Social Group Community Analysis

Gang involvement and its associated violent crime have become a rapidly growing problem for the United States. Generally, gangs consist of young people of the same ethnic, racial, and economic background. Usually of a low socio-economic status, these gangs engage in illegal money making activities and intimidate their neighborhoods and rival gangs with violent crimes and victimization. Gang members exemplify a high value for group loyalty and sacrifice.

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

Qualitative descriptions suggest that, for many, gang membership represents 104 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice / May 2005an opportunity to enhance social capital as a means to cope with a multitude of problems. Although on balance gang life appears to be neither very rewarding nor satisfying (Hagedorn, 1988), identification with the gang is solidified in response to conflict—often with other gangs—as members pursue their individual and collective interests.

A two-pronged prevention approach has proven effective, with primary prevention strategies aimed at the community 's general population and secondary prevention strategies targeting youth between the ages of 7 and 14 who are at high risk of joining gangs. Prevention efforts undertaken by law enforcement departments around the country include: “Participating in community awareness campaigns (e.g. developing public service announcements and poster campaigns). Contacting the parents of peripheral gang members (through the mail or during personal visits) to alert them that their children are involved with a gang. Sponsoring gang hotlines to gather information and facilitate a quick response to gang-related issues. Organizing athletic events with teams of law enforcement officers and gang members. Establishing working relationships with local social service agencies. Making presentations about gangs to schools and community groups as a combined effort at prevention and information gathering. Sponsoring school-based gang and drug prevention programs (e.g. DARE and GREAT)” (Hess, 2013 p.230).

In James Howell’s “Gangs in America’s Communities” book he mentions that a gang should be looked at more of as a social network rather than an “organization” (Howell, 2012, p.60). This can be especially true for the youth who get involved in gangs. For the youth it is normal for them to want to belong somewhere so their peers have major influences in what they do and even how they think. The emergence or involvement of a gang among youth is identifying with each other and eventually giving themselves a name. Howell then describes the next step as grasping the gang culture by wearing distinctive clothing, colors, having rituals, gatherings, and the exclusion of other youth. Most youth join gangs between the ages of 11 and 15, the peak of gang involvement usually occurs between the age of 14 to 16. Some of the risk factors that get them involved in a

Oftentimes, adolescents will spend time with gang people for approximately annually prior to making dedication to participate (Decker and Van Winkle 1996). Initiation rituals, including being beaten with a row of gang people ("walking the roadInch), to carrying out a criminal offense or doing harm to part of an opposing gang are occasionally needed to participate a gang, but they are frequently inconsistently applied (Fleisher 1998 Spergel 1995 Burns 2001). Many gangs also positively recruit new people, particularly when gang membership is low. Martin Sanchez-Jankowski (1991) offered three typologies of gang recruitment: (1) Fraternity-the gang promotes itself as, "awesome, stylish, the social factor to stay inInch (2) Obligation-the gang attracts an individual's communal feeling and (3) Coercion-the gang uses physical and mental

The study at hand aimed to investigate the aspects that lead individuals to join a gang, the reasons as to why they decided to part ways with it, and the consequences that resulted from their affiliation. Through the analysis of interviews and observations, several themes were noticeable such as the initiation to the gang, desistance, consequences, and services offered to help reintegrate into society. Former gang members expressed and constantly mentioned their childhood having a major part in the decisions they made which ultimately lead to them being “jumped “into a gang. Some of the reasons this occurred so frequently among so many individuals was partly due to constant profiling, problematic relationships with many of them being at home, or the social environment they found themselves being surrounded by.

Gang involvement is on the rise in most communities affecting socioeconomic status, racial relationships, and inhabitants (Esbensen et. al., 2012, p. 128). Despite a continuous increase with youth gang affiliations in underserved communities, there is still a scarcity of promising or effectual gang prevention and intervention programs offered by schools. Facing time and resource constraints school administrators need to consider the “cost and benefits” of each possible intervention plan (Esbensen et. al., 2012, p. 142). Consequential to low intervention programs, risk factors such as communal disorganization, poverty, low educational success, acquaintance

They were rejected in “normal” society and labeled as social problems first by the schools and later by the police. This early experience was devastating and they began to deny their own integrity (Padilla 1996, 89). To build up their own self-worth and integrity, these youngsters turned to gang participation to make a name for themselves, and to feel

The presence of gangs is an ongoing issue amongst a growing population of individuals who are often recruited, appearing to have a desire to belong, generate money, and obtain a sense of security. The gang life is often a dangerous slippery slope that leads to a lifetime of criminal activity or simply increases the already existing criminal behavior in the gang member. For some, there remains a hope for conversion.

One 13 year old stated that she now belong to something. Another one stated that the gang makes her feel like she is somebody. Covey et al. (1992) described the environment in which the of gang members grow up: “In particular, the poorer and less-educated in concentrated in central city slum areas, where they are isolated from legitimate economic opportunity, education, and mainstream society generally”

These comprehensive gang and delinquency prevention programs uses different techniques and to direct youth to positive alternatives. It begins at the local level by using community leaders and Club staff to discuss local gang issues, design a community-strategy and clarify each organization’s or person’s role in providing services to the youth. Meanwhile on the local

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.

Classification approaches towards gangs are generally carried out according to the structure of the gang, their respective membership, and even on the basis of their ethnicity. Pyrooz & Decker, (2011) have identified three forms of gangs which are named as; street gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs and prison gangs. In this method of classification, local street gangs are termed as the ones which occur most frequently at the community level. These are the forms of gangs which engage in drug related crimes and violence.

In today’s circle we first meditated which I desperately needed because I was so excited that I had finally gotten my license. The circle today went extremely well I thought Catie and Rahsaan did great. I liked the check-in question. It was ironic because my friend had asked me the same question two hours before class. Their circle helped me clarify the reading a bit more. I know that family group conference focused on face-to-face encounter involving offenders and their families, the victims and their supporters, a police representative, and etc…. Most of us during the circle had the same answers to the questions. Mainly because the information we were giving out was mostly likely from the readings and personal experience. The circle was also melancholy