Gang Choices: A Short Story

Initially gang activity could only be found in large metropolitan cities, but now gangs have invaded neighborhoods of all sizes across the country. Gangs introduce violence and fear to the communities they occupy, raise the level of drug activities, and destroy businesses and property which brings down the overall value of the whole area. Instead of going to school, many young people find themselves drawn in to the gang life which in most cases either leads to being locked up or death. There are various reasons why people would want to join a gang, but no matter what that reason might be one can only expect a life of violence and troubles.

In the book, Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociology student from the University of Chicago starts out simply trying to understand “how it feels to be poor and black,” and ends up spending years and years figuring out the ins and outs of a gang society (Venkatesh 14). Sudhir receives the chance of a sociologist’s lifetime to see first-hand what life is like in the projects. He follows gang leader, J.T. around and studies his life at the Robert Taylor homes for years. Throughout Venkatesh’s experience he witnesses many things some people go a lifetime without seeing. For example, he was no stranger to seeing people use drugs or get beat up by gang members. One interesting aspect of Venkatesh’s experiment

The book, Gang Life in Two Cities by Robert J. Durán to put simply is about the gang life in Denver, CO and Ogden, UT. Durán wrote this book to share his research findings. When Durán had to move to Huntsville, UT (but went to school in Ogden) he found himself immersed in an area where gangs were becoming popular. Durán, an ex-gang member himself was curious on how and why gangs operate. He found this research important, because he saw firsthand how society had a role in the formation of gangs. Duran felt that it needed to be brought to light what he witnessed while being a gang member himself and when he conducted his research.

This week I read chapter 5 of American street gangs (old book) Tim Deleany mentioned 3 points of what happens inside a gang that many don’t know, the first point is the categories they have based on the age the recruits are, the second point is the categories they are placed in depending on the activities they are involved, the third point is the process that involves the recruitment, punishment, and leaving the gang. At the conclusion of the paper I would be providing an experience my uncle went through when he was leaving the gang.

This movie hits viewers in the heart with real children. He uses five children ranging from first to eighth grade that have hit hard times, and are simply trying to secure a better future for themselves.

Gangs in Chicago go hand and hand because of the rich history this topic has to offer. Coincidence? One may think not. In the time of famous mobster, Al Capone, gangs in Chicago were just evolving but did not live up to the names they have today. This includes their literal name, “gangs” , and the reputation they have today. However, groups similar to these of today have been around since the beginning of time, and not until after Al Capone did these groups get their name of “gang(s)”. Before they were just known as “mobs”. These sort of “gangs” were groups that had similar interests, backgrounds and goals they had in common. However, there is a difference between them then and now, but there are similar characteristics as well. The makeup of gangs today seem to have the same consistent patterns in terms of people who join, how they join, and where they join.

The American headlines of any large city will site killings on street corners, robberies, assaults, intimidation, and drug interaction. While not all-criminal activity is associated with gangs, the 780,000 strong members do account for a large majority of the problems that are plaguing America. There is no one-way to stop gang activity in one single swipe, but through a combination of cooperation, education, and training techniques law enforcement can minimize the gang’s movements and even stop a crime before it is committed.

1.) How would you respond if a graduate student from an elite university turned up at your door and announced his intention to study you?

You think of a group of hoodlums who tote guns, sell drugs, and ruin neighborhoods as thugs, and gang members. These are things not tolerated or seen as good in society so it’s considered a violation of social norms. A street gang is group of people that form an allegiance based on various social needs and engage in acts that can cause harm to public health and safety. Members of street gangs engage in, or have engaged in gang-focused criminal activity either individually or as a group, they create and fear and intimidation in the community. They are punished by society and the consequences are different depending on the types of crimes committed. Societies “punishments” on the crime committed is what sociologist consider deviance; and

gang and their hiding spot. After she told the Detective everything, they told her to sign this paper saying she was a witness and she knew all about their violent activities. After signing the paper they told Angelica, they were going to call her parents to come and pick her up, then they took her back to the cell. After spending about 4 hours, Angelica was released without charge pending an investigation. She gave the Detective all the whereabouts of all the hideouts of each gang member. After investigating it was found that the gang Angelica was involved, where recruiting females to join against their will and they also were terrorizing the neighborhood. When Marie picked Angelica up from the jail, she was furious and disappointed. When they got home, Marie sat her down and had a long talk with her.

When was the last time you were able to turn on the news and not hear about some sort of violent act? Crime is a growing concern amongst most cities, and street gangs are behind a lot of the trouble. Street gangs have plagued the streets for centuries and there is no stopping the urge to commit such hideous crimes. Gangs grow from recruiting young kids but what makes a kid decide to join a crime filled lifestyle.

Abstract: This review studies in depth research done on street gangs. Social issues have social scientists turning away from including this in their research around this time. Sociological views have been changed dramatically in the past 40 years due to gender and racial studies. Also, women have started to join gangs since America has been changed with woman equality laws passing.

In addition, to mafia also known as cartel is an organized secret criminal organization that engages in illegal activity such as: gambling, drug dealing, protection, and prostitution. Mafia’s started in the 19th century in Sicily and migrated to the United States. They are popular in the United States, Mexico, and Italy. The members of the mafia are usually people of the same race nationality. On the contrary, a gang is a group of members who form together to commit crimes. These crimes can be murder,assault, theft, etc. They use intimidation to gain control of neighborhoods or territories. They are usually identified by colors, tattoos, hairstyles, clothing, and graffiti. It is important to know the difference between gangs and mafia, so that

What is brotherhood? How does it apply to those involved? Why does it exist? Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines brotherhood as “an association for a particular purpose.” To gang members, young and old, brotherhood is an escape from society’s constant pressure to fit in, to succeed, to conform to social norms. It is within a brotherhood that gang members find peace and comfort. Brotherhood is a way of life; it is the very essence that allows a gang to thrive in the metropolis of violence.

Criminal gangs are there to rule, they have been there in every community for a long time. Gang's intentions are to commit crimes. Gang leaders oversee extortion, order killings or smuggle drugs. This paper studies gang formation, why individuals join gangs and the negative influence gangs have to the society and the economy. The study focuses on some of the prominent gangs in the world today; it explains the activities of the Russian mafia and other gangs. This paper explains power struggles within gangs and gives out recommendations to solve problems associated with gang operations. This paper puts into perspective a study on factors influencing gang membership; the study employs personal interviews as a method, causal research design and ordinal scale of measurement. Prisoners in California state prison are the sample population. Structured proxy question are used, and observation to study an individual's race. The study focuses male prison gang members. Findings from the study indicate that the less educated an individual is the likely for one join a gang, from the study it is evident that gang members feel disregarded when formulating policies, it is clear that race is not a factor to gang membership and that most of the gang members come from dysfunctional families.