The role of symbolism in adolescent gang membership: Results of a pilot study
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Sophia Chadwick
Sophia Chadwick (b. 1988) is a master's student at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include semiotics, social anthropology, and human biology.
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Marcel Danesi
Marcel Danesi (b. 1946) is a professor at the University of Toronto and editor-in-chief ofSemiotica . His research interests include metaphor and semiotic theory. His major publications includeThe puzzle instinct: The meaning of puzzles in human life (2002);Brands (2006);The quest for meaning: A guide to semiotic theory and practice (2007); andPopular culture: Introductory perspectives (2007).Jeffrey Fuhr (b. 1947) is an associate professor at the University of Victoria and a staff psychologist with the government of British Columbia. His research interests include violence prediction, resurrection of empathy, and treatment outcome research.
Abstract
This paper presents findings of a pilot project that supports a semiotic notion as a framework for understanding the lure of gangs among young people. The notion is called the Symbolic Power Effect (SPE), indicating that signs and symbols are powerful shapers of identity and, thus, major sources of attraction in gang membership. The project consists of three interviews of adolescents living in two Canadian cities that, when tabulated, show the force of the SPE in determining gang membership. Overall, we argue that semiotics is an effective tool in understanding behavior of this kind and thus should be used more in the relevant research on gangs.
About the authors
Sophia Chadwick (b. 1988) is a master's student at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests include semiotics, social anthropology, and human biology.
Marcel Danesi (b. 1946) is a professor at the University of Toronto and editor-in-chief of Semiotica. His research interests include metaphor and semiotic theory. His major publications include The puzzle instinct: The meaning of puzzles in human life (2002); Brands (2006); The quest for meaning: A guide to semiotic theory and practice (2007); and Popular culture: Introductory perspectives (2007).
Jeffrey Fuhr (b. 1947) is an associate professor at the University of Victoria and a staff psychologist with the government of British Columbia. His research interests include violence prediction, resurrection of empathy, and treatment outcome research.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- A life for images: Homage to Omar Calabrese
- Semiotic entanglement: The concepts of environment, Umwelt, and Lebenswelt in semiotic perspective
- Passage à l'écrit et production du sensfictionnel : Deux cas du berbère
- The role of symbolism in adolescent gang membership: Results of a pilot study
- What can a philosophy and ethics of communication look like in the context of documentary filmmaking?
- Micropolitics: Signs of interpersonal hierarchy and solidarity in everyday conversation
- Boris Uspenskij and the semiotics of communication: An essay and an interview
- The (non-)random distribution of formational parameters in the established lexicon of Israeli Sign Language (ISL)
- Consumer satisfaction and confirmation of habits of comprehension: The effect of inductive print advertisements – Peircean comments
- Hegemonic signification from perspective of visual rhetoric
- Measuring the luxurious in advertisements: On the popularization of the luxury perfume market
- Environmental issues in unconventional social advertising: A semiotic perspective
- Jim and Bonnie's telephone conversation revisited: A meaning-based approach to talk in interactive events
- Political semiotics of national campaign posters and pictorial representation: Thailand's 2011 general elections
