As the fellowship draws to a close, it's important to reflect on the journey travelled and to see it as the foundation for a new journey to be undertaken. I suppose I would see the following points as a mixture of summary points and findings.
1. Fatherhood:
The impact of father hunger and deficit is clearly visble in Inner city Baltimore and has created a void with the overall life of the inner city itself. The need for a father and to experience positive fathering is on an epidemic scale. The impact of this area of young black men’s lives cannot be underestimated or ignored. Once again my own research would suggest that many of those young black men have ‘opted out’ from wanting to address their feelings on this issue, and find solace in their crew and extended peer group. South African criminologist and journalist Don Pinnock argues:
… gangs provide more emotional support than the youths' often-dysfunctional families. But there's another, even more important, reason for the existence of gangs. In the history of all of our cultures, and in cultures people call 'primitive' today, adolescent boys face ordeals and trials that test their manhood and courage. In our urban cultures, which have lost ancient roots through migration, poverty or dilution young people continue to have (and act on) the same needs. Where ritual is absent it is created. (Pinnock 2003)
Pinnock highlights that the collapse of the contemporary families can give rise to a different type of family, namely the gang. Another common feature of father deficit and hunger is the issue of ‘being a man’. Talking to some young black men who are angry at their father’s absence, it is evident that many of them left the relationship and handed over the responsibility for being ‘the man of the house’ to his son, who was ill equipped to deal with such a role. However, the need to protect mum and show family leadership has placed many young black men in a role that at times brings them into conflict with mum’s new partner. This makes matters worse as it compounds the isolation of young black men who cannot actualize their own sense of masculine identity. The young black man, who loves his absent father, may choose to defend his father’s honour. The result is more chaos, confusion, and possible conflict.
Cultural commentator and feminist, bell hooks also argues that much is written about black men by black men, but little is written about “how black men might create new and different self-concepts”. hooks takes the position that young black men themselves must take a stronger position on critical thinking to begin the process of recovery from the huge deficit created by an oppressive history. If young black men cannot develop a positive self-concept it is questionable whether they can maintain a focus that will enable them to desist from crime, anti-social behavior, or risky lifestyles. The pressure brought about by not having time to heal or headspace to think for many young black men creates the level of internal distress resulting in projected anger, rage, and social conflict.
Hence the propensity to continue the cycle of masculine decline that ends up in prison, psychiatric wards, pupil referral units, etc, that in turn robs generations of younger black men of brothers, fathers, uncles, and significant elders. As the lack of communication from many black men becomes acute, the knock on effect assists in eroding notions of a ‘healthy community’. With unprecedented levels of personal violence on the increase; the extended family hurtling towards extinction; elders wisdom in short supply; relationships struggling to stay afloat; it is plain to see how many young black men returning back to the community from prison become institutionalised casualties who are walking around in a ‘self-destruct mode’. This moves the outcome away from a ‘Criminal justice issue’ into the realms of what could best be described as a wider ‘Public health epidemic’. When one analyses the contemporary journey of black men in prison as fathers and sons, words such as absent, negative, deadbeat, useless, and so on recur and manifest themselves in a generation of young black men who suffer a growing legacy of ‘father deficit’ that can and does lead to those same young men searching for replacement father’s within the confines of ‘gang culture’.
2. Criminal as victim:
In inner city Baltimore there is a hidden layer of criminal justice casualties; young men who have desisted from a life of crime, but have themselves become victims of crime. Attempts to leave the gang, beating the court case by informing on others, and community justice in the form of revenge creates more victims. These victims have no sympathy from society or the community. Their lives are ruled by fear, governed by the code of the streets, and have little pathway to a new life.
3. Poverty that forces you back into crime:
Having no money to live on, little or no healthcare insurance, limited employment and educational opportunities is forcing many young men back to the ‘corners’ as a way surviving and restoring lost masculine pride and status. The prospect of having nothing creates the lack of motivation to return back to a life of law abiding activity. This position results in forcing individuals back to the ‘corners’ as a way surviving and restoring lost pride and status.
4. Biography:
The need to access the stories of the real lived experiences of inner city people living in Baltimore is vital in terms of understanding what needs they have, and how solutions can be found to the problems they face. Little Melvin’s history of criminality and ultimate desistance has relevance for scholars looking at desistance. However, Melvin lives in the Inner city where many researchers fear to tred. This poses a dilemma for an important area of investigation. The need for capturing these important narratives are crucial here. Shows like ‘The Wire’, ‘The Soprano’s’, CSI, and so on, may be realistic but do little in terms of giving insight to the wider community about crime and it’s orientation.
5. Access to constituency:
Researching in n place like Baltimore’s inner city requires a reframing of the ethical considerations required when undertaking an investigation that requires high risk. Ethics are the bedrock of academic research. An important and necessary process of selection of methods to be used in accessing constituents. Thus ensuring objectification in the process. In most cases it requires negotiating access, brokering relationships, and finding formats that will satisfy both the commissioning agency as well as the subjects of the inquiry. In places like Baltimore’s inner city, ethical considerations are no less important, but different. The element of risk has to be carefully balanced against the need to undertake the work required. Gaining access at times is at the discretion of criminals, gang members, or go betweens who broker the access. It is important that any researcher undertaking work in a difficult environment make appropriate choices and selections without compromising the outcomes. It is also important to both include and exclude any outcomes, but not to avoid engaging in these hostile environments on account of protocols that at time should be questioned and challenged.
6. Secondary Victimisation:
Many young people are impacted by childhood neglect, abuse, and violence have major psychological issues that are not being addressed. The lack of support for these secondary victims in itself generates more victims, who themselves become perpetrators of acts of violence and abuse. These individuals have no access to public funds for therapy or counselling. They walk around the community like the walking dead and are literally dying a day at a time. Packed into a densely populated and over policed community, these individuals pass unnoticed and blend in well as another veneer of urban decay. Where is the morality in this situation? How can it be justified? How is it maintained? If we addressed this question, maybe we would have to do something about it as a society.
7. Faith based conversion - (Finding a new father – God):
The need for re-connecting to the Spirit becomes a fundamental need for many that is not couched in religious dogma and rhetoric. Blighted by slavery, denied access, racism, and still being ravaged by a system that over incarcerates, African American men are searching for a new identity that will rid them of the pain of socio-historical neglect and provide some much needed healing. Baltimore’s inner city people, read the Bible and Koran, find comfort in the arts, retreat inside the beats of music, and push for Spiritual guidance. It is a strong motivating force for staying out of trouble and transforming one’s life into new meaning and purpose as a way of transcending the burden of acute and on-going pain. There are strong faith community inputs into the lives of many, but for those who lose their faith, the American Dream can become a nightmare.
8. Mentor as enabling a rite of passage – Individuals who can break it down:
The development of a holistic space and dialogue where academics, strategic players, and community can come together is badly needed in Baltimore’s inner city communities. Too many young people in Baltimore are struggling to cope within the confines of the urban environment. My experience taught me that there is a need for anyone wanting to engage those young people to understand the practicalities of developing credibility. Many of the young people I encountered would not give you access to them unless you could demonstrate a clear understanding of where they were at, without judgement. The stories I would hear of young people being subjected to police brutality, violence in the community, disruptive home lives, father absence due to incarceration, death, or drugs, assuming Family responsibilities, gang culture, and numerous other aspects of inner city living, at times painted a bleak picture. These young people wanted answers, solutions, and strategies for managing those situations, not circular conversations, or voyeurism. What they needed was individual’s who ‘break it down’ and guide them to a new place.
9. Desistance:
The term ‘desistance’ is used in relation to understanding why and how former offenders avoid continued involvement in criminal behaviour. Without a clear understanding of the role race plays in the cessation of criminal activity for black men, any understanding of desistance could be both flawed and incomplete. Within criminological theorizing much is written about why black men commit crime and it’s relation to high rates of incarceration of black men both in the UK and US. However, little is known about black men and their cessation or desistance from criminal activity. Seldom do theorists engage in a discussion that looks at whether black men’s struggle to desist from involvement crime and disorder, is rooted within a socio-historical context. The acknowledged impact of racism on the lives of young black men that pushes them towards criminal lifestyles, highlights that developing a positive approach to transcending racism and its impact could play a significant role in desisting from criminal behaviour. It is also important for black men to have a sense of who they are, away from the history of their oppression. Author Dan McAdams suggests ‘that stories represents critical scene and turning points in our lives, and that the ‘life story ‘is a joint product of person and environment. In a sense the two write the story together.’ McAdam’s presents a plausible argument that suggests storytelling can provide a framework that identities desistance as a journey. Therefore it could be argued that the understanding of the destination arrived, must be understood in term of the journey travelled.
10 Community Businesses:
Raising the profile and development of community businesses within black communities is vital to increase the visibility of those services in the wider social economy. Baltimore has many problems that are being addressed by strategic agencies, academic institutions, and communities. However, the disconnect between them means at times the needs of the community can be rendered invisible or struggle to become visible in the wider social economy. Therefore, there is a need to ensure that responses to community need are placed within a business model to create the possibility for self-determined actions, as well as reducing the systemic dependency that occurs all too often. The diversity of business responses to community need demonstrated innovation, flair, and resilience. Street vendors, second hand furniture stores, complimentary educational programmes, arts based interventions, and numerous other activities highlighted what can be done to maintain and sustain community life where there is no Government support.
I want to thank all of those people in Baltimore's community who shared their stories. I also want to thank the Winston Churchill Fellowship for giving me the bursary. Finally I want to thank all of those who followed my blog. I hope you will continue to support me, as a new chapter has just begun.
Watch this space
Peace
No comments:
Post a Comment