Gangs, Belonging, and Acceptance Essay

Under the term of Donald Trump’s presidency, the polarized stances toward undocumented immigrants and racial minorities have become more apparent to the public. As the Trump’s administration repeatedly associating racial minorities with crimes and immoralities, Edward Orozco Flores’s book, God’s Gangs: Barrio Ministry, Masculinity, and Gang Recovery, is a blessing to those who wish to further understand gang formation and the “way out of the wrong crowd”.

For many young Chicanos in America, especially in the Los Angeles area, gang involvement begins at a young age. Many die before reaching adulthood, succumbing to gang violence and those who live past 18 often remain involved until they die. In, Luis “Chin” Rodriguez’ memoir, La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A., Rodriguez walks us through the harsh realities of growing up while being involved in gangs. He expresses graphic memories, leading us through his initial involvement in gang life, what kept him there, and how he was finally able to emerge from them and go on to educate others about his experiences. Although there is no sole answer to why so many young people get involved in gangs and are unable to get out of them, Rodriguez explains that the lack of acceptance of Chicanos in American society and the need for protection pushed many into gang life. Gangs appealed to those needing a sense of belonging and acceptance, making it hard for them to leave once jumped in. Even though many remained involved in gangs until they died,

The decent mimicked those of higher class values which involved parental structure, respect for hard work, and societal morals. However the street life involved a lack of parental support, respect and survival are maintained through violence, and encouragement of sex and drugs. The gang culture provides insight to understanding juvenile behavior as stain, differential association, and labeling theory are applied. The theories applications encapsulate the differences between the subcultures of the poor economic status.

Dr. Samenow for example says that teens look for acceptance and love not found at home .He also says gangs resemble family solutions( gang of a lack of family structure) such as friendship , love, and family. Concerning gangs, Samenow points out that not all families living in gang-infested neighborhoods have children who get involved in the gangs. It's common to refer to them as unsocialized, but the dyssocial sociopath does socialize to the mores and values of a dyssocial outgroup, like a gang.That these teens and young adults socialize with similar-minded peers leads to self-reinforcing affinity groups without real boundaries or structures, since the older gang leaders are dead or imprisoned and no longer on the street.Though their

The two most critical social issues that are impacting the Alvarez family are gang involvement and violence, and a lack of community involvement. Gang involvement is especially troubling to both the community and the immediate family as it is directly related to violence and crime. “Gang members engage in a higher level of serious and violent crime than their non-gang-involved peers. Research about gangs is often intertwined with research about gun violence and drug crime. It is clear that gangs, guns, drugs, and violence are interconnected.” (Gangs and Gang Crime, 2017)

Gang activity and gang violence have been a major issue in the urban community for over half a century, dominated by mostly minority youth. This essay will review the question: Does growing up as a minority with a dysfunctional family setting aide or contribute to joining a gang, therefore continuing the cycle of gang violence and activity? In order to dive deeper into this subject, several references from the internet and Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez will be stated and discussed. After the discussion of the web articles and passages from the book a solution will be suggested to help the misguided youth of America to make better life decisions than just throwing their lives away as expendable tools of urban guerilla warfare.

At any rate, it is very clear that some youths engage in more gang activity than others; some might be called "the wannabes" who move out of the influence of the gang on the basis of whether or not a program of interest intercepts drawing them completely away from the gang. Within the "wannabes" there are many little brothers and sisters, sometimes referred to as "pee wees." However, on separate and certain occasions they are sent home by their older siblings when something was about to happen for which only older members were being mobilized. Moreover, I am going to go into explicit detail on two Hispanic gangs The Mexican Mafia, the Nuestra Familia, and the Latin Kings.

According to John Lewis, An Examination of Psychological, Social, and Economic Motivations for Gang Membership among Hispanic American Youth, purpose of this study was to examine the influences of Latino’s participants who joined gangs in a large West Coast, American city. Lewis participants are former gang members whose ages vary eighteen through thirty, and he gathers his data by using qualitative research, and individual interviews. Zeiders, Roosa, and Tein (2011) writes, “Parental influences serve a vital role in either deterring deviant behavior or enhancing its likelihood (p. 32).” According to Harris and Ryan (2004), they concluded that “parental influences on youth are the strongest when both parents are living in the same home as

In a study published in 2007, Sarrazin and Cyr claim that aggression is more rampant if the child is left in the custody of the less dominant parent. If the child identifies him or herself with the less dominating opposite sex or the dominating same-sex parent there could be increased problems of aggression. If the father is the dominant figure then boys show fewer problems and vice-versa for girls if the mother is the dominant figure [ (Sarrazin & Cyr, 2007) ]. The father figure is very important especially to adolescent boys because when father is absent they react more aggressively than girls [ (Dreman, 2000; Sarrazin & Cyr, 2007) ]. Portnoy [ (2006) ] stated that “20 percent of divorced fathers do not see their children at all during their high school years” [ (p. 76) ]. Oftentimes when boys are placed in the custody of the mother these mothers “identify sons with their ex-spouse” which results in the child exerting more aggression either towards the custodial parent, non-custodial parent or others [ (Dreman, 2000) ].

Young boys in the family who grow up watching their father mistreat their mother are more likely to abuse their spouse as they grow older. Past family history of domestic violence gives young boys the idea that women are weak and are not to be respected during their relationship. Young girls who eyewitness their family going through domestic violence are likely to be victimized by their spouse (Goldsmith 1).

Jaffe, Wilson and Wolfe (1986 cited in Edleson, 1997) express that children that are shown domestic violence from their parents can lead to the justification of their own violent attitudes and actions for boys this can be extremely challenging. For example, a boy hitting his mother gains the justification as he has watched his father do the same so he is mirroring his role model who shows how violence against women is a normal part of manhood and that they can get away with it (Gelles, 1987 cited in Kimmel, 2008). A study by Coatsworth and Bowden (1995 cited in Edleson, 1997) studied teenage boys who were in prison in relation to violent offences, they all expressed experiencing some form of domestic violence in their childhood from a male role model. This can lead them to believing it was an essential for them to live up to their toxic masculine image and to enhance their

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.

Gangs are becoming prevalent in today’s society and within our schools. More and more young people are turning to gangs in an attempt to escape their everyday lives and the future, which they perceive as dismal and bleak. They are initially attracted to the prestige and cash flow, which is glamorized by the street gang. Many gangs are actively involved in criminal misconduct, such as drug and gun trafficking, burglaries and homicides. However, street gangs are not just a criminal justice issue, but a social problem, which is triggered by poverty, peer pressure, boredom, despair and lacking a sense of belonging.

Domestic violence also greatly impacts the family structure and the relationships between the members. Domestic violence threatens both the relationship between the child and their mother and the child and their father. Children who are exposed to domestic violence do not have an emotionally available parent to foster their development and have a 30-60% higher risk for being abused by the perpetrator (NCADV, 2007); when the father is the perpetrator of the violence, he often knows little about his children, their interests, and progress in school (Crosson-Tower, 2009, p. 84). The mother’s parenting style may also be damaged from domestic violence; the perpetrator may not allow the mother to take care of her children properly or soothe them when they are upset, which can cause the children to believe their mother does not care for them. When a mother is constantly traumatized by domestic violence, it can be more difficult for her to be present and attentive in her children’s lives due to depression, anxiety, and lack of sleep (Centre for children and families in the justice system, 2009). Domestic violence has an impact on the ability for a family to function. The perpetrator may sow divisions between the members of the family by turning them against each other, or favoring one child over the others. There may also be role reversals in families who experience domestic violence; parentification of the children and infantilizing of the mother may

Another common effect on children who witness domestic violence is that they have severe gender role issues. Clearly, children exposed to the abuse of their mothers are at risk for learning deleterious patterns of social behavior and for developing distorted expectations about the appropriate roles of men and women in the family (Brescoll & Graham-Bermann, 2000, p.2). Therefore, children exposed