Joining Gangs

Initially gang activity could only be found in large metropolitan cities, but now gangs have invaded neighborhoods of all sizes across the country. Gangs introduce violence and fear to the communities they occupy, raise the level of drug activities, and destroy businesses and property which brings down the overall value of the whole area. Instead of going to school, many young people find themselves drawn in to the gang life which in most cases either leads to being locked up or death. There are various reasons why people would want to join a gang, but no matter what that reason might be one can only expect a life of violence and troubles.

Gangs have been a growing issue across the United States for many decades now. Youth gang violence may have started around the ‘50s, but did not become a serious issue until the ‘80s and from there went through a downward spiral in some cities like downtown Los Angeles, which was where the notorious Bloods and Crips gangs both started. First, let’s simply define a gang as a group of people, mostly men ranging for ages 14-30, who claim territory and use it to make money for themselves and their neighborhood through illegal activities such as trafficking drugs and weapons. There are many reasons and components that are factored in when conducting research to hypothesize “why do people join gangs?” That is why it is necessary to compare and contrast all the social, biological, psychological, developmental, and substance abuse aspects and relate it to joining a gang. It is also important to touch base on the differences between males and females that join gangs, such as power differentials, social learning differences and social stratification differences.

Gang involvement negatively affects the quality of life of the involved youth and surrounding communities. The criminal activities and violence surrounding gang membership often lead to imprisonment and/or death. Gang involvement discourages personal upward mobility through the avenue of education; instead, placing importance on group success.

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

What influences youth to join and leave gangs in America? This essay strives to seek and inquire an answer or explanation to this question. I will try to approach the answer to this question by analyzing the biggest factors of it such as the influence of social institutions, psychological behaviour, media and many more to determine the push and pull factors of a gang. Understanding that the dynamics of gang membership can be separated into formation & joining which will allow theories & methods of gang-related research to be refined.

There are an abundance of reasons why some youth may choose to join a gang. The lacking of sense of guidance positively and

Gangs have been around for many years; the founders of some of the original gangs in the United States will be discussed. The statistics of youth gangs in Canada will be presented followed by an in depth discussion about why young adults can be persuade into

The last argument that relates to gang involvement is poverty. Poverty is an important factor to child rearing methods. Poverty in absolute terms of low income describes a range of key human attributes associated with poverty. This includes poor general health due to exposure to greater personal and environmental health risk. Poverty can also relate to education since they have no access to education and are often illiterate due to that. Youth in poverty must devote all of their resources to meeting basic needs for survival. For this fact, living in poverty compromises one’s ability to a decent life and any hopes of reaching self-actualization. To illustrate, youth who are raised in poverty would see others who are the same age with materialistic

The subject of gang violence produces strong thoughts and emotions in a lot of people like citizens, police officers and the victims who witness these crimes take place. Gang members are aware of the public feelings about their crimes, but they do not give any regard because they are fused in their own culture. In large cities all over the world whether they be third world or industrialized municipalities gangs are a real and often times are an overwhelming terror. While there are many theories that discuss entry into gangs, there is not a lot that go into detail about the gang confrontations, feuds, and culture. Those that actually only venture on how individuals leave gangs. Many theorist do not analysis, explain, and or offer a detail examination

The absent of a male role model in the home, some feel rejected by family as well as neglected. So they seek the attention elsewhere. Most join gangs to feel wanted, secure. If the family characteristics of little communication, set rules, punishment and other parental duties were taken serious, their youth will less likely to join a gang. Gang members may only associate with the ones who will accept them in behaviors, value and goals. Children that are not supervised are higher in their adolescence years to seek social interest in their peers that seems to have more fun in a gang. This turns out to be not so much fun when they do criminal activities. (.nationalgangcenter)

For example; some individuals might be influenced by gangs or become affiliated with criminal groups. Individuals who choose violence or are influenced by the promises of gangs for support and safety begin to adopt a culture of violence and criminal activity. In gang environments, the gang begins to assume the role of family which further deepens the culture of violence within these communities.

Access to uncensored information, people have exacerbated the immature and misguided decisions. Substance youth and addiction are also factors that lead to youth violence.” The CDC says that there are 3 main factors to youth violence there are individual risk factors, family risk factors, and peer and social risk factors. An example of an individual risk factor would be exposure to violence within the family. If a child is exposed to violence at birth they will think that violence is ok and right. A family risk factor is low parental involvement. If a parent does not show up to events and doesn’t care about what they do or where they are at, then the kid will think that the parent won’t stop them from doing bad things. This includes lack of supervision, if a parent is never at the household watching the child then they are left alone to do whatever they want. And lastly a peer and social risk factor would include involvement in gangs. This is the blandest example but the most considered. Most gangs are connected or involved in illegal activities such as carjacking, robbery, and killing. If you were to join a gang you would have to be involved in this

Gangs have direct effects on a society, such as increased levels of crime, violence and murder. Gangs also have long-term or late suggestions in that gang members are more likely to drop out of high school, struggle with unemployment, abuse drugs and alcohol or in end up in jail. These factors not only contribute to the gang members, but they also force taxpayers to pay for welfare and community-assistance programs. Common reasons for the younger generation to join gangs, include trying to find a place where they belong and sharing in mutual desires for safety from family problems or life challenges. Together, the feelings and attitudes among gang members haze them to act violently, often self-contradictory with rival gangs. This violence leads to injury and death of not only members but also of bystanders in the community. High gang activity also causes fear among community members, discourages business activity and obstructs home-value appreciation. Communities, also must pay for higher levels of law enforcement when gangs are prominent.

Other aspects of gang problems maybe how individuals will be attracted to the lifestyle from false wealth imagery. A quote from the Independent backs this argument up with a case study of a 15 year old boy who saw teenagers dealing drugs all the time and being attracted to the “trainers, cars and everything” (Independent, 2017) but also dramatically changed his life as he “carried a kitchen steak knife ‘for safety’” (Independent, 2017). The issue is not the fact that a lot of young teenagers will be a part of the gang but the criminal activities that they get drafted into doing, such as selling drugs. Peter Herbert, a childcare lawyer, states that "You work in partnership with young people to make sure gangs are not attractive to them and particularly criminal gangs and you give them alternatives of employment, education, support and self-respect,"” (BBC, 2007). Herbert’s opinion here shows that even though this was not a mainstream issue, criminal gangs will entice younger kids to work for them through the promise of money and self-respect. This could be through selling drugs or getting involved with violence.

The term youth gangs refers to a group of three or more members, who are between the age of 12 and 24; they share an identity through the use of names or symbols; they see themselves as gang and are recognized by others as a gang; there is some amount of permanence and degree of organization; and the group is involved in an elevated amount of criminal activity (National Gang Center Staff, n.d.). Risk factors for gang involvement are based on factors such as individual, family, school, community. School risk factors include poor school performance, poor connectedness to schools, low degree of commitment to and involvement in school, and weak attachment to teachers (Howell, 2010). Community risk factors includes such things as greater level of criminal activity, neighborhood youth are involved in illegal behaviors, widespread access to and the use of firearms and drugs, and low level of neighborhood attachment (Howell, 2010). Additional factors that lead to gang involvement include learning disabilities and emotional disorders, school failure and truancy, no positive involvement outside of school, friends and peers are delinquent, low income, and early involvement in petty crimes and behavioral disorders in grade school (Hernandez, 2015). Reasons given for joining a gang as reported by youths includes for protection, for fun, for respect, for money, family members are part of the gang (and because a friend was in the gang (Howell, 2010).