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The Crime Of A Juvenile Gang Essay

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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

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