The About Insane Clown Posse

Los Angeles and Chicago are two American cities that have a long history with gang violence. In the 1940’s the city of Los Angeles was experiencing a significant boom in the African American and Latino populations. During this time, there was also a massive influx of Caucasians into the Los Angeles area. The Caucasians wanted to keep African Americans and Latinos who they called ‘Zoot Suiters’ out of their neighborhoods, so they formed a white gang called the ‘Spook Hunters’. The formation of the ‘Spook Hunters’ increased racial tensions in Los Angeles exponentially and caused a surge in violence between the white gang members and ethnic minorities. During this time period the Ku Klux Klan had an active presence in the white neighborhoods of Los Angeles which significantly increased racial tensions. In the 1950’s and 1960’s African American and Latino gangs expanded and became more territorial and violent. To this date gang related violence remains a constant in the day to day lives of Los Angeles residents. Chicago history of gangs begins in 1860’s with Caucasians of different ethnic backgrounds. A pivotal moment in race relations in Chicago occurred when Regan Colts, a white gang, drowned an African American boy in Lake Michigan on July 27th, 1919 (White 25). This incident led to the first racial riots in Chicago where gang members openly attacked each other. Since that incident Chicago has experienced ongoing gang violence. In fact in Chicago gang related violence appears

The documentary Crips and the Bloods: Made in America tells the dramatic story of the perpetual gang violence that runs the streets of Los Angeles, California. Gaining an inside look at how and why this violence is continued, the video focuses on the individuals that are affected by the gangs. Families are torn apart due to endless murders, children are taught to hate and act violently towards their neighbors, and people lose their soul to the gangs that they call their families. Of course every person must make a choice to engage in this sort of life, but sometimes these people are put into situations where there are no other options. In order to further think about what has caused and maintained the violence in the LA area, we can look towards Agnew’s General Strain Theory and the Labeling Theory.

Gang violence in America is a plague which ends the lives of thousands of youth. The two most notorious gangs, mostly located near Los Angeles, California, are are the Bloods and the Crips. Many things will be covered concerning these specific gangs to understand the basics of these two rival gangs, one must understand how they gain members, what actions they take to mark their territory, and what symbols they use to identify themselves.

Joanou’s (2006) Movie Gridiron Gang relates to Hard and Lazloffy (2005) information regarding youth involved in gangs’ memberships. According to Hard and Lazloffy (2005) the amount of youth involved in gangs has amplified considerably over the years, which has also contributed to the escalation in homicides, aggravated assaults, rapes and other forms of violence types of adolescents’ crimes rates. According to Joanou (2006), most of the adolescents inmates at Camp Kilpartick where gang members that committed some type of crime that involved violence. Also according to Hard and Lazloffy (2005), most young teens join gangs because they offer a buffer against violence, but the buffer against violence comes with the price of them having to commit crimes, which creates an unending vicious cycle of violence, and this cycle of violence is seen throughout Joanou’s (2006) movie.

Why is gang affiliation such an alluring, appealing lifestyle? Admittedly, the appeal is conceivable. Watching Boyz in the Hood or listening to hip-hip may cause some to think, “I can live that life,” but thought does not turn into action while others never formulate such a thought. This raises the question, why does Monster Kody Scott, consider devout gang membership as a sole objective despite constant contingencies of incarceration and demise? To answer this question, this paper will take the social disorganization position in its review of Monster: An Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member. In addition, this paper will use examples to show that social disorganization explains the behavior portrayed the book.

They were often harassed by police because of what the group represented with their gangster music.

While most of these so-called small “groups” can usually be found hanging out around the blocks of southern Philadelphia. Even though they are not as well known as other gangs such as the ”Bloods” and the “Crips”, but they are just as dangerous. They are carrying guns and committing the same criminal acts as the other well-known gangs do.

Throughout the 1990s the gang’s membership numbers and recruitment began to dwindle, however as of recent years has began to rapidly increase yet again (Streetgang#1, 2009). This recent rapid growth has been attributed to the fact that the gang has aligned themselves with a number of other large gangs. These gangs are known to include the

The issue with the youth gangs in South Central L.A. has long roots back into the history of American community, attracting attention of the people who have interest and study the history of L.A. neighborhoods. The gangs are also known as the “Bastard of the Party”. The reason it was called with this name has traces back into the history of the former political party the 1960s known as the Black Panther party, Black self-organized party who fought against the white supremacy during their period of time in order to get equal recognition for the African-American people. The youth gangs were later formed, inspired by the Black Panther, with initial intention for self-defense from the White neighborhood

Detroit, many call it the worst place in America, other detroiters like myself call it home. It takes a strong person to be able to withstand all the things going on around you. For those who know it, it’s a place that has many memories that can not be erased, things that most citizens have no recollection of, and secrets the government will never release to the public. Detroit’s truths are only comprehended by a few. The drugs, murder, rape, hospital abuse, and even corruption within the government. Many who are unfortunate enough to bear the weight of Detroit’s burdens have often told stories about their experiences. This, however, is not a review of all those stories but a personal terror.

So there I was, sitting in the parking lot of the Central Precinct of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. It was about 1745 in the evening when I knocked on the side entrance of the precinct to begin my ride-along. I was a little apprehensive about both meeting all of the deputies and the ride-along itself. As I ascended the steps into their briefing room, I remember thinking about how ironic it was that I was a little nervous considering I have been to Iraq and been in convoys and helped with security checkpoints.

The documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008) focuses on conditions and causes of gang violence in Los Angeles, California, as well as the history and background of the main gangs that reside there. The information in the film is compiled from interviews of past and present members of the Crips and Bloods, which are the two main gangs that contribute to the violence in the area. The interviewees explain how the gangs work and the conditions under which these people live daily. There can be parallels drawn from the film to Elijah Anderson’s article titled “The Code of the Streets”, published in 1994, that discusses violence in terms of gang and criminal activity.

A Juggalo is someone who is a die-hard fan of the Insane Clown Posse or any group from the Psychopathic Records label. It’s a spinoff of the punk subculture, making it an even more exclusive and tightly knit group. The term Juggalo started in 1994 at an Insane Clown Posse concert and has ballooned as an identifier and widely recognized name. Many Juggalos have tattoos identifying themselves with their “Juggalo names.” The names are personal identifiers that range from sugar bear to demon clown, showing the diversity of people represented in the Juggalo lifestyle.

Kody Scott grew up in South Central L.A. during the nineteen-sixties and seventies, soon after the creation of the Crips. Raised in poverty without a father, and a full family raised solely by his mother, Kody Scott led the stereotypical “ghetto” life, a poor and broken home. However he does not blame this on his own personal decision to join the Crips while only eleven year’s old. The allure of the respect and “glory” that “bangers” got, along with the unity of the “set”(name for the specific gang) is what drew him into the gang. Once joined, he vowed to stay in the “set” for life, and claimed that banging was his life. After many years of still believing this, he eventually realized that the

Gang crime is one of the most intriguing social phenomena’s across the world, as defining the deviancy has been difficult due to a broad range of definitions (Wood & Alleyne, 2010, pg. 101). One definition is given by David Curry and