers, and other stakeholders. The researcher also attended various events including parties, family dinners, and business meetings. Venkatesh claimed that he tried to provide as many details and as accurate dialogues as possible.
Value
The main reason behind conducting the study was the desire to address the gap in the knowledge base related to gangs and their peculiarities. The author’s major finding is that the gang he observed was not acting outside and against the community, as some people believed. Instead, gang members often helped the community in many ways, which made the people living in poor neighborhoods have positive attitudes toward the gang and its members (Venkatesh, 2008). These findings are consistent with the evidence provided by other sociologists, which will be discussed in detail below. Venkatesh’s research is sociological in nature as the author focuses on behaviors, cultures, worldviews rather than crime and its associated issues.
Venkatesh emphasized that he did not make notes when he was with gang members in order to make them feel at ease. The author wrote up all his experiences and things he observed, as well as conversations he heard or participated in, every day when he was alone. This method is associated with a lack of reliability as the researcher did not record exact words. Moreover, although the sociologist seems to use the thick description as the primary method of data presentation, his account still lacks data and details.
Another limitation of this research, which was identified by Venkatesh, was his limited access to the gang’s activities. He argued that he could only observe things he was allowed to see. Overall, the evidence provided is rather insufficient, and the reliability of many parts is doubtful. The book also lacked references to other studies that could have enhanced the validity of the researcher’s findings and placed them in the context of other sociological research on gangs.
As mentioned above, the book can be compared to other works and studies. In this review, the book by Venkatesh (2008) will be compared with an acclaimed research project carried out by Sanchez-Jankowski. Islands in the street: Gangs and American urban society (1991) is a description of the research that involved several gangs. The author observed the life of gang members, had interviews with different stakeholders, used statistics, and analyzed existing evidence.
Just like Venkatesh, Sanchez-Jankowski had to become a certain kind of member of the groups he explored. Both authors had to face a plethora of ethical issues as they witnessed different crimes but did not go to the police. In a way, they became accessories to some crimes and participated in certain violent acts, such as fights. For instance, Sanchez-Jankowski was checked and tested before any information was shared.
Comparison
Unlike Venkatesh, Sanchez-Jankowski did record his interviews and made field notes openly. The author noted that he had two notebooks and two tape recorders for this purpose. The book by Sanchez-Jankowski contains more detail and a deeper analysis of the gangs and their members’ behavior. The author refers to other studies, which makes his research more evidence-based compared to Venkatesh’s account that often seems a piece of fictional writing rather than the description of a sociological investigation. It is noteworthy that both authors used observation as their primary data collection method, and the participants in their research were aware of this fact.
Therefore, behaviors and accounts could be shaped in order to comply with certain images, rules, and norms. Finally, Sanchez-Jankowski interviewed different stakeholders to obtain deeper insights into their lives, while Venkatesh had conversations that were not recorded or planned in any way. All these differences indicate that the main book under study by Venkatesh lacks a certain scholarly focus, and can be regarded rather as a piece of journalistic writing with some elements of a sociological study.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is necessary to note that the book by Venkatesh (2008) is a valuable source of information concerning gangs in the United States. Although it lacks evidence, details, and support from other scholarly sources, the book still provides many insights into the ways some representatives of a Chicago gang behave and feel. The author also describes various activities of gang members and the way it feels like inside of this group.
The book does not present a novel interpretation as many researchers, including Sanchez-Jankowski (1991), provide similar data, stressing that gangs are not outside communities. These subgroups can be regarded as the natural reaction of communities to institutional flaws. Although the book lacks a scholarly focus, it does raise new questions and adds to researchers’ sociological knowledge. For me, the major questions are related to ethical aspects, as the researcher witnessed violence and a number of crimes. It is clear that it can be difficult to draw the line between field research and compliance with laws and social norms when it comes to conducting a sociological study of a gang.
References
Sanchez-Jankowski, M. (1991). Islands in the street: Gangs and American urban society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Venkatesh, S. (2008). Gang leader for a day: A rogue sociologist takes to the streets. New York, NY: Penguin Books.