The Spirituality of Gangs

Kavanaugh (1982: 35) describes violence as a “human interaction commodified,” where people are conditioned to relate to others as things, to exploit and manipulate others for self-gratification.

... once self-worth is defined in terms of an appropriation, the cultural myth will relentlessly be one of materialism, property, consumption, buying­power, competition, and greater economic exploitation. It is this “gospel” with its valued “givens” which prevent us from seeing, much less responding to, the needs of the nation, the community, the neighbor, even the beseeching person next to us. We perceive objects to be used, enemies to be overcome. We no longer see persons. We see things. And things, like idols, are dead.

Although the relationships between the gang and outsiders frequently assumes a commodity form (deviant consumerism), the relationships within the gang are spiri­tual (blind faith). A family-like structure and ritual enforces the notion of a “great self’ that in turn precludes the individual self (Raguin 1974). Thus, the greater gang­based self easily assumes higher plateaus of materialism without remorse (gang ab­solution). The critical belief underlying gang spirituality is the absolute ground of the leader.