Women in the Making of Place, Social Networks and Surviving the Gang Streets

Abstract

Young women in Manenberg are often identified by their exposure to violence in the community within which they live. They are perceived as grieving mothers, daughters and victims. However, women in Manenberg are also visible as strategists to contesting violence and who are resilient to violent activity. Ungar defines resilience as a defence mechanism (dependent on context and cultural factors) that youth use to cope with adversity, and in this case, everyday gang violence. Current research in Manenberg falls short of revealing the experiences of gang violence by young women as complex and multifaceted. This study demonstrates women as more than victims of youth gang violence (as often portrayed in the media). This paper examines young women, their social networks and resilience to gang violence through the lens of their responses to dominant discourses of youth gang violence in the streets of Manenberg. Through “intimate” discussions, the formations of networks highlight multiple overlaps in the making of young women; their resilience, their homes and lives in the streets of Manenberg. Our discussions transcend normative gendered perspectives and produce knowledge from their interactions as a useful lens for informing how young women negotiate around the activities of gang violence in their everyday lives. The paper reveals meaning-making of gang violence, as well as interfaces and disruptions of social networks among young women in Manenberg.