Gang Homicide Analysis

Words: 443
Pages: 2

Prevalent in our social construction of the world today, the fluctuation of power along with the influence of opinions and people continue to grow. Influencing United States’s modern day generalized gang structure, dominance has been a recurring trait through America’s history as seen in the Declaration of Independence .
Because colonists were tired of British dominance due to receiving no representation, the Declaration of Independence was created to signify the separation between the colonists and Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence, a document written by Thomas Jefferson, outlined the basis of unacceptable tyranny faced by the colonists in their declaration of freedom. According to Jefferson (1776), the colonists faced “a long history of abuses and usurpations,” from the King and when they tried to petition against the tyranny,“[the] petitions [were] answered only by repeated injury.” The colonists faced repeated abuse of dominance by Great Britain, who abused their power to tax, control, and destroy the colonies. This history of abuse “ [had the]
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In his article, “Murder By Structure: Dominance Relations and The Social Structure of Gang Homicide,” Andrew Papachristos (2009) discusses the structure of gangs in relation to power distribution within groups, along with the connection of murder. Gang murder occurs due to groups competing for positions of power within their created structure: as individuals continue to involve themselves and fight over dominance, violence, and harsh disputes begin to arise (Papachristos 2009). Positions of leadership, authority, and loyalty play are common triggers in the fight for dominance. Gang members fight over the position which has the power of making decisions that apply to everyone: when disputes begin over dominance, members begin to protest, rebel, becoming violent resulting in