Youth gang membership and relations of rivalry between gang members in Belo Horizonte

This study proposes an analysis about the social relations between members of rival gangs, regarding primarily their collectively built self-image, their group's cohesion and identity, the way they envision their rivals, the subsequent justifications of the conflicts that arise from these processes, and how these factors relate to the entry process for new members to these gangs. In order to accomplish this task, a case study composed of six months of participant observation and interviews was carried out in the Aglomerado Santa Lúcia slum, located at the South-Central region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and considered one of its most violent areas.

The objective of the study was therefore to observe the process of membership association, and the establishment of social relationships around these groups, which often have a longer lifespan than their own members, perpetuating rivalries and conflicts started by earlier generations. When questioned about the motives that lead to some of these cycles of violent conflicts between their gangs, the individuals involved usually had reasons related to the rivalry itself, such as engaging in revenge for the death of a relative or friend, or even a series of vague and diffuse characteristics about the rival gang. Also, contrary to the popular belief, only a small part of the homicides were directly related to the drug traffic.  

Noting that the same categories of justifications were used by both gangs, the phenomenon was analyzed primarily in the terms of the Symbolic Interacionism, in a tentative to explain the complex chain of conflicts and alliances, changes in the way of presenting and interpreting the situation, and collective lines of action towards the rivals, were permeated by issues of territoriality and group identity, established by these groups during their daily lives.