Gang Entry and Exit in Cape Town: Getting Beyond The Streets in Africa's Deadliest City

This book provides a qualitative account of what it is like to join and then disengage from gangs in Africa's deadliest city, challenging the pessimistic conclusions commonly associated with gang entry and offering hope to those trying to exit gang life.

Format: Hardback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 04 October 2021
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited

The issue of gang violence is a subject of intense debate among academics, politicians, and communities worldwide. Despite the widespread concern, effective solutions to combat this problem remain scarce, partly due to the limited research focused on understanding how individuals can break free from the cycle of violent street culture. In response to this need, this book offers a comprehensive qualitative account of what it is like to join and subsequently disengage from gangs in Africa's most notorious city. Through the life histories of twenty-four former Capetonian gang members, alongside hundreds of hours of additional interviews and observation conducted over five years of ethnographic research, Dariusz Dziewanski reimagines gangsterism in a way that acknowledges the profound influence of street culture while also confirming the potential for overcoming crime and violence amidst disenfranchisement and disadvantage.

Rather than merely perpetuating the narrative of poverty, crime, and violence, this book showcases how gang members have the ability and have successfully transformed their lives, challenging the pessimistic conclusions often associated with gang entry. Even among gang scholars who study street culture, the endpoint of gang life is typically portrayed as either prison or a tragic outcome. By presenting evidence of successful gang exits, Dziewanski provides a practical starting point for rethinking how criminologists approach gangs and street culture. This book offers hope to individuals seeking to exit gang life and those who aim to support them in their journey.

Weight: 416g
Dimension: 161 x 240 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781839097317