The street’s embrace: Caregiving in the shadows of crime and marginality

• In Event: Cultural Criminology

Abstract

Love conjures up different images to different people, and manifests differently for the same people across varying situations. Perceiving love as a resource thus oversimplifies its essence. Rather, love is renewable; it spreads, ebbs and flows, and above all, love is shared. This ethnography delves into the often-overlooked significance of love and care within criminal street culture. Drawing from four months of fieldwork and 24 in-depth interviews with young men entrenched in a violent street culture in Oslo, the study explores how these individuals navigate and express care and love amidst adversity. By emphasizing the relevance of caretaking practices, the paper seeks to move past the shame-pride dyad and delve into the intricacies of collective and affective emotion work within this distinct social context. In doing so, the article contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the emotional dynamics within street cultures, offering valuable insights into alternative forms of social support, challenging previous theories and stereotypes, and aims to pave the way for future sociological and criminological inquiries into the transformative power of human connection amid crime, hardship, and marginalization.

Author

• Frøja Storm-Mathisen, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Norway