Guns and Violence Book Review

Throughout one's life, one experiences many emotions and

undergoes many changes. Changes that are not always apparent,

changes that cannot always be reasoned or changes that reflect

greatest in behavior, ones that are dependent on the

environment. In Deanna Wilkinson's Guns, Violence, and

Identity among African American and Latino Youth, Wilkinson

studies the role of violence and guns in the construction the

social identity of minority youth.

Wilkinson studies 125 violent African American and Latino

males aged 16 to 24 in New York City, analyzing 306 violent

situations of which 151 involve guns. The social world of

these youths is characterized by violence, internalized street

codes, limited opportunities, and the availability of

firearms. Violent events are public social performances. These

performances often have serious consequences for social

identity and personal safety. Wilkinson shows how violence is

a resource for gaining/maintaining social identity

(masculinity) and status on the street. The dynamic of moving

from victim to victimizer is clearly understood in the

socio-cultural context of the street. She demonstrates the

role that guns play in "empowering" adolescents to engage in

conflict outside of age-specific groups

(http://www.lfbscholarly.com/criminal_justice/wilkinson_320094.htm).

In this book, Wilkinson identifies the reasons in the increase

of gun violence in the minority youth. Wilkinson trains

ex-offenders to be peer interviews to note the ways adolescent

males cope, adapt and in some situations overcome the hardship

of the streets. I think this was a great idea as it allows

Wilkinson and all reading her book to get a clear and accurate

picture of what's going through an offender's mind. Also, in

doing this, Wilkinson allows not only the common public to see

the cause and effect of crime and criminals, but allows the

offenders themselves to get a escape their reality and speak

their mind about them not being a born criminal. In addition,

Wilkinson referenced a number of different resources to her

own research in attempts to tackle this problem. Broad

surveys, social/economical statistics, hands-on research and a

myriad of different theories presented by a long list of

accredited criminologists in order to aid her in her study.

Wilkinson began her study on youth gun violence in 1994 in New

York City. Wilkinson hoped to answer some unsolved mysteries

of youth gun violence in this study. Some of' the most

striking questions Wilkinson sought to answer were: "What

roles do family background, peers, environment, school

involvement, and employment play?" "Why does it seem as if

they invite situations that provoke violence?" "How do you

determine which situations to use violence in?" "How do youths

balance consequences and quality of life?" Does their

fearlessness imply that they have nothing to lose?" Deanna

Wilkinson uses the theories of criminology to help answer

these questions.

I think my favorite theory is social disorganization. Social

disorganization is a perspective on how society is set up on a

hierarchy that enables to move up or down the ladder. Social

disorganization is affected by all social standards and as

each one (historical, racial, economical, education, etc.)

evolves. From class discussions and the book, I honestly feel

as though social disorganization explains everything wrong in

society (seriously!). I say this because I can honestly

relate to this. I live in a small town called Sharon Hill,

located southeast of Philadelphia, in Delaware County. A few

years ago, when I was in high school, my neighborhood

was a

good little town. Now I go back on occasional

weekends and

holidays and I hear my family tell me that this area is going

downhill, its turning ghetto. Sharon Hill is affected by the

movement which took place within the town. Now, I'm not a

racist but a few years ago there were only two minorities on

our street and I felt safe being home alone. Recently,

however, the number of minority has gone up on my street and

so has the crime rate in my area. I no longer feel safe being

home alone especially since I've heard that there were a few