"Care about people's approval, and you will be their prisoner."
Chinese Proverb
In several of my journal entries for last month I touched on the subject of living in prison…
Chinese Proverb
In several of my journal entries for last month I touched on the subject of living in prison…
and how it is often times inaccurately portrayed on television or in the movies. I explained how prison could be a "house of pain," as well as a place where miracles can happen. In here men can change for the better, or for the worse. Much of this depends on the choices they make, including whom they choose to hang out with.
In February I wrote how the unwritten codes of conduct a convict is expected to abide by causes him to live in a prison within a prison. This, I believe, is especially true for gangs. In the opinion of many professionals who work in correctional settings, gangs are a growing problem. Having been locked-up for forty-three years, I'm of the same conclusion. Gangs are everywhere. They now make up a large fabric of prison life, and I doubt they will go away any time soon.
Several decades ago much of the ranks of gang membership came from aggressive inside recruiting efforts by current members. Nowadays, however, very little recruiting has to be done on the inside because a majority of the young men now in their teens or twenties, and who are coming to prison for the first time, are already members. They joined one of the crews that were established in their respective neighborhoods well before their incarceration began.
Gangs have become so prevalent in some areas that young persons cannot avoid the peer pressure to join. In my view, this has become something of a trap. Maybe young persons nowadays have no adult role models to set an example of what a responsible adult should be like? Or their families are so fractured and dysfunctional that the camaraderie and companionship a gang may have to offer, no matter how loose or superficial, would be enough to serve as a substitute for the family?
For gang members, as I have observed, there is this constant need of approval from one's peers. Pledges are made among members to stick together, and if necessary, fight or even die together. You're expected to jump into action and willingly participate in any form of criminal activity, if the gang's leadership so demands it. It's the rule.
Basically membership in such a group requires a large degree of people-pleasing. In a gang, nods of approval from one's peers is important. With it comes acceptance and validation, and a sense of self-worth. Such things may be lacking in the home. This may of course not always be the case. Yet for much of the time, it probably is.
But what I do know is that in spite of all the bravado and machismo, lies much insecurity, too. Over the years many a "gangbanger" has privately confessed to me that joining a gang was a big mistake. They couldn't see it at first having been caught up in all the excitement and comradeship that belonging in a group provided. But now they see how they wasted a big portion of their lives.
For many of them, they were just tag-alongs. They really didn't want to commit a crime. Yet against their better judgment they reluctantly went along with a plan to kill a rival gang member, or pull a hold-up, or set up a drug sales operation. Their gut reaction was to say, "No!" But the coercive atmosphere they were already a part of, and given the pressure of a commitment to band together through thick and thin, left little choice but to break the law.
My suggestions? The church must do everything possible to reach those who are most susceptible to joining a gang, especially since these groups are run just like a cult. They're easy to join, but nearly impossible to leave without being intimidated with threats of continuous beatings, or death.
Gang affiliation should never be glamorized. It should be shown for what it is, a trap. It's a quick ticket to prison, or to an early grave. It's a waste of one's life and potential. Ultimately the much sought-after glory a young person is seeking through gang membership will dissolve before their eyes. They will end up with a lifetime of regret.
So, if we live for the approval of our peers, as an old Chinese proverb says, we will become their prisoner.
D. B.
In February I wrote how the unwritten codes of conduct a convict is expected to abide by causes him to live in a prison within a prison. This, I believe, is especially true for gangs. In the opinion of many professionals who work in correctional settings, gangs are a growing problem. Having been locked-up for forty-three years, I'm of the same conclusion. Gangs are everywhere. They now make up a large fabric of prison life, and I doubt they will go away any time soon.
Several decades ago much of the ranks of gang membership came from aggressive inside recruiting efforts by current members. Nowadays, however, very little recruiting has to be done on the inside because a majority of the young men now in their teens or twenties, and who are coming to prison for the first time, are already members. They joined one of the crews that were established in their respective neighborhoods well before their incarceration began.
Gangs have become so prevalent in some areas that young persons cannot avoid the peer pressure to join. In my view, this has become something of a trap. Maybe young persons nowadays have no adult role models to set an example of what a responsible adult should be like? Or their families are so fractured and dysfunctional that the camaraderie and companionship a gang may have to offer, no matter how loose or superficial, would be enough to serve as a substitute for the family?
For gang members, as I have observed, there is this constant need of approval from one's peers. Pledges are made among members to stick together, and if necessary, fight or even die together. You're expected to jump into action and willingly participate in any form of criminal activity, if the gang's leadership so demands it. It's the rule.
Basically membership in such a group requires a large degree of people-pleasing. In a gang, nods of approval from one's peers is important. With it comes acceptance and validation, and a sense of self-worth. Such things may be lacking in the home. This may of course not always be the case. Yet for much of the time, it probably is.
But what I do know is that in spite of all the bravado and machismo, lies much insecurity, too. Over the years many a "gangbanger" has privately confessed to me that joining a gang was a big mistake. They couldn't see it at first having been caught up in all the excitement and comradeship that belonging in a group provided. But now they see how they wasted a big portion of their lives.
For many of them, they were just tag-alongs. They really didn't want to commit a crime. Yet against their better judgment they reluctantly went along with a plan to kill a rival gang member, or pull a hold-up, or set up a drug sales operation. Their gut reaction was to say, "No!" But the coercive atmosphere they were already a part of, and given the pressure of a commitment to band together through thick and thin, left little choice but to break the law.
My suggestions? The church must do everything possible to reach those who are most susceptible to joining a gang, especially since these groups are run just like a cult. They're easy to join, but nearly impossible to leave without being intimidated with threats of continuous beatings, or death.
Gang affiliation should never be glamorized. It should be shown for what it is, a trap. It's a quick ticket to prison, or to an early grave. It's a waste of one's life and potential. Ultimately the much sought-after glory a young person is seeking through gang membership will dissolve before their eyes. They will end up with a lifetime of regret.
So, if we live for the approval of our peers, as an old Chinese proverb says, we will become their prisoner.
D. B.
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