Social Factors and Forces

Social Factors and Forces Day 5

Facilitators: Craig Pinkney and Sangeeta Soni

Learning Outcome

1) To be able to facilitateunderstanding of the social contexts,factors and forces that create, sustainand promote gangs and gangmembership.

Socialisation

Socialisation: Definition

Socialisation is the process by which individualsacquire the knowledge, language, social skills, andvalues to conform to the norms and roles required forintegration into a group or community. It is acombination of both self-imposed (because theindividual wants to conform) and externally-imposedrules, and the expectations of others. In a health andsocial care setting, socialisation refers to the processthrough which a new employee 'learns the ropes,' bybecoming sensitive to the formal and informal powerstructures and the explicit and implicit rules ofbehaviour.

Socialisation in Context

• Education

• Poverty

• Race

• Class

• Religion

• Culture

• Gender

• Family Structure

• History

• Geographical Space

• Experience

Social Disorganisation (Shaw & MacKay: 1988)

Social Disorganisation is when the informal social controls of a community break down which cause criminal cultures emerge. As a result of disorganisation, communities lack

collective efficacy to fight crime and disorder.

Moral Panic (Cohen: 1987)The concept refers to a sporadic episode which, asit occurs, subjects society to bouts of moral panic,or in other terms, worry about the values andprinciples which society upholds and which itthinks may be in jeopardy. The media plays animportant part in shaping perceptions.

Footnote: Cohen (1987) describes itscharacteristics as "a condition, episode, person orgroup of persons [who] become defined as athreat to societal values and interests."

Impact of Moral Panic

• Parents to be more vigilant

• Residents concerned about safety within the areas inwhich they live

• Government creates new laws and creates stifferpunishments

• Police enforce more stringent practices

• Youth become more fearful (eg to travel)

• Youth take matters into their own hands based on thefear of becoming victims

Gangs and Social Media

Invisibility syndrome evolves when a person(s)feels that they live in a racialised ordepersonalised context, in which who they are asa genuine person, including their individualtalents and unique abilities, is overshadowed bystereotyped attitudes and prejudice that othershold about them.

Invisibility Syndrome(Franklin: 2006)

10 Minute Music Video

Task 1(Reflection)

How do young people in your countries,make themselves visible and whatmediums do they use to achieve this?

Task 2 (Differences and Similarities

Flipchart Task)

How do these voices inform and guide us inunderstanding the current social reality of gangmembers who are labelled dangerous, deviant,and critical? Furthermore how do those insightschallenge, address and change our professionalpractice, that by default is failing to deter theseindividuals from occupying the streets, killingother people and some cases dying to gang

violence?

Lunch Time!!!

Breaking Freeby Dr Martin Glynn

Question and Answers with Dr Martin Glynn