Looking For Alibrandi Belonging Analysis

Why is it that when you ask anyone the first race that comes to mind when you say the word gang, they say african american or black people? These are what I call stereotypes most people are always assuming black people are in gangs and that they are causing all the violence that is going on. Most of the time people associate gangs with violence but in facts not all gangs are deadly and violent. “Blood in, blood out” is an old phrase many street gangs would say. Usually joining a gang is suppose to require an intense initiation. The world’s biggest threat is mankind. People join gangs for a feeling of being secure.

Initially gang activity could only be found in large metropolitan cities, but now gangs have invaded neighborhoods of all sizes across the country. Gangs introduce violence and fear to the communities they occupy, raise the level of drug activities, and destroy businesses and property which brings down the overall value of the whole area. Instead of going to school, many young people find themselves drawn in to the gang life which in most cases either leads to being locked up or death. There are various reasons why people would want to join a gang, but no matter what that reason might be one can only expect a life of violence and troubles.

The sad reality is that society does not take a minute to step out of their shoes and try to understand why someone becomes a gang member. Throughout Barking to the Choir, two common themes that arise is the lack of love, and growing up with a rough childhood. For many, survival becomes the priority, especially if they have siblings to look out for. Thus, gang life is not an ideal choice but rather a lucrative option. Through Rational Choice Theory, it is easy to place blame on the gang member, but the reality is that for a plethora of gang members there was no other

Anderson posits that this is a major reason why they join gangs; they want to earn their “manhood” or at least learn what it means to be a man. This leads to them getting a twisted idea of what it is to be a true man (Anderson 14-16). Another issue that Anderson discusses is the growing intensity of girls becoming more violent in reaction to different types of threats to respect such as rumors and gossip. While Anderson does say girls are less prone to killing others based on these issues, there is still a rise in fighting amongst those in the areas these gangs run rampant (Anderson 16-18). Finally, Anderson ends his article with a final component in which gang members try to earn a reputation for being “bad” as they call it. This comes down to the willingness to perform risky behaviors, and how little they fear death as a result of their activities (Anderson 18-19). Anderson terms this kind of culture to be an oppositional culture (Anderson 20).

The gang gives its members a sense of family. It helps them get up in the morning because they know they have someone to care for.

Qualitative descriptions suggest that, for many, gang membership represents 104 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice / May 2005an opportunity to enhance social capital as a means to cope with a multitude of problems. Although on balance gang life appears to be neither very rewarding nor satisfying (Hagedorn, 1988), identification with the gang is solidified in response to conflict—often with other gangs—as members pursue their individual and collective interests.

What first comes to mind when you think of gangs? Most people picture groups of dangerous individuals causing violence and gang wars, as portrayed in the media. John Hagedorn in his novel: A World Of Gangs provides the reader with a deeper understanding of how “gangs” operate, and that trying to stop gangs abruptly through police force is more of a problem than a solution. Hagedorn begins by describing what gangs really are and what causes them. He notes that the urbanization going on throughout the world leads to poorer neighborhoods or slums and is leading to higher gang rates. Claiming that by the year 2020 half of the urban population will be living in poverty he shows that this can cause social disorganization and mixing that with discrimination is not a good combination that will lead to the formation of gangs. Being that the novel is non-fiction Hagedorn provides many different expert opinions to further his research and beliefs. He also uses quotes from those who are/were in some sort of relation to gang life which is a great way fully understand how they operate rather than only looking from the outside in. Beyond understanding why they form, Hagedorn looks into what keeps them around as well as many other related topics, but also into the problems of defining gangs as well as the world of hip-hop music and its influence on gang life.

As horrible as gangs are, gang members themselves believe that they are beneficial to inner-city society. A former Gangster Disciple, for example, maintains that gang life taught him a lot: "I grew up without a father and I turned to my Disciple brothaz for love. They knew exactly how to treat a brotha and were always there for me, through thick and thin" (Douglas 162).

She logically defines gang violence as “a symptom of a society that does not meet the physical and emotional needs of its children.” That sentence alone would be boring to readers, however, combined with previous ethos and pathos, the audience can relate real situations to her definition of gang violence. After contemplation, her logos cements points from her earlier story about the impact of gang violence. She used the technique of logos to provide concrete proof of the situations she lived through and wrote about. By connecting her ideas to evidence, Beatty showed the audience the reliability of her

‘Looking for Alibrandi’ “Looking for Alibrandi” demonstrates a realistic representation of youth identity and the factors effecting adolescence. Josie faces issues that an adolescent teen would, struggling to cope with teenage existence. She lives with her single mother and attends a prestigious private school, where her snobbish classmates mock her Sicilian heritage. She contends with the dramas of teen romance, divided between John and Jacob.

People seem to struggle to understand the concept of gangs. There are a lot of strange factors that go into the makeup of gangs. Yes, there are no positive aspects of gangs, but those negative aspects have reasons as to why they are so negative. It is the people who join, that make gangs so threatening. Men and women who join are trying to get away or rebel from someone or something. They may feel that joining a gang will give them the security of a “family”. Those who join are so broken that they try to put the pieces together when joining a gang. This has been the case throughout U.S.

Looking for Alibrandi is a true story focused on and about Josephine Alibrandi who finds many struggles of day to day life to fit in, it displays Josie in the novel to struggle with finding her own identity in society, it is her last year of school so it makes it even tougher. It’s set in Sydney’s eastern suburbs where there are many people who have cultural backgrounds, for Josie she’s of an Australian-Italian decent. Josie’s father never knew his daughter, she always dreamt of what he’d be like. She got a scholarship in an expensive private school to get a good education that she could barely afford and of course it was full of rich Australians who’s were snobs to what they called Wogs. Throughout this intriguing novel she learns to cope with cultural differences from everyone else and how her life changes. She wants to be free “I’ll run. Run for my life. To be free and think for myself. Not as an Australian and not as an Italian and

Rigoberta starts questioning her perspective on ladinos, wondering if they are really all bad. She befriends Indians who have worked with poor ladinos who suffer from the same problems as her community does. The poor, from ladino to Indian, are exploited just the same yet they are so conditioned to dislike one another it’s hard for them to unite and really consider their circumstances the same. This troubles Rigoberta greatly for she knows that the heart of her distress aches from abuse from the rich landowners and if the poor ladinos are abused the same, they ache as well. Rigoberta dares to live in a state of confusion when wondering why there is such an enormous barrier between ladino and Indian. This confused state of mind is progressive for her time because her culture has long equated change and confusion with chaos and

Although some readers might think Margaret Laurence's short story “The Loons” is about the naivety of a young girl named Vanessa who spent her days fantasizing about native american culture, it is in fact about the adversity an individual faces when presented with a lack of belonging. Laurence employs this idea through the loss and mourning of her two main characters. Through Vanessa McLeod and Piquette Tonnerres she shows how one individual’s perpetual need of belonging influences the others ulterior reality. She does this to showcase the disastrous effects of a dominant society on the prior inhabitants of the land and how it relates to a feeling loss and mourning.

Their sense of right and wrong goes against what society believes is right and wrong, this is what strengthens the gang members to seek refuge within that gang society.