How Do Gangs Prevent Gang Violence?

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

In order to define the nature and scope of juvenile antisocial behavior we must determine that “gangs are variable, diverse and difficult to define in precise terms” (White, 2007) and that “adolescent antisocial behavior is an issue of major concern to parents, teachers, police and governments and is a significant cost to the

Typically viewed upon by stereotypes, assembled from occurrences and news releases in America’s history of gang violence, the law enforcement in the past has taken contentious action against gang suspects but, through observations, police force aggression has been perceived of being at a higher risk of causing resentment from adolescents when dealing with the suspected ‘members’. In fact, severe penalties such as detention have been associated with an increased likelihood of re-offending and a 2002 study showed that young people who went to a youth justice conference were 15-20% less likely to re-offend than young people who went to court for similar offence. A report released by the NSW Ombudsman in 1999 showed that young people are far more likely than adults to be searched and moved on by police. Many organisations, like OxGang Research Network, and other directed projects, such as the Youth Gang: the Australian Experience project, have made it their goal to ‘study’ the behaviours and

When examining and analyzing gangs and their social meshwork, it is without a doubt that gangs are seen by the majority as social pests in the community. As a whole, these numerous gangs throughout the country are more than just a bunch of criminals covered in tattoos, they are people, with feelings, who just need positivity in their lives. Most gang members, living in impoverish conditions, grew up in households were they were abused, unloved, and neglected. They grow up with no positive social support and become accustom to violence and negativity. More often than not, these children grow up in family’s were gang life is the only life they know, because their family members are gang members as well. They witness domestic abuse, and disarray, and a large majority grow up in households were a father figure is nowhere to be found. Mostly raised by single mothers, these children become hyper-masculine, and feel the need to make up for not having a father, and also because gang life is masculinized by violence and gang-banging. They come to believe that violence is normal and all of this creates a domino effect of involvement into gang life. With no social support, and no clear direction, children take it amongst themselves to find a connection with anyone willing to show them some sort of family structure. Impressionable children find themselves turning to gang life as a means to have that sense of family they never had. In a gang they feel that they are protected and feel in

As previously mentioned, this trend is of growing concern, and although this occurrence is alarming, this problem is by no means confined to Britain, but has emerged worldwide within our communities’ and societies where disaffected and marginalised young people have come together to form ‘gangs’. Further, to this during my research on guns and gangs it was noted that there is a tendency to view gangs as an American phenomenon, a position that was verified by Gangs-Gangs international. There is no repudiating the fact that youth gangs pose a considerable problem to contemporary society; a conception which is corroborated by the government who have invested £4m from 2011-2013 in an attempt to tackle the anti-social behaviour and crime. While the government has ploughed a substantial amount of money into addressing the issues of youth crime, research into why young people engage and desist from gang activity has been scarce, suggesting that further research into the topic is necessary in order to prevent and deter young people from engaging in gang

During a House of Commons debates (June 2009), Chris Gray ling argued “ the truth is those who join gangs often come from the most difficult family backgrounds—from an environment where they feel neglected and unwanted” (they work for you 2009). Within the same debate it was further argued that if we mapped out the geographically rates of unemployment, family breakdown, educational failure and addiction within the family, we would uncover a high correlation linking social breakdown and gang culture. This would serve to remove any misconception of the relationship between deprivation, gang membership and knife crime. Contrary to this, research by the Sutton Trust has confirmed there is a correlation between certain types of violent crime and

The perception that gang culture in relation to youth crime is growing in the UK is intensified by the media, it is very rare to read a daily paper these days without coming across some mention of gang related crime. In order to understand why some of the young people living in the global city join gangs it is important to have a clear definition of what a gang is and to also investigate the role of the media

In the teenage years there is a fight for identity, and belonging. Thus gangs will take advantage of this desire, and need, because young people are highly impressionable. A common public perception is that most youth are coerced into joining a gang (Howell, 2007). The opposite is indeed true. Most join of their own volition. “Gangs are often at the center of appealing social action— parties, hanging out, music, drugs, and opportunities to socialize with members of the opposite sex. The gang may be appealing because it meets a youth’s social needs.” (Howell, 2007) Many young people willing join gangs because of their protection, fun, respect, money, or because a friend was in the gang.

Researching gangs can be a delicate and complex topic. While researching and collecting information I found a noteworthy pattern, showing that the underlying topic in a majority of the articles surrounds gangs and their aim towards to violence and crime to survive and thrive. In essence many drug retailing gangs have tendencies to distrust and depend on violence and illegal methods of business. As well as vandalizing the community, which they see as exhibiting their signs and displaying their territory. By committing these low level crimes, the members begin to further run down their community, in addition to the previously poverty ridden area to begin with. While the majority of the country is attributing the poverty ridden neighborhoods to the gangs we explore if the neighborhoods have truly taken a turn for the worse permanently.

The number of gangs in the United States has grown to an estimated 30,000 in 2011 which is up from 20,000 which was the estimated number in 2003 and that number steadily increases today according to the National Gang Center. (Howell 2011) states that there has become a pervasive problem in the United States due to an estimated 782,500 gang members in these 30,000 gangs and their activities. These problem have increased significantly from 2002 through 2009 as studies have shown. Our country has shown a decline in violent crimes as a whole in recent years but gang violence has not changed with these numbers and in some of the larger cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles the percentage of homicides has increased. In this paper I will take a look at one agency, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency prevention and look closely at the programs they have to combat against this gang violence and if these programs are indeed successful in their endeavor.

Gang members are distributed all across different sections of the world. At 57.3 percent, they are particularly found in larger cities. Larger cities appear to be the primary destination for gangs, but suburban countries standing at 24.4 percent also remain premiere locations for gangs. They both account for over 80 percent nationwide. People are involved with gangs for various reasons such as living in a family with a low-income, peer pressure, desire for protection, underprivileged childhood, and the desire to become welcomed in a decidedly new society.

Youth gangs and the violence around them has grown in America. The gang related crimes committed by these youth gangs has risen and the age of these members had dropped. The youth are turning to the gang life at a younger age than ever before. In this essay I will dive into the different geographic types and their youth gangs. We will also take a look at age, gender, and the race of these gang members. Gang related crimes and local gang violence factors will also be discussed in this essay.

Urban communities fall victim to drug and gang involvement. “Gangs and violence are associated with urban poverty, and gang life is seen as a source of social identity in the face of impoverished living conditions (Weisel, D. L., McNamara, R. P., Nugent, H., Spelman,, W., Ayres, M. B., & Capowich, G. E., 1999).” Also, living conditions and economic resources have diminished rather than prosper in urban communities. Over the years, America has become more occupied with gangs especially with their relationship with drugs and violence. “Gangs are now increasingly and almost exclusively blamed for the drug and violence problems of the last decade (Weisel, D. L., McNamara, R. P., Nugent, H., Spelman,, W., Ayres, M. B., & Capowich,

In Patrick Regan’s book of ‘Tackling Britain’s Gang Culture’ evidently it supports the argument of the lacking of father figures - “One child in four is brought up by a single parent. In 90 per cent of those cases, it is the mother who is raising the children” (Regan, 2011, p.53). Consequently, it can be argued to an extent that parents may be lacking a sense of priority in life, where family should always come first and resolving any issue at hand should be dealt with in a calm and effective manner. This as a result can minimize the risk of young people being put in a situation where they may emphatically choose to join gangs and feel the need to have a grownup mind-set to fulfil specific expectations. Following this point, being a young individual in a part of a disruptive household (Regan, 2011, p.54) can possibly be a crucial aspect for them to lead to believe that gangs will enable them to feel a sense of security, rather than receiving protection from

Gangs have gotten worst over the years. An article by Sandy Banks in the Los Angeles Times stated that “residents fear gangs more than they trust the police”. In 2012, the National Gang Center posted information concerning gangs and they found that those groups were responsible for over 2300 deaths in that year. In July of 2015 a former classmate of mine was shot and killed as a result of gang violence. He was only 15 years old. According to communications specialist, Beth Kuhles, currently, there are 1.5 million gangs members here in the United States and majority of them are minors. A lot of the children are involved in gangs because they lack friendship or a true family at home. My classmate who recently passed away did not have strong,