How Do Gangs Affect Society

In todays United States we have a huge problem affecting society, gangs and the violence that follows them wherever they go. These days’ gangs aren’t just compiled of grown adults, they often lure in young teens to do dirty work and to add numbers to their turf. Despite laws aimed straight at these gangs they still defy the law and wreak havoc upon the territory that they claim. The members in the gang have a gang first mentality and will do everything possible to provide for and protect their fellow members. They will very rarely snitch on their own to help put a stop to some of the meaningless crimes committed by these savages.

behind their classmates in school and do not try. A study shows that less than

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.

Gangs originated naturally during the adolescent years of a child. They started from small play groups that eventually found themselves in conflict with other small groups of youth. Due to the conflict between the two small groups of youth it became a part of a child’s mind set to come together as a gang and protect their rights and satisfy the needs that their environment and families couldn’t provide. There are about 24,500 gangs in the U.S and out of those gangs 40% of them are juveniles (Hess, Orthmann, Wright, 2013). There are numerous reason why a child would join a gang, and the

“Gangs have morphed from social organizations into full-fledged criminal enterprises” (Thomas, 2009, para 5). Gangs are highly sophisticated and more dangerous then ever. The number one reason to join a gang is money; and 95 percent of gangs profit comes from drug dealing

Active gangs in a particular area will be a cause of danger and fear among people who live there. Gang members threaten the lives of innocent people in their community, these people have to live in fear of getting robbed or even worse, getting murdered and lately these gangs are becoming even more popular. Cory Little Light in his article gang life 101 states that ‘’ I mean drugs and violence have plagued our reserves and communities for years, but never has it ever been as bad as it is right now’’. They also disrupt the peace in certain communities because of all the petty crimes they do. In the American musical west side story the officers of the town have to follow every move the jets and the sharks make to make sure they are not making trouble. Gangs also are a danger because they often end up hurting innocent bystanders; like in the case of Asia saddleback the twenty

As you can see gangs have not left a positive influence on the world and many of the youth today. One of the major consequences of gangs and gang violence is being beat up, or jumped,or even killed by a gang member or the whole gang. Another major consequence of gangs is being gang raped. As bad as it sounds it occurs more often than you think. In fact a woman is raped every two minutes somewhere in America.

     Nowadays gangs are big issues in America. People who are in gang feel like they belong some where and people care about them. There are various reasons people join gangs, and almost all age group between ages 12-40 are involved in gangs. One of the big reasons people join gangs is because of their needs, protection, and also they want attention from people around them. Gang’s should be taken seriously because today’s gangs are more violent and brutal then they were in 60’s. Gangs do more violent act every day and if police don’t do anything about gangs then it will be hard to control the gangs in the future.

In my neighborhood, there’s a lot of gang violence. Every night, we hear gunshots from a couple streets away, sometimes they are followed by police sirens, and sometimes they aren’t. Gangs are involved with drugs, guns, crime, and violence. Many gangs are associated with robbery, drug and gun trafficking, fraud, extortion, and more. According to the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment report, gangs are responsible for an average of 48% of violent crime in most jurisdictions, and up to 90% in others.

Low self esteem is another reason why as well. An individual can join a gang because they feel as if they can look at their self as if they have more confidence than they had before all the gang situations. It may boost up their ego and make them feel like a bigger person than

The roaring 20s was known as period in American history that was known for its extravagant parties, prohibition, and illegal speakeasies. It was a period where criminals joined together to sell and transport illegal liquor. Every gang wanted a piece of the action which led to an increase in violence during this time. Little did America know that this issue of gang violence would affect present day America 100 years later. A report from the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment stated that, “There are approximately 1.4 million active street, prison, and OMG (outlaw motorcycle gangs) gang members comprising more than 33,000 gangs in the United States.” Gang violence still plagues America nearly after 100 years since the first gangs formed back in the 1920s; however, Gangs today are much different than the 1920 because of the use of updated weapons and different criminal activities that gangs have ventured into. Gang violence has not only expanded into a worldwide issue, but it has gotten worse because of the extreme measures that gang members are willing go. According to C. Wright Mills’ Social Imagination Theory is the ability of seeing the relationship from someone’s personal problem and how it affects larger society (Kendall 6). This theory is also true for people who face gang violence because is not just a problem that ghettos face; moreover, gang violence has become a worldwide social problem that is becoming unstoppable that no one

Many innocent people suffer when a drive by shootings occur. Gangs can affect local business by claiming a territory, Gang violence can cause people of that specific community psychological problems.

Gangs go way back in time, and have been around for longer than most of us know. Even Newspapers during the economic collapse in the 1800s reports juveniles harassing and assaulting residents of the city. (Grennan, Britz, Rush, & Barker, 2000). Since gangs have been around, there have always been theoretical explanations of the social problems that goes hand and hand with gangs. A false representation of gangs that I have heard many students talk about it the

Street gangs in this country can probably be traced back to the first wave of Europeans who migrated to the colonies for a better life for themselves and their families. Many of the first gangs were formed as a means of self protection, with the thinking that there is simply strength in numbers. The missions of gangs in today’s society have grown and emerged to include many violent criminal avenues, including drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, and extortion but the original thinking that there is strength in numbers remains true. Criminology experts believe that the number of teens involved in gangs or gang activity may be as high as 1 in every 5 people in most urban areas. Those number jump to 1 in every 3 people in

The United States has had a long history of gangs since its founding. Gangs have become a serious problem in the United States accounting for forty eight percent of violent criminal being done by street gangs. There are three types of major gangs in the United States, street gangs, prison gangs, and motorcycle gangs. Gangs pose a threat to the goals of community policing. Community policing is highly dependent on its relationship with the community. If the community is destabilized and in conflict law enforcement would have to use other methods to combat gang violence. Community policing allow law enforcement to gather information for citizen within the community which is used to create strategies, being that gangs are violent and pose a threat