Youth gangs are widespread across the country, and they require special attention. Incorporating theories such as interactional theory can be helpful in comprehending the psychological processes involved in gang groups. After listening to the podcast, I thought the social disorganization theory best explains the involvement of Tommy Ross Shakur in crimes and gangs. The social disorganization theory was created by two criminology researchers called, Henry D. McKay and Shaw Clifford, in 1942 in Chicago. The theory states that location and the environment are mainly responsible for decisions made by individuals. The type of neighborhood or surrounding is vital in determining the illegal activities the youths engage in or the ones present in the environment. Shakur grew up in south-central Los Angeles, California. His family was respectable as his father was a Baptist minister and his mother a nurse. Shakur felt like his parents were not supporting his dreams as they wanted him to do something contrary to his passion. Shakur thus engaged in frequent conflicts with his father, who wanted him to follow in his footsteps of being a preacher or a minister even though Shakur had a passion for other things like karate or soccer. It was at this point that Shakur “began to really resent authority” (Ear Hustle 4). The disagreements made Shakur start disobeying his father’s orders. Shakur was whipped by his father anytime he misbehaved (Ear Hustle, 2017). He eventually started resenting authority and got involved in increased delinquency.

            According to the article titled “Social Disorganization Theory,” McKay and Shaw revealed that crime did not happen randomly across the city but was at high rates in disadvantaged neighborhoods adjacent to or in commercial or industrial areas (Ear Hustle, 2017). Shakur grew up in a deprived neighborhood in South-central Los Angeles in 1980, which was surrounded by gang groups. Shakur decided to join one of the gangs after being attacked several times by various gang members at the age of 13 years. Shakur was approached by three young men who began teasing and bullying him. One of them took off his tacos and attempted to defend himself. There was nothing that Shakur could do to protect himself as they were three against one. Shakur states, “I was really mad. I was really upset. So, that’s when I decided that I would join a gang. I was 13 years old” (Ear Hustle, 2017, p. 5). Shakur was forced to make the decision due to his living environment. He gradually started associating himself with a specific person who was a member of the Eight Tray gang. Shakur was impressed by the culture of the gang, including the various gang and music signs, dance styles, and fashion that identified the actual gang members. He eventually joined the gang and was involved in crime in an attempt to impress his peers in the group.

            The second article, titled “Criminology, explanations of the theory of social disorganization,” states that the residential places of individuals are more significant than the behavior of an individual when criminal actions are predicted and young individuals living in the areas learn crime through approval of culture within the deprived urban neighborhoods (Bond). The statistics help to explain why Ross Shakur Tommy was involved with crime and gangs. He was an innocent child, and experiencing firsthand bullying made him learn the tactics and implement them to be accepted into the group. At that point in his life as a young teenager, he got involved in different kinds of crimes, such as snatching purses, fighting at school, bullying other children, and stealing cars. Shakur did all that because he was “looking for acceptance…So if these guys were committing violent crimes, then I wanted to commit violent crimes, you know, more violent than them, I wanted to establish myself, you know, at a level that was beyond what they were capable of” (Ear Hustle, 2017, p. 6). Engaging in crime was not Shakur’s passion, as he only did it to impress the gang members and showcase his skills and capabilities.

            We can thus comprehend that individuals living in neighborhoods with high rates of crime are forced to assimilate into the culture. Failure to be part of the group makes them at risk in the neighborhood as they will be the targets of the gang groups and might be tortured and bullied from time to time. Most teenagers and young people join gang groups to protect themselves from others. Shakur argued that he wanted to be accepted by the gang members, so he started emulating their actions and behaviors. He saw them as his role models and followed each step to become like them. Such surroundings require one to belong to a gang group in order to survive a gang attack. Shakur joined the Eight Tray Gangsters group, whose enemy was the Rollin 60s. Shakur killed one member of the Rollin 60s at the age of 19, which was the worst mistake to do as the gang revenged by killing his brother and mother.