Youth, Guns, and VJ in Urban America
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If you have issues viewing or accessing this file, please contact us at NCJRS.gov. m Youth, Guns, and VJ in Urban America OSEPH Fo SHELEY IAMES D, WRIGHT IN THE LINE OF FIRE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL CHANGE An Aldine de Gruyter Series of Texts and Monographs EDITED BY James D. Wright Larry Barnett, Legal Construct, Social Concept: A Macrosociological Perspective on Law Vern L. Bengtson and W. Andrew Achenbaum, The Changing Contract Across Generations Thomas G. Blomberg and Stanley Cohen (eds.), Punishment and Social Control: Essays in Honor of Sheldon Messinger Remi Clignet, Death, Deeds, and Descendants: Inheritance in Modem America Mary Ellen Colten and Susan Gore (eds.), Adolescent Stress: Causes and Consequences Rand D. Conger and Glen H. Elder, Jr., Families in a Changing Society: Hard Times in Rural America Joel A. Devine and James D. Wright, The Greatest of Evils: Urban Poverty and the American Underclass G. William Domhoff, The Power Elite and the State: How Policy is Made in America Paula S. England, Comparable Worth: Theories and Evidence Paula S. England, Theory on Gender/Feminism on Theory Richard F. Hamilton and James D. Wright, The State of the Masses Gary Kleck, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America David Knoke, Organizing for Collective Action: The Political Economies of Associations Dean Knudsen and JoAnn L. Miller (eds.), Abused and Battered: Social and Legal Responses to Family Violence James R. Kluegel, David S. Mason, and Bernd Wegener (eds.), Social Justice and Political Change: Public Opinion in Capitalist and Post-Communist States Theodore R. Marmor, The Politics of Medicare (Second Edition) Clark McPhail, The Myth of the Madding Crowd Clark McPhail, Acting Together: The Organization of Crowds Steven L. Nock, The Costs of Privacy: Surveillance and Reputation in America Talcott Parsons on National Socialism (Edited and with an introduction by Uta Gerhardt) Carolyn C. and Robert Perrucci, Dena B. and Harry R. Targ, Plant Closings: International Context and Social Costs Robert Perrucci and Harry R. Potter (eds.), Networks of Power: Organizational Actors at the National, Corporate, and Community Levels I~m~ T R~c_h~_~d,3on, Joel Best, and David G. Bromley (eds.), The Satanism Scare Alice S. Rossi and Peter H. Rossi, Of Human Bonding: Parent-Child Relations Across the Life Course Joseph F. Sheley and James D. Wright, In the Line of Fire: Youths, Guns, and Violence in Urban America David G. Smith, Paying for Medicare: The Politics of Reform Martin King Whyte, Dating, Mating, and Marriage James D. Wright, Address Unknown: The Homeless in America James D. Wright and Peter H. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms James D. Wright, Peter H. Rossi, and Kathleen Daly, Under the Gun: Weapons, Crime, and Violence in America Mary Zey, Banking on Fraud: Drexel, Junk Bonds, and Buyouts IN THE LINE OF FIRE Youths, Guns, and Violence in Urban America JOSEPH F. SHELEY and JAMES D. WRIGHT ALDINE DE GRUYTER New York ABOUT THE AUTHORS Joseph F. Sheley is Professor of Sociology, Tulane University. Dr. Sheley is the author of Understanding Crime, America's "Crime Problem," and Criminology: A Contemporary Handbook. He has published numerous journal articles. At present, he is continuing his investigation of patterns of firearm acquisition and use by juveniles. James D. Wright is Charles and Leo Favrot Professor of Human Relations, Department of Sociology, Tulane University. He is the author of numerous jour- nal articles and author (or coauthor) of over twelve books including: Address Unknown: The Homeless in America; Under the Gun: Weapons, Crime, and Violence in America; Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms; The State of the Masses and The Greatest of Evils: Urban Poverty and the American Under- class (all: Aldine de Gruyter). Copyright © 1995 Walter de Gruyter, Inc., New York All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. ALDINE DE GRUYTER A division of Walter de Gruyter, Inc. 200 Saw Mill River Road Hawthorne, New York 10532 This publication is printed on acid free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data In the line of fire : youths, guns, and violence in urban America / Joseph F. Sheley and James D. Wright. p. cm. -- (Social institutions and social change) Includes bibliographical references (p. 000-000) and index. ISBN 0-202-30548-1 (cloth : alk. paper). -- ISBN 0-202-30549-X (paper : alk. paper) 1. Juvenile delinquency--United States. 2. Urban youth--Crimes against--United States. 3. Firearms--Social aspects--United States. 4. Gun control--United States. 5. Crime--United States. 6. Violence--United States. I. Sheley, Joseph. II. Wright, James D. III. Series. HV9104.I48 1995 364.3'6'0973--dc20 95-19598 CIP Manufactured in the United States of America 10987654321 For Bernadette and Chris CONTENTS Preface xi 1 GUNS AND VIOLENCE AS AN URBAN PROBLEM Youth Violence in Streets and Schools 4 Weapons in the Hands of Kids 6 Seeking Causes: Guns, Drugs, and Gangs 8 Research Issues 9 The Present Study 11 Notes 12 2 ASKING DIRECTLY: THE 1991 YOUTH GUN SURVEY 13 Research Sites 14 Respondent Representativeness 15 Methodological Issues 23 Respondent Sociodemographic Characteristics 26 Sociocriminal Profiles 27 Notes 35 3 GUNS IN THE HANDS OF KIDS 39 Numbers and Types of Guns 40 Owning versus Carrying Guns 42 Choosing a Handgun 44 Where and How Juveniles Obtain Guns 46 Dealing Guns 50 Multivariate Considerations 51 Summary 53 Notes 53 vii viii Contents 4 GUN POSSESSION: CRIME, STATUS, OR PROTECTION 57 Guns and Crime 57 Gun Dealing, Gun Possession, and Crime 63 Guns as Status Symbols 64 Guns as Protection 67 Multivariate Considerations 69 Summary 71 Notes 72 5 YOUTH, DRUGS, AND GUNS 75 Prior Research on Drugs and Guns 75 Drugs and Guns in the Present Samples 77 Drug Use and Gun Activity 78 Drug Distribution and Gun Activity 83 Drugs, Predation, and Gun Activity 86 Multivariate Considerations 89 Summary 90 Notes 93 6 YOUTH, GANGS, AND GUNS 95 Gangs, Weaponry, and Violence 95 Conceptional Issues and Measurement 97 Gangs and Guns 99 Individual Gang Members and Guns 100 Gang Members and Gun Dealing 103 Gangs and Motivations for Firearm Activity 103 Multivariate Considerations 113 Summary 115 Notes 117 7 RELATED THEMES FOR RESEARCH 119 Girls and Guns 119 Weapon-Related Victimization 126 Guns in the Suburbs 135 Conclusions 142 Notes 143 Contents ix 8 KIDS, GUNS, AND VIOLENCE: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 147 Controlling Guns 148 Disrupting the Illegal Gun Market 153 Drugs and Guns 154 Gangs and Guns 156 Urban Structure and Culture 157 Notes 162 REFERENCES 163 AUTHOR INDEX 174 SUBJECT INDEX 178 PREFACE It is difficult to place any kind of positive spin on the issue of adolescents and guns in the contemporary urban context. Like everyone else, we would prefer that fewer kids owned firearms and that those who do were just hunters and sport shooters. In fact, neither perception cap- tures the experience of the young males who participated in the research described here. Some were students in inner-city high schools; others resided in maximum-security correctional facilities for youth. Few seemed interested in hunting and sport shooting. We have surveyed these youths about their guns because the media increasingly picture violence as a way of life for urban adolescents and locate the problem squarely within a rapidly expanding weapons arsenal for youth. We do not doubt the accuracy of this picture, but we also realize that it is grounded mainly in anecdotes that seem to be informing antiviolence policy--always a dangerous precedent. Our goal is to bring empirical evidence to bear on the issue of urban kids and guns. Is the phenomenon as widespread as the media suggest? If so, what kinds of firearms are juveniles obtaining? How do kids get guns and at what price? Why do youths carry and use guns: for crime, for respect, for protection? Is the problem an offshoot of drug use and trafficking? Is it confined mainly to gangs? In The Line of Fire tries systematically to answer these questions. We have focused on adolescents who inhabit social environments that seem to foster gun violence: the contemporary inner city and the social world of the seriously criminal adolescent. We traveled to four states and to five cities within them to survey these youth. We began with confined juvenile lawbreakers and then moved our survey to inner-city high schools in large urban centers near the reformatories we had visited. Given the volatility of the topic at hand, it is important that we bal- ance our presentation of findings in this book with the observation that most inner-city adolescents do not own and carry guns. This holds even for those who attend classes in the particularly troubled schools in which we concentrated our study. Most simply are trying to get on with xi xii Preface their lives as kids are everywhere. However, our findings indicate that their social world is not like that of kids everywhere. Very high percent- ages of their peers are carrying guns, and this convinces many more that they too need the protection--or sense of it--that comes with posses- sion of a firearm. To the extent that their peers are engaged in criminal and drug-related activity, guns become yet more prevalent. The level of firearm activity among our respondents has caused us to scrutinize carefully the oft-considered remedy for the problem: control of gun distribution at the retail level. The solution seems not to fit the problem.