A juvenile gang is a group of youth that causes intimidation and commit criminal acts to gain power to be in control. According to a study done by David Pyrooz, a professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville Texas, more than one million juveniles in the United States of America is in a gang. The study found 40% of juvenile gangs are non-Hispanic white and the rest is Black and Latino. The study also found, 30% of those gang members were females. Most youth who joins gangs do so around ages 12 or 13, but the peak age for gang membership is 14 and 15years old. Although gang membership is portrayed as a lifelong commitment, the average gang member joins at age 14 and only stays in for about two years. Only 40% of all gangs will allow females to join, and there are approximately 32,000 female gang members. There are many factors why juveniles join gangs, and some of them are because it increases self-esteem, they have access to drugs to either sell or use them, and it gives the males opportunities to meet up with other young females and have sex. A negative factor is peer pressure. Some factors why females join gangs are sexual abuse and victimization, family dysfunctions, emotional disorders, exposure to violence, and negligence. Some youths parents aren’t in the home, they have nobody forcing them to go to school, and then they start failing which leads to drop outs. Many juvenile gang prevention programs were created in the United States, to provide services to
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
Teenagers and young adults join youth gangs for many reasons. Reasons a teenager would join a gang include family
According to the National Gang Intelligence Center Gang Report, “Gangs are rapidly enlarging into most. Street gangs in particular, which account for 88 percent of U.S. gang membership, have increased their numbers in 53 percent of the nation’s police jurisdictions.” These gangs are drafting their partners while they are in primary or secondary school. You might ask why, because it easy to manipulate these kids minds and they do not think about the outcome that comes with joining a gang. Gang members usually separate themselves from non-members and other gangs by dressing a specific style or wearing a
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
“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
In some instances there are times where the parent may be absent from the juvenile’s life causing that juvenile to act in a manner to do what he or she pleases.This stems from the “free will” approach within the rational choice theory. Juveniles also look at how their parents treat each other, and if there is a history of issues within the family, child victimization, or even low education and poor discipline issues, juveniles or more likely to get involved in things that they typically should not be involved in such as gangs and other delinquent acts. It is said that seventy percent to eighty percent of juvenile offenders had abusive backgrounds. These issues within these abusive families could lead to disruptions within
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.
Statistics show that the highest percentage of gang members are teenagers who range from the ages of 13 to 18. Being in a gang may seem like fun, or seem cool and exciting, but in actuality it is can be dangerous, unsafe and could be fatal. Gangs have been a part of society for many years. Most modern gangs started as a group of people working towards one common goal, protecting their neighborhood. Eventually, helping the neighborhood became obsolete and drug trafficking and violence became the main focus of the organization.
Reasons I feel youths join gangs, are due to identity problems, definitely do not have any sort of self-esteem, little self-reliance in their educational abilities, single-mindedness in their life and weak connections to their own ethnic group. I find that it is difficult to explain conformity and delinquency.
They also commit these series of crimes because they live in a bad neighborhood (Ziiadova 2004). Being in a gang is the main reason why Juveniles choose to commit crimes. When juveniles are involved in gangs they feel like they actually have a family who cares for them(Ziiadova 2004) These people that in gangs most of the time don’t care and use others to commit the crimes for them (Ziiadova
Adolescence is a time of life spanning from the ages of 13 till about 25 when the brain has fully developed. It is a period of life characterized by many up and downs where the individual experiences multiple personal changes (Gladding, 2012, p. 255). In this time of turbulence young individuals may enter into groups that society often refers to as gangs. It is accurate to say that gangs contribute immensely to crime and delinquency however, to say that this is the purpose of all gangs would be misleading. Gangs should instead be seen as existing on a continuum, some ranging from groups of peers who spend time together and may get into trouble, to others who participate in more serious crimes (Gorden, 2000, p. 4). In terms of a specific definition for a gang, there really is not one that has been fully accepted by all. That being said looking at research a formal description for a youth gang perhaps would be that it is a self-formed group of individuals, consisting of three or more members, generally ages 13 to 25, who share a sense of identity, and may or may not take part in delinquent behaviour or crime (Preston & Carr-Stewart, 2012. P. 1 & 2). Often time’s news stories claim that youth gangs are on the rise and must be stopped and the members disbanded. However, to pursue this would be saying that the formation of all gangs are negative and solely for the purpose of delinquent behaviour and crime, which is not always the case. For society to take an active approach on
In today 's world we are so worried about our future, but what have we done to make sure our future is implanted and made for success. We need to examine in what 's wrong with our juvenile and what we can do to fix them in order to have them understand what 's right and wrong. We must do so in a way that they will not grow up hating the authority or the justice system but trust it.
One of the most concerning problems the Country faces today is juvenile crime. Juvenile crime does not only affect the person who commits the crime, it also affects victims in the crime. After evaluating two sources concerning the topic of juvenile crime, I have come to my own conclusions related to this topic. I believe that changing the juvenile jurisdiction age from age seventeen to eighteen is a great idea. I also believe that sexting is a crime for some. Juvenile crime is a huge issue in the United States, but how we punish those young adults is also very important.