ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a detailed ethnographic account of youth gang activity, and the relationship between gangs and the general community in light of the popular media imagery of the 'gang problem'. Public discourses on the subject of gangs are directly influenced by media portrayals of gang criminality and by the messages of other cultural agents regarding socially acceptable behavior. The chapter aims to elaborate some of the common perceptions of juvenile gangs which emerged in press reports, through extensive consultation in one locality. It focuses on the urban business district of an inner suburban region of Melbourne. In contrast youth collectives in Melbourne inner-city were by and large social groups, comprised mainly of young males with common traits of sociocultural identity. Similar discourses on the behaviour of this group generate images which could be generalised to apply to all Vietnamese youth.
