Social Experiment: A Gang Leader for a Day — Book Preview

Never trust a white man and don’t think black folk are any better

Sociology explores the nature, structure, and dynamics of social life, as well as its causes and effects on the world. With this broad mandate, sociology encompasses a considerable range of concerns, methodological approaches, and theoretical directions. Sociologists study a wide variety of social phenomena, from online conversations, friendships, and families to neighborhoods, government, and global markets. The study cities and communities, inequality, social and class mobility, patterns of population change and migration, social identities such as race, class and gender, population relations, and so on. ethnicity and social conflict, social media, and digital interactions, and the social dimensions of gender, health, business, education, law, politics, religion, and science. Sociologists study the emergence, stability, dissolution, and broader implications of these social institutions, behavior, and meanings. Methodologies in this area range from ethnography, interviewing, and historical research to the investigation, computer modeling, and big data analysis.In the field of sociology, there are two groups of researchers. People who use quantitative and statistical techniques and those who study life through direct observation. The second group of people is ethnographers, who have their direct approach to answering certain kinds of questions with qualitative techniques. Sociologists derive their conclusion based on interactions, conservations, or observations. Meanwhile, quantitative sociologists have often criticized the ethnographer's approach. Ethnographers think of answers in terms of observations and their results aren't primarily based on a statistical analysis of large data sets, such as large surveys of various people, instead, the answer may be relevant only to the group of people.Sociology conducts research and it involves a certain process. They pick a problem to seek answers for factual ignorance about social processes or cultures or institutional procedures. Once they defined the process, they will review the past analysis on the same type of problem provided by another sociologist. Sociologists work on the problem with existing datasets either to support or disprove it. Then the research picks the right techniques either qualitative or quantitative method for the problem and they will act upon it. Surveyor interviews have the same difficulty of choosing the right person for the right answers to avoid biased or inaccurate results. The researchers must analyze the data trends and interpret their results addressing the problem. As a final step, they publish a book or journal with their findings more in terms of the individual project. Research processes are the same for different methods Survey and Experiment or Ethnography. Experiments are one of the quantitative methods of sociological research instead of specific datasets, sociologists influence the variables in the controlled conditions. Each method has its own advantage and disadvantage but cannot say one method is better than the other.Venkatesh began his research-based out on classical sociological questions. (Gang Leader for a day, p. 3)1) How does an individual’s preference develop?2) What are the long-term consequences, for instance of education on future generations?He started a research project discussion with Professor Wilson, the most prominent African American in the field of sociology. Prof. Wilson published two books that reshaped how scholars and policymakers thought about urban poverty. Wilson was interested to understand how young blacks were affected by the Chicago housing project in terms of education, job, and social life. So, he borrowed some of the old questionnaires to work with this experiment. He modified those questions

according to new studies as needed. Even though he hadn’t really coalesced with the more scientific method to produce comparable results with earlier studies of black youth. He initiated his research from two senior men who lived near his college campus by asking a bunch of questions.But it didn’t get him anywhere with their answers due to the generation gap. Before he gave up, he has been advised to talk to young men to get what he needed. He drifted his research towards young men. He approached a group of people in the Chicago housing project, and he asked the first question that he had adapted from several other similar surveys. It was one of a set of questions that targeted young people’s self-perception. He mentioned few questions in the first chapter of his book.1)“How does it feel to be black and poor?” (Gang Leader for a Day, p. 14 to the group) and (GangLeader for a Day, p. 16 to J.T. for the second time).2) “What kinds of job did the people who lived here have?” (Gang Leader for a Day, p. 18)3)” Why weren’t the police in the building?”None of the above questions interested the gang to answer, instead, they talked about sex, power, and money. Venkatesh mentions “The Surveys in my bag felt heavy and useless” (Gang Leader fora Day, p. 22). He learned from the gang leader named J.T that they are reluctant to answer any questions. The only option provided by J.T is, either he should stop asking questions or hang out with them to know them better. He has been asked to leave the place after being held captive for a night.Venkatesh decided that the quantitative method using survey questionnaires would not help much, instead of being part of the group and observe the people's survival in marginal communities and how people in the ghetto benefits from government policy, as an ethnographer.Venkatesh is blessed with outlandish curiosity, so he took J.T.’s word as an invitation rather than quit his plan of doing research. He has been described as a man of few words by his first book reader name called Stephen J. Dubner. Usually, these kinds of people are unfriendly or rude but in contrast, he has an open heart to welcome any unfriendly situation to his way and mingle with anyone by his soft words. Hence, he took this whole research as a challenge and end up being one among the group. He started to hang out with the group, especially too close with J.T. He mentioned that he felt a strange kind of intimacy with. J.T. is better than the bond with good friends. He connected with J.T. in an instant and deeply. On his next visit, he asked meaningless questions, mostly about their cars, why they were jacked up so high and whether they changed their own oil. (GangLeader for a Day, p. 24). It seems that it worked out for him.Here are a few things he learned being one of them.Venkatesh was able to learn about J.T. and his interests. Especially he figured out that J.T. was a scholar and understands the city in his own way. J.T. took Venkatesh to one of his favorite places called Glady’s restaurant where political leaders and elected community used to meet in private.This place has lively histories where two gangs once signed a legendary truce that J.T. always pays for their meals and in gratitude, student’s budgets are always accepted.Venkatesh learned that apart from poverty and danger in Robert Taylor Homes, people are living in a domestic setup like a normal house. Robert Taylor Homes were the largest public housing project which is ten times bigger than the Lake Park project. During his first visit at Robert TaylorHome, J.T. and Venkatesh met Curly in his mom’s house. He struggled to understand the gangster

vocabulary, so he picked out some random words like tax, monthly dues, police, CHA security, and“Five-Oh” meant police (Gang Leader for a Day, p. 33). Later that meeting, J.T. briefed him about why he moved to Lake Park Project a couple of years ago and he was returning to Robert TaylorHome because of Lake Park Project’s demolition. J.T. explained the gang’s hierarchy and BlackKing’s operation. He learned that the gang’s structure mirrored the structure of any other business in America (Gang Leader for a Day, p. 35). His scope of learning went behind above J.T.’s group and he has been learning about all the Black King’s operations slowly. His overall project research provided insight into how a gang of Black Kings managed to control the enterprise and cooperated with the capitalists’ terms from Robert Taylor Project Housing. His research report might change the public’s opinion or, at least the academy’s perspective on American Inner City.As an organization, often called a set or gangs, they might not get into fights always, rather they were arranging to meet up to conduct tournaments. He witnessed along with J.T how they passed the time with other gangs in the name of sports. People around Robert Taylor's project were poor, but they didn’t like to see them as pity or lower standard than others. His bond with J.T.’s mom grew behind regular research and it was described as emotional connections to the people in the book. J.T.’s mom often referred to Robert Taylor as a community than a project which gave a strong emotional bond to the people.There are things, Venkatesh was learning on his first patrol on the federal street with J.T. There are people who live in the apartment and a few who stayed in the stairs to keep them warm or away from the cop. Tenant patrol took care of elder persons in the federal street and organize the kids in the same street. J.T patrolled every week to watch out the things were happening in the federal street as it should be. He learned that this federal street was living for all kinds of people. It required regular inspection to maintain peace among the community. There were folks with roles and responsibilities, often batched as foot soldiers, squatters, etc., according to ranks.Furthermore, to the extent his examination goes, he understands it very well may be hazardous and uneven to see Robert Taylor just according to JT’s viewpoint. He in this way starts thinking about how to widen his ethnographic exploration at the Homes, how to acquire research admittance to others living there.