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Gangs: Then and Now

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Gangs: Then and Now

Read each passage, then answer its questions using details from the text. The passages offer different levels of detail about the same topic.

Emerging reader

Groups of young people have not always been alike. In the 1960s, the fictional Greasers in S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders were close friends who looked out for one another. Their group was linked to their neighbourhood and to differences in family income. Arguments between groups could turn into fights. Today, some youth groups use phones and social media to communicate. Some groups are involved in crime, including selling illegal drugs. However, not every group of friends is a gang, and gangs do not all behave in the same way. Communities, technology and the reasons people join groups can all affect what happens.

1.According to the passage, what connected the fictional Greasers to one another?

2.Name one way some youth groups communicate today, as described in the passage.

Developing reader

In The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton presents the Greasers as working-class teenagers whose friendships offer a sense of loyalty and protection. Their conflict with the wealthier Socs reflects differences in their economic circumstances and the communities they belong to. The novel shows physical fights, but it is a work of fiction; it cannot represent every youth group of the 1960s. In the present day, digital communication can help people keep in touch and share information quickly. Some criminal groups also use technology to coordinate illegal activities or to attract new members. Some gangs are involved in drug dealing, but their organisation and activities differ. It is too simple to say that every modern gang is more violent or more organised than every group in the past. Local conditions and individual choices matter too.

3.What two factors shape the conflict between the Greasers and the Socs in the novel?

4.Explain one way digital communication may affect the activities of some present-day criminal groups.

Extending reader

The Greasers and Socs in The Outsiders are fictional groups, but the novel uses their rivalry to explore social class, belonging and unequal opportunities. The Greasers’ loyalty offers support in a world where they have less money and social status. Their conflict with the Socs is connected to neighbourhood identity as well as personal choices. Because the novel focuses on particular characters, it should not be treated as a complete record of all youth groups in the 1960s. There is no single pattern for gangs today. In some places, criminal groups are linked to illegal markets, including drug sales. Phones and online platforms can make communication faster and can help a group reach people beyond its immediate neighbourhood. These tools do not cause crime by themselves: people use them in different ways, and local circumstances influence the choices available to them. Comparisons across decades are most convincing when they distinguish evidence from assumptions and avoid treating all groups as identical.

5.Compare the role of social class in the fictional Greasers’ lives with one reason technology may matter to some criminal groups today. Use evidence from the passage.

6.Why does the writer warn readers not to treat The Outsiders as a complete record of youth groups in the 1960s?

7.Which idea from the passages most changed or strengthened your view of how youth groups can differ across time? Explain your response using one detail from a passage.