Gang violence as survival strategy in the context of poverty in Davidsonville

Gang violence is discussed as a survival strategy in the deprived Coloured community of Davidsonville on the West Rand of Johannesburg. Ethnographic data was generated through a variety of qualitative methods over a period of three years (from 1991 to 1994) to contextualise gang violence at microlevel. An in-depth study was undertaken of literature exploring poverty and violence as Interrelated social phenomena. The operationallsation of the experiences of boys and youth gangs was established and ‘mediated’ through ethnographical descriptions. The conclusion was reached that violence, in its capacity as a cyclical process, constituted a complex and multifaceted phenomenon and that it manifested itself in various forms. Violence is one of humanity's universal traits that poses an ‘effective’ survival option for young men and boys living in the context of poverty to satisfy their needs, to use as a strategy, to solve problems and to assert themselves.