Gang Crimes: A Group Analysis

After many mixtapes and nearing the edge of household name status, Maryland rapper Logic drops his first album. In this album is a song titled Gang Related. This song tells the story of what environment and household he grew up in. His brother is in a gang and sells cocaine to his father in front of him. Logic's mother is in an out of mental institutions, all the while logic is growing up and trying not to get shot when he walks outside. With drugs and gangs all around him, it is quite amazing that he got out and become a famous rapper. Gang Related also has a core message of stopping the violence, which leads to a question, is this song about his story or a message about ending the violence?

It is no secret that the socially constructed concept of deviance is a label that is able to form a certain stigma to those who the label has been applied. Deviance is simply a violation of any societal norm. Any behavior that is deemed odd or irregular by the majority may be considered deviant. These behaviors and actions may produce different reactions from outsiders, or possibly none at all, depending on the audience or norm that had been broken. Anyone who decides to go against these norms will not only receive such a label, but will most likely be casted out or punished in some way by the public.

Frank Schmalleger defines deviant behavior as “human activity that violates social norms” (2012, p. 5). The Constitution of the United States protects citizens from the total criminalization of deviant behavior except for criminal behavior that

For years, gang crime has been loathed by society, as society has perceived it to threaten the well-being of its members. In addition to the fear of gang violence, concerns have been raised of gangs polluting youth; hence, policing strategies have emerged more increasingly in an attempt to put an end to the delinquency. Nevertheless, for society the causation of gang crime has been discussed to a lesser extent; thus, the objective of this essay will be to depict a viable explanation of gang crime through the use of two criminological theories. To accomplish the task at hand; I shall, define gang crime, provide a description of social disorganization theory, illustrate how the application of social disorganization theory provides an explanation of gang crime, describe differential opportunity theory, demonstrate how differential opportunity theory can explain gang crime, and exemplify as to which theory provides a superior explanation of gang crime. In the end, it will be clear that social disorganization theory is a superior explanation of gang crime in comparison to differential opportunity theory, due to its ability to deliver a more enhanced explanation than the one that is provided by differential opportunity theory.

According to the National Gang Intelligence Center Gang Report, “Gangs are rapidly enlarging into most. Street gangs in particular, which account for 88 percent of U.S. gang membership, have increased their numbers in 53 percent of the nation’s police jurisdictions.” These gangs are drafting their partners while they are in primary or secondary school. You might ask why, because it easy to manipulate these kids minds and they do not think about the outcome that comes with joining a gang. Gang members usually separate themselves from non-members and other gangs by dressing a specific style or wearing a

Living in Madera for 18 years, I came to respect law enforcement and all they have done to help better our community. The specific branch I respect the most is the gang task force. The officers of the gang task force have cleaned up the city of Madera and helped change many kids to avoid a life of crime. They have to do so much but yet, when I turn on the t.v. Or computer to dive in deeper about the gang task force line of work, most of what there is to find are authors, newscasters, and the general public bashing them along with the rest of law enforcement. It is basic human nature to stereotype and group things together. The gang task to no exception. The gang task officers are viewed by many as racist, profiling, and lying

For sociologist deviant behavior is the behavior that fails to conform to the rules or norms of the group in question. (Durkheim, 1960) So if we are to determine whether an act is deviant or not, it is relative to the group who is enforcing the rule. This view is based on society as a whole and how they choose to govern themselves.

The issue of crimes committed by gang affiliates is a topic that involves criminal investigations. Investigators have to respond to crime scenes that involve shootings and homicides. In a crime scene, there are specific guidelines that police need to follow to begin the investigation. The guidelines mentioned in the Criminal Investigations Principles Book include: “Approach, Safety, Medical Attention, and Search for Witnesses, Broadcast Alarm, Scene Boundaries, Management Notification, Media Relations, and Officer-in-Charge” (43). These guidelines are important for how police officers respond to a crime scene in order to gather as much evidence and information as possible. Gang violence amongst youth has been an ongoing problem in the city

The purpose of this paper is to review and verify a recent study by Scott H. Decker of the University of Missouri – St. Louis, entitled Collective and Normative Features in Gang Violence (Decker & VanWinkle, 1996). The study will attempt to address why our local increase in gang violence has reached monumental heights causing an increase in gang members appearing your court.

There are various characteristics to a domestic organized crime group that resides in the United States. Authors Lyman and Potter (2014) mention various organized crime groups such as the following. African American organized crime groups, youth street gangs (Hispanic youth gangs, black youth gangs), outlaw motorcycle gangs (The Hells Angels, The Outlaws, The Pagans, The Bandidos), and prison gangs (Mexican mafia, Nuestra Familia, Texas Syndicate, The Mexikanemi, Aryan Brotherhood, Black Guerilla Family, community gang members, etc.) These groups mentioned have various similar characteristics. Youth street gangs are organized usually as small groups or cliques that have initiate people from the same race, ethnic heritage, territory. Youth

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.

The problem of classifying gangs has interested both sociologists and law enforcement. For the purpose of law enforcement, a gang is generally defined as an organized group among the members of which there is well-designed communication. This paper evaluates classification schemes from current research for gangs. The objective is to discover the issues and problems in creating classifications for gangs including a definition which delineates what constitutes a gang and differentiates it from other social and sports groups. The paper also compares approaches to classifications of gangs and evaluates how these classifications provide specific insights or information about gangs in a community.

Deviance is the behavior and the standards of expectations of a group or society. It is also behavior that is considered dangerous, threatening or offensive. The people that are deviant are often labeled to be weirdos, oddballs, or creeps. In the United States, people with tattoos, drug addicts, alcoholics, and compulsive gamblers are all considered deviant. Sociologists believe that everybody is deviant from time to time. They believe each person will violate a social norm in certain situations. People are considered deviant if they don't stand for the national anthem at a sports event, dress casually to a fancy restaurant, or skip classes. One category of deviance is Crime. Crime is a violation of norms

Gang involvement is on the rise in most communities affecting socioeconomic status, racial relationships, and inhabitants (Esbensen et. al., 2012, p. 128). Despite a continuous increase with youth gang affiliations in underserved communities, there is still a scarcity of promising or effectual gang prevention and intervention programs offered by schools. Facing time and resource constraints school administrators need to consider the “cost and benefits” of each possible intervention plan (Esbensen et. al., 2012, p. 142). Consequential to low intervention program, risk factors such as communal disorganization, poverty, low educational success, acquaintance with aberrant peers, and little to no parental attachment will continue to make a path toward gang affiliation and criminal actions. Observations have confirmed that gang involvement correlates with increased law violating behaviors alongside victimization, vastly decreasing the possibility of graduating. Without having met the average educational expectations may result in severe consequences throughout an individual’s life. It is for this reason that workshops, rather than programs, that are relatively low to maintain and very beneficial need to be formulated and implemented in schools.

Author of the 2002 Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, Charles R. states that the word deviance is one that “usually refers to some behavior that is inconsistent with the standards of acceptable conduct prevailing in a given social group, although the term has also been used to designate personal conditions, ideas, or statuses that are stigmatized or disreputable” (p. 1). Assuming this ideal as fact, we must consider those who influence the change in behavior that is deemed “disreputable.” In order to understand this, the Nation must be observed in a large scale while searching for the persons that are most influential. In this way, we must designate which behaviors are considered deviant and how those influential people help those behaviors to be deemed so. Anything similar to gang activity, drug use, violence of any