Duran and Rios talk and gang questions PDF

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film notes on gang culture...

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1) Why did they join a gang? Think about what we talked in terms of structural causes for gangs. Robert Duran Grew up in Utah and moved around a lot. His family has pride and values, meaning his family wasn’t involved in gangs. He didn’t have much protection so the gang looked out for him. High school was a big influence in him and it depended on who you associated with. He was pressured to become part of a gang. He didn’t think about anything else except the gang. The way he looked Victor Rios He wanted to fit in, impress girls in the neighborhood, get power, money, and protection. He explained that he is supposed to be in jail and doing drugs. He was in a bad neighborhood that gave him many obstacles. One obstacle being that his dad was never around. Rios struggled to find support and was in and out of school. While he was in eighth grade he was jumped by a gang and realized that a gang was his only option to stay safe and alive. 2) How were they able to escape gangs and join the academia? Robert Duran He wanted to write a book or going on to college. Duran wanted to do anything to figure out ways to stay out of prison and not get killed. He took a sociology class in college that made him open his eyes and saw statistics about gangs and learned why he was expected to fail in his life Victor Rios After he witnessed his friend’s death in a gang fight, he decided not to go and retaliate against the other gang. He listened to his heart and went back to school. He went to his teacher and she helped him change his ways. With her help, he went back to school and graduated on time with his high school friends. Hw used his obstacles as his strengths and he kept working and earned his Ph.D.

3) Will traditional law enforcement techniques be effective in reducing the "gang problem"? Explain your answer. Robert Duran No. We need to address the problem rather than keep trying to attack and make these people seem terrible. Duran’s problem is that no one addresses the lower class. He needed

someone to look out for him and the police were not looking at him to help him. Victor Rios I don’t think that traditional law enforcement techniques would have helped in reducing the gang problem for Rios. All types of people discriminate against Hispanics in his life such as how he and his mother couldn't get paid minimum wage. People were against ‘others’, such as Rios. He didn’t acknowledge police or authority figure s in his story, probably because they didn’t care about him and they would have tried to send him back to Mexico if he was found. He said to reduce the gang problem you have to find people that you can reach out to for when you have a problem. Sometimes parents don’t have the right answers and kids don’t have anyone else to do to. Make people know other options. 4) What do their stories tell us about how we can effectively reduce the 'gang problem'? Robert Duran Reduce how they are negatively portrayed. Many portray them as terrible people and how they need to be locked up and put away. These are not bad people. Many people are generations of gang members and have no choice. Also, we need to create a program that showed kids the consequences of being in a gang. Show youth a non-violent approach to unity. Ex: Crusade for Justice - 60s/70s changed schools and law enforcement for negative treatment. Victor Rios Victor shared his story with elementary/ junior high schools in a way to prevent gang problems. He shared with them his personal struggles and what he learned from them. Such as, don’t use your attitude to solve your problems. It’s very easy to solve your problems with your attitudes, but it only leads you deeper to your problems. Ultimately, what saved his life is learned to listen to his heart. He explained that your heart will tell you the right thing. Don’t listen to your friends because you will face severe consequences.

Class discussion

Victor ● Family (mom) and teachers (Mrs.Russ) helped ● Friends in prison -> Rambo ● Best friend murdered in gang fight

Robert

● Saw friends in prison ● Intellectual curiosity -why is there a pattern of gangs in his community ● Working on cars gave him time away from the gang - hobbies/recreation

● Main way to fix gangs in US - law enforcement...