Definition Of Gang Members

“Gangs are groups of children, adolescents and young adults who share a common identity and

Gang involvement and its associated violent crime have become a rapidly growing problem for the United States. Generally, gangs consist of young people of the same ethnic, racial, and economic background. Usually of a low socio-economic status, these gangs engage in illegal money making activities and intimidate their neighborhoods and rival gangs with violent crimes and victimization. Gang members exemplify a high value for group loyalty and sacrifice.

Gang crime is one of the most intriguing social phenomena’s across the world, as defining the deviancy has been difficult due to a broad range of definitions (Wood & Alleyne, 2010, pg. 101). One definition is given by David Curry and

Qualitative descriptions suggest that, for many, gang membership represents 104 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice / May 2005an opportunity to enhance social capital as a means to cope with a multitude of problems. Although on balance gang life appears to be neither very rewarding nor satisfying (Hagedorn, 1988), identification with the gang is solidified in response to conflict—often with other gangs—as members pursue their individual and collective interests.

Alleyne, Emma & Wood, Jane L., (2011). Gang Involvement: Social and Environment Factors. Crime and Delinquency 60 (4) 547-568.

In this case joining a gang will qualify as the guidance within peers and themselves. However, there are many different types of gangs, but most gangs lead to destructive paths which includes negative impacts and influences. The term gang can be defined as a group of people with mutual interests who gather together for social reasons. Most people in a gang are of youth and adolescent age. Seeing how some youth can be emotionally unstable may feel the need of comfort with others who are just as the same. Negative unstable behavior with others can create destructive outcomes which will lead probably to a road of crime.

Defining gangs have been compared to packs, teams, and groups. Participants of gangs do not necessarily commit violent acts or commence in illegal matters. The National Gang Center has come to a consensus on defining gangs with the commonalities of three or more members between the ages of 12 through 24, shared identity, recognized by others as a gang or crew, has levels of organization, and usually involved in criminal activities (Shelden, Tracy, Brown, 2013). Some gangs are excluded from this definition due to not proportionate with their usual activities. Overall, we can consider gangs to be founded when members share similar characteristics and establish a symbol to represent their livelihood.

Statistics Canada has done research on identifying the facts that are contributed to the definition of a youth gang member. Partnered with the Montreal Police Service, Statistics Canada was able to generate the definition of a gang member: "An organized group of adolescents and/or young adults who rely on group intimidation and violence, and commit criminal acts in order to gain power and recognition and/or control certain areas of unlawful activity [2] (Statistics Canada, 2008).

Gang Life Essay In both, “What’s It Like to be a Gang Member”, and “We Real Cool”, gang life is portrayed as a harsh, traumatizing, and exhilerating experience, demonstrating that your future will be affected in one way or another. Each text explains the struggles and advantages of living in this way. In “What’s It Like to be a Gang Member”, the author uses descriptive words and phrases to explain his background.

This is a story about Gangs across the United States, and to being involved with the Gangs they go by a rule said as “blood in, blood out”. There are so many crimes going on and nobody is getting justice. Even with Cops in the streets, there are still 33,000 gangs out there, maybe even more.

Malcom Klein’s general definition of gangs was any adolescent group that have several delinquent offences, which Walter Miller then expanded, by recognizing identifiable leadership, identifiable territory and inclination to violence with in gangs. Both experts from My Bloody Life supported his theory that gangs consist of youths participating in criminal activities. These two chapters descried crimes from graffiti to more violent offences committed by teenagers. Raymundo Sanchez was only sixteen when he shot Agila in the knee and then proceed to beat him. This definition of gangs created a mold that was easily identifiable from the perspective of the criminal justice system.

The look and study of street gangs have been shifting over the past 4-5 decades due to changes in the tactics taken by sociologists. There were many books written about these gangs including “The Gang” , by Thrasher, which was recognized as one of the first or if not the first gang related to sociological views. People ask questions such as, “Why do people join these gangs and why do most of them end up causing havoc and violence within a city.” This is a question a normal person that isn’t looking at these people as subjects due for change but rather people who aren’t “normal”. Sociologists look at these people and ask questions like, “Where do they live? Who are they friends with? How and why did their social practices and cultural values change?” These are questions a sociologist would ask simply because there are many factors which come out when determining the choices of deviance within a person.

Another approach towards classification of gangs is carried out according to the life of the gangs. These gangs are termed as scavenger gangs, territorial gangs and organized gangs. Scavenger gangs have little structure and their size is also small. School gangs are one frequently found instance of

A group of 3 or more youth or young adults ages 12-24 with a sworn allegiance to each other; A shared identity, sometimes including a name and symbols; Self-perception and acknowledgement by others that a group is recognized as a gang; A degree of permanence and a degree of organization; and, For example, the Texas Penal Code defines a criminal street gang as “three or more persons having a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable

Gang violence is defined as a “criminal and non-political acts of violence committed by a group of people who regularly engage in criminal activity against innocent people. This term is also used to refer to the physical hostile interactions between two or more gangs. The term gang violence refers to two or more people organized to achieve a common objective who share a common identity. Gangs identify themselves with a common name or a sign…” (“Gang violence,”).