“I don’t know if you’ve ever walked a pit bull. You owe it to your life to walk a pit bull down the street, I’m telling you. It’s like a gun you can pet, it’s the only way to describe it, it’s awesome.” Comedian Bill Burr.

It’s a [--1--]: a gang member strolls the streets walking his big, scary dog. And it’s assumed that the dog is there for protection and as a [--2--]. But now a British study reveals that, for young gang members anyway, the primary reasons for having a dog are not those related to gang activities. The research is in the journal Crime, Law and Social Change. [Jennifer Maher and Harriet Pierpoint, Friends, status symbols and weapons: the use of dogs by youth groups and youth gangs]

Researchers went along with professionals who work with gang members to interview 25 young people in South Wales. They also spoke with animal welfare workers and [--3--]. Most gang members owned a dog and most of the dogs were bull [--4--]. Sadly, some dogs were indeed used as weapons, for fighting other dogs or were simply neglected. But the reasons that the owners themselves discussed for wanting a dog in the first place were mostly something to socialize with friends over and simple companionship.
【视听版科学小组荣誉出品】
stereotypical image status symbol gang outreach pros breeds
养狗交朋友 “不知道你有没有遛过斗牛犬。你养着一只斗牛犬并带着它倒街上去遛。我告诉你呀，它就是你可以用来宠爱的武器，就是这种感觉，真的是太棒了。”喜剧演员比尔•波尔描述道。 这是一个很老套的画面：某帮派的一个成员在街上遛他那吓人的大狗。而这条狗可能只是起的一个保护作用和一个地位的象征。但是最近一项英国研究显示，对于年轻的帮派成员来说，养条狗最主要的目的其实跟帮派活动没有什么太大关系。这项研究发表在《犯罪，法律和社会变革》期刊中。[Jennifer Maher and Harriet Pierpoint, Friends, status symbols and weapons: the use of dogs by youth groups and youth gangs] 与帮派打交道的专家们和研究人员一起对南威尔士25名年轻人进行采访。他们也同动物救济工作者和帮派外扩人员交谈。发部分帮派成员都有一条狗，丙炔大多数的狗都是斗牛犬的品种。可惜，一些狗确实是被当成武器去攻击其他狗或者直接被忽视掉。但是狗主人最初养狗的原因大多数只是想与朋友建立简单的社交关系。