Anti-social bandits : juvenile delinquency and the Tsotsi youth gang subculture on the Witwatersrand 1935-1960
Date
1990
Authors
Glaser, Clive
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Abstract
In r.he context of family instability, inadequate schooling,
massive youth unemployment and severe residential
overcrowding, juvenile delinquency became rampant in
Witwatersrand townships during the 1930s. By the mid 1940s
the I'tsotsis", a criminal, male-dominated youth gang
subculture with its own distinctively urban style, ritual
and language, had entrenched itself amongst urbanised township communities
Tsotsis angrily rejected both
hegemonic whlte middle class values and the apparently
acquiescent culture of their parents. Tsotsi style, which
drew heavily on American cinema imagery, expressed a denial
of cultural consensus in urban society. Tsotsi gangs preyed
materially off township residents and distanced themselves
from political activity or community affairs. However,
around 1959-60 tsotsis were attracted to the radical,
machismo, aggressively anti-establishment politics of the
Pan-Africanist Congress. The subculture dissolved during
the 1960s as a result of police crackdowns, expanded state
schooling and improved employment opportunities for urban
youth.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Arts, 1990
Keywords
Juvenile delinquency--South Africa--Witwatersrand, Gangs--South Africa--Wiwatersrand
Citation
Glaser, Clive (1990) Anti-social bandits : juvenile delinquency and the Tsotsi youth gang subculture on the Witwatersrand 1935-1960, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/21633>