California State University San Marcos Wk 1 Alabama Homeboys Video Analysis

Students, You will view Alabama Homeboys. A short film on gang formations in Pritchard, Alabama. This film looks at the relativistic nature of gangs in a rural space. An intervention component to the film allows former gang members from LA’s Homeboy Industries to travel to the predominantly Black community to interrupt the gang lifestyle through direct activities with young adolescents. I want you to reflect on these two distinct gang cultures, and I would like you to compare the urban vs. rural gang experience from what the film depicts. I want you to think about how gangs impact regions and the youth. As a sociologist, is this enough gang intervention, or does more need to be done? Are gangs about race, class, or regional inequality? As a student, I want you to reflect on your upbringing. What circumstances protected, involved, or made you see gangs differently? What more extensive arguments can you make about how gangs work in the U.S.?