Discuss the growing problem of juvenile crime and gang violence in many African countries. Does, in your opinion, teen violence in these countries mirror teen violence in the US? Explain

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• In the city of Dakar, Senegal, on the western coast of the continent, youth gang problems are out of control.
• Youth gangs with English names taken from American television and movies, such as the Hooligan Boys, the Mafia Boys, and the Eagles, prey on different segments of the population.
• The Hooligan Boys are best known for the violence they inflict at dance parties organized by other young people.
• This gang has also developed a type of violence market in which they "buy a fight.". This involves gang members offering to take over a fight that has already started and then fighting the weaker of the two parties.
• Many of the younger boys growing up in Dakar look up to the gangs; this admiration serves as an important tool in recruiting future gang members.
• Abject poverty, ethnic tensions, and an ever-growing gap between the haves and have-nots underlie much of the violence throughout Africa.
• In Nairobi, the capital of Kenya and one of the largest cities in Africa, up to 70 percent of residents live in slums on the outskirts of the city; 80 percent of residents are low-income earners; the rich occupy 60 percent of the city's land; and two-thirds of the population does not have access to clean water.
• In some African countries like Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana, Cape Verde, and South Africa which have experienced economic gains in recent years, these benefits are often undermined by declines in political rights, personal safety, and the rule of law.
• Student views will vary.