Gang Initiations

After our discussion in class about gangs in America relating to Male Gender and Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada: A Cultural Politics of Violence; I started reading about gang initiations. I had always heard of gangs, but where I grew up there really weren’t gangs or I was oblivious. Now that I have read of the numerous initiations that can get an individual into a gang I think it is directly related to the Palestinian underground resistance. Some of the initiations that occur are being jumped in or beat in, sexed in, jacked in, drive-by shooting, Russian roulette, and a blood in. Jumped or beat in is being beaten up by the gang members, sexed in is usually for females and they have to perform sexual favors to one or more of the gang members, and jacked in is initiation by theft or larceny. Drive by shooting is another way to get in, Russian roulette is acceptance if you win and if you loose obviously you are dead, and lastly blood in is initiation by death and some have a blood out where you kill to leave the gang. After you survive these initiations you are accepted with gifts and praise just like the Palestinians who returned from prison. Just as an initiated gang member has learned street smarts throughout the initiation, Palestinian young men were educated in prison and then considered smarter men. I know that fraternities and sororities have an initiation period before they can officially be in the organization. Some houses are more severe than others, but most sororities do not haze their new girls, but fraternities do paddle and may even haze worse than the paddle. I think that many of the gang initiations are not worth becoming a member of the gang, and that they are sacrificing their lives for no reason.