Women in the Making of Place, Social Networks and Surviving the Gang Streets

Politeia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hameedah Parker
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Exposure To Violence ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Gang Violence ◽  
Defence Mechanism ◽  
Youth Gang ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
The Media

Young women in Manenberg are often identified by their exposure to violence in the community within which they live. They are perceived as grieving mothers, daughters and victims. However, women in Manenberg are also visible as strategists to contesting violence and who are resilient to violent activity. Ungar defines resilience as a defence mechanism (dependent on context and cultural factors) that youth use to cope with adversity, and in this case, everyday gang violence. Current research in Manenberg falls short of revealing the experiences of gang violence by young women as complex and multifaceted. This study demonstrates women as more than victims of youth gang violence (as often portrayed in the media). This paper examines young women, their social networks and resilience to gang violence through the lens of their responses to dominant discourses of youth gang violence in the streets of Manenberg. Through “intimate” discussions, the formations of networks highlight multiple overlaps in the making of young women; their resilience, their homes and lives in the streets of Manenberg. Our discussions transcend normative gendered perspectives and produce knowledge from their interactions as a useful lens for informing how young women negotiate around the activities of gang violence in their everyday lives. The paper reveals meaning-making of gang violence, as well as interfaces and disruptions of social networks among young women in Manenberg.

scholarly journals Media Literacy in the Lifeworlds of Malaysian Children

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanthi Balraj Baboo
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
User Experiences ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
School Settings ◽  
The World ◽  
The Media ◽  
Home And School

Many children grow up in contemporary Malaysia with an array of new media. These include television, video games, mobile phones, computers, Internet, tablets, iPads and iPods. In using these new media technologies, children are able to produce texts and images that shape their childhood experiences and their views of the world. This article presents some selected findings and snapshots of the media lifeworlds of children aged 10 in Malaysia. This article is concerned with media literacy and puts a focus on the use, forms of engagement and ways that children are able to make sense of media technologies in their lives. The study reveals that children participate in many different media activities in their homes. However, the multimodal competencies, user experiences and meaning-making actions that the children construct are not engaged with in productive ways in their schooling literacies. It is argued that media literacy should be more widely acknowledged within home and school settings.

The American Ghetto, Gangster, and Respect on the Streets of Copenhagen: Media(tion)s between Structure and Street Culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 089124162110569
Author(s):  
Hakan Kalkan
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Perceived Similarity ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Street Culture ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Relationship

“Street culture” is often considered a response to structural factors. However, the relationship between culture and structure has rarely been empirically analyzed. This article analyzes the role of three media representations of American street culture and gangsters—two films and the music of a rap artist—in the street culture of a disadvantaged part of Copenhagen. Based on years of ethnographic fieldwork, this article demonstrates that these media representations are highly valuable to and influential among young men because of their perceived similarity between their intersectional structural positions and those represented in the media. Thus, the article illuminates the interaction between structural and cultural factors in street culture. It further offers a local explanation of the scarcely studied phenomenon of the influence of mass media on street culture, and a novel, media-based, local explanation of global similarities in different street cultures.

Hegemonic Masculinity and “Badness”

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Clare Choak
Keyword(s):  
Young Women ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
Urban Streets ◽  
Dominant Discourse ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between masculinity, crime, and violence has a long history, whereby hegemonic masculinity is utilized as a resource to create and sustain tough reputations “on road”, where everyday lives are played out on urban streets. Within the context of road culture—of which gangs are part—this is particularly significant given the hypermasculine focus. This paper considers Raewyn Connell’s (1995; 1997; 2000) work on hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity and develops it in new directions by exploring how these hegemonic identities are inscribed on women’s bodies. In the English context, the dominant discourse around young women “on road” is of that of passivity, as they are victims first and offenders second. An underexplored area is their role as perceived “honorary men” when adopting behavior associated with hegemonic masculinity, therefore how they bargain with patriarchy within these spaces is explored.

scholarly journals Suicide prevention: A study of patients' views

2003 ◽  
Vol 182 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Eagles ◽  
Dawn P. Carson ◽  
Annabel Begg ◽  
Simon A. Naji
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Psychiatric Services ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
Psychiatric Illnesses ◽  
Service Models ◽  
The Media

BackgroundSuicide prevention strategies are usually formulated without seeking the views of people with psychiatric illnesses.AimsTo establish what helped patients with severe psychiatric illness when they felt suicidal.MethodA semi-structured interview was constructed following transcribed interviews with 12 patients. This was administered to 59 out-patients with serious and enduring mental illness, focusing on factors they found helpful or unhelpful when at their most despairing.ResultsThree-quarters of patients were in contact with psychiatric services when feeling at their lowest, and this contact was generally deemed to be helpful. Social networks were considered just as helpful as psychiatric services by the half of patients who discussed their feelings with friends or relatives. Religious beliefs and affiliations were helpful. Negative influences included the media and the stigma of psychiatric illness.ConclusionsEfforts at suicide prevention might usefully focus on enhancing patients' social networks, increasing the likelihood of early contact with psychiatric services and decreasing the stigma attached to psychiatric illness. Larger studies of patients exposed to different service models would be informative.

scholarly journals Patching up the differences: An exploration into Whanganui gang identity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Feona Sayles
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Gang Violence ◽  
Online Newspapers ◽  
The Public ◽  
District Council ◽  
Group Identities ◽  
The Media

<p>The District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Act 2009 (‘Gang Insignia Act 2009’) came into force in 2009 and prohibited the ‘display’ of ‘gang insignia’ within ‘specified areas’ of the Whanganui District. The purported aim of the legislation was to reduce intimidation of the public and confrontations between gangs. There was no requirement for intent on the part of the wearer of the insignia. This made the Whanganui gang insignia ban unique in terms of criminal law as it maintained that harm was inflicted due to group identity rather than specific conduct. This raises the question of how an identity can be constructed so that it is considered capable of causing criminal harm. To address this question, this research looked at the ways in which the media contributed to the construction of gang identity during the period of 2004 to 2013. This was achieved through (1) a content analysis of reports from three print newspapers and two online newspapers, (2) a content analysis of reader interactions with the reports, and (3) a textual analysis of two print newspapers. The research was guided by moral panic theory so looked for ways in which the events related to stages or elements of moral panic. The focus of the moral panic was also expanded so as to explore the overall context operating at the particular time. It was found that the events did correspond to a moral panic model and that whilst the panic was triggered by key occurrences of gang violence, the underlying motive for the panic could be attributed to racial tensions, penal populism, and the use of a terrorist frame. Whilst this research focuses on the construction of gang identity, the techniques used by the media can be applicable to other group identities.</p>

scholarly journals Transformation of democracy in the information age: the role of new media and civic communication

2021 ◽  
pp. 90-105
Author(s):  
Serhiy Danylenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
New Media ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Representative Democracy ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Modern Democracy ◽  
Corporate Influence ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Media

The article aims to outline the transformation in the functioning of modern democracy as a form of government, to explore the influence of modern media on the mechanisms of its implementation. The issue is raised about the preservation of its fundamental principles during the information revolution (primarily in the media sphere) and changes in the forms and methods of communication of people during political interaction. The model of „monitoring democracy” was chosen as the theoretical and conceptual basis for considering these processes, which is based on the „idea of a monitoring citizen” and which is caused by rapid growth of various extra-parliamentary (non-representative) mechanisms of government. Among them, the most important for us is the rapid development of media instruments, namely social networks. The imperative of elections, political parties and parliamentary life, typical for representative democracy over the last two centuries of the history of civilization, is now far behind the capacity of other actors of public life to influence the political decisions of citizens. The author also points to the fact that technology companies, which have concentrated both information − microtargeting supply of information based on psychological profiling, and business activities, demonstrate a new phenomenon, which is assessed by citizens as the most competent and ethical center of gravity and trust. At the same time, governments, independent public institutions and traditional media are perceived as less effective and ethical. Such a concentration of information and corporate influence in one actor (a small group of technology companies) is a new challenge for democracy. Respectively, basic principles that ensure its functioning as the most successful form of government, namely − election and control of power, protection of human rights, participation of citizens in political life and governance, rule of law and accountability of government agencies, prevention of usurpation of power – nowadays experience theoretical rethinking, and are embodied in new political practices. In addition, they (foundations of democracy) are torpedoed by negative phenomena of the period of transformation and political turbulence, among which populism in all its manifestations is the most threatening. Key words: representative democracy, monitoring democracy, mediacracy, constructive journalism, civil communication, social networks.

scholarly journals Visual Metaphors in Posters during the Coronavirus Pandemic in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
М.Н. Дубинина
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Chinese Character ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Visual Metaphor ◽  
Visual Metaphors ◽  
The Media

В период борьбы с коронавирусом в Китае, благодаря большой степени информационного и эмоционального воздействия, распространение получили плакаты. В рамках данного исследования было проанализировано более 70 плакатов и постеров, опубликованных в СМИ и социальных сетях. Целью данного исследования является рассмотрение особенностей визуальной метафоры китайских плакатов, в частности анализ возможности корреляции иероглифа с семиотическим пространством плаката. In the period of fighting the coronavirus in China, posters became widespread due to a large degree of informational and emotional impact. As part of this study, more than 70 posters published in the media and social networks were analyzed. The purpose of this study is to examine the features of the visual metaphor of Chinese posters, in particular, to analyze the possibility of correlating a Chinese character with the semiotic space of a poster.

scholarly journals The Mistakes of a Public Communication in the Ebola Crisis in Spain

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Rafael Barberá González ◽  
Victoria Cuesta
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
Good Resolution ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

This work analyzes the impact of the outbreak of hemorrhagic fever caused by the Ebola virus in Spain in the field of communication. The communication of such a crisis entails an interaction of information between individuals and institutions. Accuracy in the messages that are disseminated is key to the good resolution of the crisis. In this case of the Ebola crisis the impact in the Spanish media was very remarkable not only of the evolution of the crisis but also of the public information that were being made known by the authorities. The errors committed in this public communication, especially in the first institutional appearance, will be analyzed and possible solutions will be provided for future crises. In addition, the information behavior that was given in social networks by the authorities will be analyzed. To perform this work, bibliographical sources, data analysis and the media have been used.

scholarly journals Coronavirus in Spain: Fear of ‘Official’ Fake News Boosts WhatsApp and Alternative Sources

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 462-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Elías ◽  
Daniel Catalan-Matamoros
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
The State ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Public Media ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Alternative Sources ◽  
Official Sources

The communication of the Coronavirus crisis in Spain has two unexpected components: the rise of the information on social networks, especially WhatsApp, and the consolidation of TV programs on mystery and esotericism. Both have emerged to “tell the truth” in opposition to official sources and public media. For a country with a long history of treating science and the media as properties of the state, this very radical development has surprised communication scholars.

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