Research Paper On Why Young People Join 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 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

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

Gang violence has been around for a long time all the way back to the 1800 and have greatly increased all around the globe ever since. Gangs are a group of people that fight and kill other gangs over turf,money,pride, and drugs. People usually join gangs from around the age of 8 to the age 20. Most gang members join because they have been abused by their parents or because they don 't have a family. Gangs treat each other like a family, that is the most common reason why people join, they want to be accepted, they want to feel like if they belong something.

Teenagers are now starting to join gangs and it is ruining their lives, most gang members range from the ages of 12-40. The reason why people will join a gang is because they want something to

Future gang members tend to become involved in delinquency--including violence--and alcohol or marijuana use at an early age. During childhood and early adolescence, friendships with aggressive peers, conduct problems, and involvement in delinquency are stepping stones to gang membership. Future gang members are likely to have other gang members in their school classrooms, they perform poorly in elementary school, and they have a low degree of commitment to school. They often are identified as learning disabled. They show higher levels of stability in the family, peer group, and school settings, and they spend lots of unsupervised time with friends. Many youth gang members have none of these characteristics. These are good kids, from good families, and they are good students; however, these youths do not remain in gangs long. Adolescents ' allegiances to friends, gangs, and other peer groups tend to be brief.

The concept of Juvenile gang’s is not unknown to the world. They can be found in any corner of the world and any ethnic/racial background. Gangs have been around since humans learned how to get into organized groups. This was about around the time of the middle ages. In fact, the first recorded history of such gangs was in the city of London (Sheldon., Tracy and Brown, 1996). For America, it was not until the early 1800s when juvenile gangs became a problem (Sheldon., Tracy and Brown, 1996). This being due to the social and economic problems in this period. Due to the wars, Immigration, and financial situation of the time, many juveniles see the gangs as a refuge from their situation. There are many reasons as to why a juvenile will seek

     Youth gangs have been getting a tremendous amount of press and media attention as the problem grows worse and worse, and because of this attention and exposure the rate of adolescents joining these gangs is constantly increasing. As of right now, gang life is in a lime light all to its own. There has been documentaries, movies, books and so on that have demoralized it as well as glamorized it, and to trouble youths who think that they have no place else to turn, gang life seems as though it can be a very acceptable and possibly through their point of view, a positive change in their some what hitched lives. Social experts chalk up the sudden increase of youth gang activity to two distinct reasons; “ (1) the diffusion of gang culture through popular media, and (2) economic

Data shows that in 1990, there were a total of 1.492 gang related homicides in a spam of only 408 cities; and from 1996-1998 there was approximately 1,204 homicides per year within 237 cities.What makes the youth so attracted to gang affiliations? Most theories have failed to target the reasons as to why individuals join gangs. However, there has been research that young adults whom join a gang, lack some of these five stages; physiological, personal safely, feeling love and “belonging”, low self-esteem, and self-actualization. When individuals join these gangs, “fulfill” all of these characteristics. Once associated, members receive shelter and food. In their eyes, gangs are viewed as sororities, where they know if anything happens to one of their members there will be protection from the others. With that being said, self-esteem and self-actualization naturally come about, bringing personal satisfaction. Most members are those with poor family network, low net-income, leading to devoting their time to the streets. Much of these has to do with the social network from these children and are often lured into these

“Violent crimes committed by juveniles are not diminishing, as other crimes, as reported by the Justice Department statistics, are (Siegel and Welsh, 2011).” We see that juveniles have more access, and more use of the weapons of violence, including gang affiliation. So why do young people join gangs? First of all, the gang

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.

In most cases, it appears that, gang members use their association to make a revenue to function through illegal activities, such as selling drugs and auto theft. Due to this activity in certain areas, it is often easier for these kids to join the gang than to remain vulnerable and unprotected in their own neighborhoods.

Juveniles often join gangs to be accepted into a society of their peers. These juveniles are looking for acceptance and a sense of belonging. They join these gangs for special status amongst their friends, protection from other gangs, financial help, peer pressure, excitement and for some juveniles, they are born into a gang society and it is a family tradition. Gangs can also act like a family. They will praise, chastise and show them a form of love and respect that they are looking for but cannot get at home.

Introduction In the united states, young females and males are joining gangs for various reasons. To prevent our youth from joining gangs, there are different precautions that need to be considered and recognized. For communities to avert youth from joining gangs they need to identify why adolescents find a gang lifestyle beneficial. There are many risks that affect the community when an adolescent decides to join a gang.

Gangsterism is typically defined as the culture of gangs. A definition of what is a gang varies from countries to countries. However, usually gang is attributed to criminal street gang or neighborhood-based street gangs. They are composed of teenagers ranging from ages to 16 to 21 years old. Also, they are commonly involved in many crimes such as armed robbery, assault, auto theft, trafficking, fraud, murder, etc. Because of these behavioral acts among the gangs, they are generally considered to be criminals or deviant by most of the society. Moreover, gangs are drug distributors. They are used by drug syndicate to deliver illegal drugs such as the marijuana or cocaine or they even become users of it. The world of gangsterism is definitely a harsh and dangerous one. But, how come that there are teenagers who are attracted to join a gang? Why would they choose to be in a group where they have no future at all? There are many reasons why these people choose to be this way. First, they find protection. One of the reasons why a person would join a gang is for him/her to find a group that will protect him/her. A gang is very much bounded by brotherhood. Everyone is willing to help each other. Also, what is the business of one is the business of all. Second, they find self-worth. He/She thinks that joining a gang is “cool.” Usually, members of gang wear baggy pants, big and loose t-shirts, and bling blings. Some also wear tattoo. They might find it interesting and attractive which