{"id":676,"date":"2011-03-31T17:26:56","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T22:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/?p=676"},"modified":"2011-11-07T14:54:09","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T19:54:09","slug":"turf-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/2011\/03\/31\/turf-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Turf War"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below is an activity written by Amy Alsup, a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota. \u00a0The activity utilizes a clip from The Wire <\/em>to teach about crime and deviance.<\/p>\n

Turf War<\/a>:\u00a0The Wire: Season 2, Episode 8 \u201cDuck & Cover\u201d (10 minutes 13 seconds)<\/span><\/p>\n

Location<\/span>: YouTube: (http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8HmPZyrGGdk&feature=related<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Scene Description<\/span>:<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Towers, Bodie organizes his crew to arrive at the disputed corner at 7 a.m., in order to beat their rivals to the spot. They bring guns and bats and when the other dealer finally shows, he threatens Bodie: “You gon’ see me in your sleep.” The other gang leaves, but Bodie knows they’ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

From: http:\/\/www.hbo.com\/thewire\/episode\/season2\/episode21.shtml<\/a><\/p>\n

This scene illustrates a turf war that occurs between two rival gangs in Baltimore.\u00a0 Members of the Barksdale crew, featured at the beginning of the scene, find rival gang members dealing drugs on the block that they normally occupy.\u00a0 After a brief confrontation, a gunfight ensues.\u00a0 A shot is fired through the window of an apartment building, where a mother finds her son dead on his bedroom floor.\u00a0 Stringer Bell, who is running operations while gang leader Avon Barksdale is in jail, is angered by the carelessness of his crew and orders Bodie to take a time-out.\u00a0 Bodie and his crew dispose of the guns by dumping them in the water.<\/p>\n

This clip could be used to discuss crime, police surveillance, drug wars, gangs and general difficulties and hardships of life in impoverished communities.\u00a0 The rival gang scene could be shown to introduce the politics of the underground drug economy.\u00a0 It would provide an excellent introduction to a lecture, discussion or active learning exercise about social conditions which lead to criminal activity and the consequences of crime on the wider community.<\/p>\n

Active Learning Exercise Idea<\/span>:<\/p>\n

Begin class with a brief lecture on theories of crime and deviance and social conditions in impoverished communities that lead to criminal activity.\u00a0 Show the clip and have students break up into small groups to discuss what actions they would take to improve conditions in this community.<\/p>\n

Ask students to (1) identify and list five problems in the Baltimore community (ie: drug dealing, gun violence, poverty, dangerous conditions for children, etc).\u00a0 (2) Discuss 5 ways in which these problems could be prevented.<\/p>\n

Then, have the full class congregate once again.\u00a0 Have one representative from each group write the problematic conditions in the community on the board and then return to their seats.\u00a0 Go through the list of problematic conditions in the community.\u00a0 Ask students:<\/p>\n