1.4 key question (social)

Question 1

what is the key question?

Answer 1

how can knowledge of social psychology be used to understand gang violence?

Question 2

what are the facts about knife crime?

Answer 2

• in order to join a gang generally you must be of the same ethnic group, gender or postcode
• in 2023/24, 15,016 cases of knife crime were recorded which has increased since 2020/21
• approximately one gun a day is confiscated in london

Question 3

whys gang violence an issue?

Answer 3

• affects members of the public such as your friends or family
• issue takes away the public’s freedom and safety making local streets dangerous

Question 4

how can gang violence be understood by realistic conflict theory?

Answer 4

1. inter group competition
   —> two gangs can fight over a limited resource, e.g a specific territory
   —> could use territory as a customer base for drugs or want protection rackets with local businesses
2. negative interdependence
   —> lead to in group solidarity when gangs only care for those in their own gang and out group bias where they dislike other gangs

Question 5

how can gang violence be understood by social identity theory?

Answer 5

1. categorisation
   —> gangs categorise themselves base on similarities, such as ethnic group or gender
2. identification
   —> over time, individuals will adopt the teachings of their gang which could include carrying a weapon, revenge killings or believing violence is okay

Question 6

what two theories explain gang violence?

Answer 6

• realistic conflict theory
• social identity theory