Gazette - Gang leader for a day

COVER SECTION

Sociologist gets an inside look at Chicago gang life

Paresh Ghandi
Sociologist or gang leader? Professor Sudhir Venkatesh has been both — albeit the latter was only for a day.

As a sociology student in 1989, Sudhir Venkatesh began a research project unlike any other: he met a Chicago street gang leader and was allowed to spend almost 10 years observing the gang’s activities — including crack sales, extortions, beatings, drive-by shootings and outright gang war. He even helped lead the gang for a day. Now a professor at Columbia University, Venkatesh has just released a book documenting his experience (Gang Leader for a Day, Penguin Press, 2008). Fresh off his book tour, he shared some insight with the Gazette’s Caroline Ross.

How did you end up becoming a “casual observer” in a Chicago street gang?

I was never a member of the gang, just a graduate student observing. I met the high-ranking gang leader accidentally because I was administering a survey for young people in his community. We developed a mutual curiosity — in no small part because he had a college degree — and he let me hang out with his members for nearly a decade.

How were you able to gain the trust and confidence of several high-ranking gang members?

I had to separate myself from journalists, cops, social workers and others who ask questions, but who don’t stay around long enough to find out the complexity and nuances in the community. I decided to avoid questions altogether, and tenants (in the Chicago public housing projects where the gang operated) immediately understood that I wanted to see a different side of their life — one at greater depth.

What do you see as the traits of an effective gang leader?

I think gang leaders have to be willing to use violence at a moment’s notice. They also have to have the organizational skills to maintain cohesion among several hundred people — many of whom are busily engaged in illegal activity.

You helped lead the gang for a day. What surprised you most about gang operations?

I stood by the leader for 24 hours. The level of interpersonal violence shocked me — I couldn’t believe the ways in which the gang leader had to inflict harm to get things done. I also was surprised that these young kids would stand out on the corner and sell drugs at such great risk of arrest and physical harm, for so little money. It just shows you how few opportunities exist for them.

What was your most intense experience with the gang?

Watching residents (of the housing project) deal with domestic abusers was very engrossing. The police were largely unavailable to tenants — they had neglected the community for the better part of four decades. And there were few social services for residents. In this climate, the residents had to police themselves and sometimes that meant tracking down perpetrators of rape and abuse, and beating them up.

What did you learn about police interaction with the gang and its victims?

The majority of the police didn’t have much to do with the community. They didn’t answer calls, they never patrolled, they were a neglectful force. But there were a few, mostly black, cops who had grown up in the community who were very helpful: they worked closely with tenants to help maintain order. I have the utmost respect for them because the conditions they were working in were extremely dangerous.

What advice do you have for police who deal with gangs on a regular basis?

Use community intermediaries. The problem with most U.S. policing departments is that they feel unaccountable to everyone. The best police always involve the community — not just in a token way in community policing initiatives — but even in the regular oversight of the department. It does police little good to act as a group fully independent of the community.