Essay about Gang Violence in Philadelphia

In society today, there is a major problem We live in a society where gangs are taking over our neighborhoods in numbers. It is the responsibility of the individuals to part take in getting their neighborhoods back under control. Gangs are becoming a growing problem in American society. More young people are turning to gangs to solve problems in their lives or for acceptance. When youths join gangs, they drop all their social activities with school, family, and friends. However, individuals ruin their lives, and the chances of them having a decent education, and a successful life by getting involved in gang activity.

A two-pronged prevention approach has proven effective, with primary prevention strategies aimed at the community 's general population and secondary prevention strategies targeting youth between the ages of 7 and 14 who are at high risk of joining gangs. Prevention efforts undertaken by law enforcement departments around the country include: “Participating in community awareness campaigns (e.g. developing public service announcements and poster campaigns). Contacting the parents of peripheral gang members (through the mail or during personal visits) to alert them that their children are involved with a gang. Sponsoring gang hotlines to gather information and facilitate a quick response to gang-related issues. Organizing athletic events with teams of law enforcement officers and gang members. Establishing working relationships with local social service agencies. Making presentations about gangs to schools and community groups as a combined effort at prevention and information gathering. Sponsoring school-based gang and drug prevention programs (e.g. DARE and GREAT)” (Hess, 2013 p.230).

In recent times, public officials, community groups and activists have expressed their concern over the growth of violence perpetrated by youth gangs. On their own, local governments are often restricted not only by budgetary constraints, but operating knowledge. There is evidence that when public officials and community groups are engaged, empowered and enlightened in a collaborative effort, change happens. When both the public and private sectors willingly cooperate together, deterrence of gang violence can be achieved. This paper delves into specific government programs that studies and provides information on gang violence. This information brings forward specific limitations and recommendations that a continued collaborative effort can deter youth gang violence.

There have been many approaches taken to get rid of gang violence from the streets of Toronto. Whether it be by having tougher law's or taking guns off the street, very few methods have yet to be effective. When it comes to looking at a complex situation such as gang violence there are many factors that affect the reasons as to why people join gangs in the first place.Whether it is due to poverty, peer pressure, boredom or despair (Grabianowski). Gang violence can never be fully gotten rid of due to the fact that there will always be people who commit crimes whether it be just an individual or a group of people, however we can reduce the amount of people who choose to choose that pathway in their life.One of the most effective ways of getting rid of gang violence off the streets of Toronto is by having more activities provided for the youth in the communities with higher gang related crime rates.

The Los Angeles intervention approach produces positive and negative attributes to combating gang related criminality. Gangs in society today, are problematic in many aspects. There are many different avenues city officials can take to combat or reduce gang related crime. Various methodologies have been used to take on this problem and have had successful results (Spergel,1986). “The general idea is that if gang members will not respond to ordinary social agency programs, then the programs must move out to the streets in order to achieve change (Klein,1965, p3. 183).”

This article describes a project in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood that is designed to reduce gang problems, including violence and illegal drug activity. The Little Village Gang Violence Reduction Project was a comprehensive, community wide program designed to reduce serious violence in Chicago’s gang-ridden Little Village neighborhood. The main goal of this project was to reduce the extremely high level of serious gang violence, first at the individual youth gang member level, and then at both the gang and community level. The project appeared to reduce arrests for violent crimes, serious violent crimes, and drug crimes, but did not have an effect on arrests for property crimes or total arrests.

Gangs are very dangerous to everyone in society. “Gangs are groups of people (mostly young males) who band together for protection and a sense of belonging. The U.S. Department of Justice officially defines a youth gang as a group of young people involved in criminal activity” (Gangs 1). There are about one million gang members in more than 20,00 criminally active gangs in the United States. Also, that group of about one million people, are accountable for up to eighty percent of our nation’s crimes. Since 2005, gangs have nationally added about 200,000 members (Targeting Gangs 1). This is why more action from the community needs to be taken to help with the growing gang-related crimes here in America.

In recent years, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) noticed the increase in the number of teens between the ages of nine to seventeen being involved with gangs in the United States. While most people would agree that gang membership is an individual choice, scholars believe that it is more important to shift the focus of these programs from an individual level to a community level. This literature review examines a few of the prevention programs the OJJDP have implemented in the school’s curriculum and after-school

Although many ideas to rid of gangs have been thrown about in the government system, nothing real concrete has ever been stated. Some solutions

Prevention has been a component of responses to gangs for at least a century. The goal of prevention is to stop youths

The presence of gang violence has plagued the United States for many years. Although it is more active in some parts of the country than others, gang violence affects every American: either monetarily as a taxpayer or directly as a victim. Regardless, it is a concern of every individual; therefore, the criminal justice system has been addressing it for years in different ways. The approach of emphasizing harsh punishments has been implemented for quite some time now and it remains to be an accepted tactic. Despite its popularity, the implementation of harsh punishments has been shown to be counterproductive. It continues to spread ignorance, which is eluded by politicians and the

Part of the problem is that in the large major cities youngsters who are suffering from boredom, despair, and poverty can easily be enticed into the idea of being part of a gang. With these ideas of involvement, it is increasing the gang membership in larger cities. Studies have shown an increase in gang involvement since 2003 but now is stabilizing. This is a growing problem because if we do not increase activities such as prevention groups or getting the police involved in community programs in cities encouraging youth participation it could begin to rise again over a few more years. Police need to not be just a figure in a uniform, but get involved and let youth and adults know that the figure in the uniform is a person who cares about them and the community.

In my community the problem of gang violence has become more of an issue. There are many ways to prevent this from happening. First, you have to be educated and aware of your children’s actions. Second, you have to improve your community’s supervision. Last, you have to be able to properly deal with young adults who are in a gang and handle it properly. Those are some ways you can prevent gang violence.

Thousands of young adults join gangs to fit it, to gain protection, and to make drug money. A first step to ending this youth violence trend would be to heighten law enforcement as mentioned in the paragraph above. Next, South Side Chicago would need to provide special programs to the youth designed to educate them about gang violence and how to get out of a gang or avoid them. The “Youth Promise Act” to be funded. This act would

Linda Schmidt is a criminology expert and FBI agent in the department of community outreach in Ohio, who has worked and solved many cases in street gangs. She has tirelessly worked on issues involving street gangs. Through her experience and expertise, she provides rich insights regarding gangs and how the police should be trained to deal with gangs. She provides views on gang-infested neighborhoods, working with members of gang groups in schools, courts and prisons. She has also provided training for community groups, educators and law enforcement officers. Considering criminology in the context of gangs, Schmidt suggests that the first step towards having