Posted: June 23rd, 2022

Gangs and Crime: Critical Alternative

The book review
Is a 750-2000-word (more if you deem it necessary) analysis of any self-selected,
non-fiction, non-textbook in which gangs is the primary topic. Your analysis should
examine how the topic is discussed and what the author(s) was trying to do with the book,
what insight(s) or idea can be gleaned from the work, and what are the strengths and
weaknesses of the book (with thanks to Dr. William Julius Wilson). Make sure you indicate
whether you agree with the author’s premise or not and why. Additionally, you should note
how the book reflects your experience (or lack thereof) with the topic of the book. More
information and examples of book reviews can be found in Course Materials
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Gangs & Crime: Critical Alternative
Gangs & Crime: Critical Alternative is a book written by Alister Fraser in 2015 – Research Paper Writing Help Service and published in 2017. It is a high credited book since Fraser is an award-winning urban author. The book is full of rich ethnographic information and theoretical paradigms. It offers both contemporary and classical perspectives on the phenomenon of gangs. All relative approaches are included, which makes the book very useful to readers interested in acquiring a comprehensive understanding of gangs, their criminal identities and their cultures.
Some of the subtopics of the book include defining gangs, researching gangs, histories of gangs, conceptualizing gangs, social harm perspectives, feminist perspective, cultural perspectives, gangs and globalization, decentering the world of gangs, responding to the global gang and the conclusion which talks about beyond the gang. The author in the book, Fraser, unpacks complex social issues through a rare combination of modesty and solution orientation. The book is not an ethnography, but some concepts such as forward-thinking, rich ideas and theories remain (Fraser, 2017). That makes work easier for readers since they don’t have to think beyond the narrow and superficial accounts of gangs.
Fraser starts by exploring gang research’s genealogy, where he offers insight on gang genealogy and groundbreaking texts and research, which are usually misinterpreted in most cases. He then talks about the key philosophies that are expounded in making sense of harm, crime and their controls regarding criminal groups. In gang research, constructionist frameworks happen to be the most prevalent. Still, the author rightly touches on realist approaches. One of them is ultra-realism, a paradigm that is burgeoning that has become more of a persuasive notion in recent years for giving convincing analysis on harmful subjects.
Fraser then discusses the methodologies of researching criminal fraternities, where he alludes that there is neither a unified nor homogenous approach used when gangs are being conceptualized. He states various approaches that are multifaceted, which facilitate knowledge production of criminal enterprises. He continues to give examples of different critical perspectives of gangs in history. One example includes youth and gangs’ history, which informs readers that criminal trend fluctuations are not the exclusive prerogative of the modern world. That is because criminality aspects have been featured in society for a long time before euphemisms like gangs and urban street gangs.
Fraser, in an explicit manner, recognizes the symbiotic relationships between society and gangs. He also illustrates the inherent issues associated with the term gang when discussing the phenomenon within that or other contexts. Theory drives the book’s midsection, where the author defines concepts as analytical shorthand for complex social processes. They bridge the structural mechanisms and daily experiences where they are situated. Concepts are adaptable and flexible rather than static and fall out of popularity as the get less relevant and vice versa. That, therefore, sets precedence for various sociological paradigms discussed within their contemporary insights and original contexts.
The book fuses all approaches, which gives readers the ability to understand gangs, their crimes and their identities from the point of their relations. That creates synergies between social, cultural structural positioning, and individual motives while still recognizing the roles played by domination, power and inequity in gang responses in the society found on page eighty-three of the book. The book explores feminist, social harm and cultural perspectives, which showcase criminology as a rendezvous discipline that establishes harmful activity precursors through various approaches.
Fraser touches on the social harm from a scientific approach where he takes a three-tier approach to explain that. He concludes the book by saying that a one size fits all entity is the best way to explain gangs since empirical studies prove that the varied localized and globalized functionalities and characteristics are used in describing gang interactions. In the feminist’s gang perspectives chapter, Fraser includes doing feminity on page one hundred and twenty-three (Fraser, 2017). He touches on malestream criminology then moves on to classical feminist studies of gangs, theoretically contextualized through debates based on history.
Crime happens to be omnipresent in mass media communication, where cultural studies provide lenses of media and crime. The book continues to offer a global insight into the representations of culture regarding gangs and the newsworthy and salacious responses that are dominant regarding these gangs. There is a major administrative flaw in a country such as the United Kingdom when gangs’ characteristics are discussed. There is a case of neglecting global influences by the current policy that usually forges gangs’ identities, their criminal practices, and their culture at large. The final chapters explore gangs within a globalized context, found on page one hundred and sixty-four.
The chapters argue that ganglands activities are not found in fixed terrain, but they are influenced and manifested as a result of global and local criminal opportunities. Fraser alludes to the gangs’ etiology and clears on deterministic forces regularly absent during nature investigation, the meaning and extent of gangs and crimes. I agree with the author’s premise since the book lays out its content, structure and novel contribution in a manner that would interest readers of all kinds, including the criminal justice system and anyone interested in criminology.

Reference
Fraser, A. (2017). Gangs & Crime: Critical Alternatives. Sage.

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