What is a gang? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary explains it as: A group of persons working together or associated together; a group of criminals or delinquents. Gangs date back to the 1700’s. They were started in different regions for different reasons. The ones that started in the Northeast and Midwest were formed due to immigration and poverty. They came in two waves but all were poor. The first of these people were called the old immigrants they came from (Great Brittan, Germany, and Scandinavia), they tried to fit in and settle into urban areas. They had problems due to the fact they had no marketable skills thus poor job prospects, the next group were made up of Polish, Italian, Irish, and Jews. They ran into the same problems as
Gangs come into existence and flourish because the needs of the young people in a neighborhood or culture or family are not being met. The gang, in essence, fills the void, there are several gangs in the south, west and east sides of Chicago, with gang wars over territories that become disastrous. The gangs known in Chicago are the Latin Kings, Maniac Latin Disciples, King Cobras, Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, Black Disciples, but there are up to hundred or more street/folk gangs in the different neighborhoods of the sides of Chicago. Many consist of young children that may have dropped out of school or have family members affiliated with gangs, they are easier to persuade and control, they are more likely to search for somewhere where they could feel needed or apart of something, and that’s how gangs grow and recruit new
According to the reading material, street gangs have been around since the early eighteenth century, they have their roots on the eastern seaboard. As the Revolutionary war ended our newly formed nation was flooded by immigrants seeking freedom and a life free of oppression. Our book explains that these Immigrants felt isolated and therefore began forming social groups of their peers. These groups were formed not only to get a sense of belonging but also for protection from other groups of migrants. What began on the east coast slowly moved across our nation, from what I got from the reading gangs and gang activity seemed to follow the money so to speak. It seems as soon as a community began to have a business boom then population grows. The
Gangs was the evolution for power, strength, dignity and showing no remorse or weakness it was a golden ticket to get respected and be heard some will say it’s a social movement that focused on justice and other will say it’s bunch of thugs who are endangering the communities. However the gangs were consider a movement and wanted justice from a political standpoint.
People seem to struggle to understand the concept of gangs. There are a lot of strange factors that go into the makeup of gangs. Yes, there are no positive aspects of gangs, but those negative aspects have reasons as to why they are so negative. It is the people who join, that make gangs so threatening. Men and women who join are trying to get away or rebel from someone or something. They may feel that joining a gang will give them the security of a “family”. Those who join are so broken that they try to put the pieces together when joining a gang. This has been the case throughout U.S.
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.
Gangs have been in existence since the beginning of the Roman Empire. There were speeches made by Roman orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, which references groups of men who constantly fought and disrupted Roman politics (Curry, 2013). The history of street gangs in the United States begins with their emergence on the East Coast around 1783, as the American Revolution ended. Though many believe the best available evidence suggests that the more serious street gangs likely did not emerge until the early part of the nineteenth century (Sante, 1991). Although our country has had their share of feared gangs like in the 1980’s with the turf war between the Bloods and Crips, back in the 17th and 18th century the Mohocks of Georgian, England
Historically, gangs began to develop around the time frame of the 1970’s. Irish gangs have been known to be the first initial gang, followed by the Germans, Jewish, and Italians (Pacheco, 2010, p. 10). Gangs are larger in population and tend to be more prevalent in the United States, compared to other countries. In 2008, statistics showed that there were 20,000 active gangs and more than 1 million gang members in the United States (Pacheco, 2010, p. 12). According to Pacheco (2010) there are different types of gangs. Although these gangs are formed for individual purposes, broken up, they can form a multitude of different types of gangs. There are your traditional gangs (Crips, Bloods). Business, profit gangs, which are generated
The sky was dark with only the street lights there to help me see. It was around 9:00 PM and I saw that the lights were still on inside my house. Now that meant that my parents were still up, so I knew they were going to be angry. I was hanging out with some friends and just didn’t want any of it from my parents. I opened the door and the second I stepped into the house, my mom started yelling.
A gang can be anything from a group of people donating to a good cause to killer , robber, phonies, drug attics. Literally anybody can be in a gang no matter what color you are, what race you are , it doesn't matter. People join gangs for many different reasons Protection , Attention, Popularity, Dirty Money, Peer Pressure ,and Curiosity there are many more. Bad gangs get together and rob people , sell drugs, rape girls, lace people , kill people, kill cops, break every law they can possibly break just because they want to. When I was growing up gangs were around and influenced a lot of other kids but I didn't let them influence me . Those influences actually came from school and the students attending. Belleville West has lots of gang members
Gangs have been and will always be a part of society unless we take action now to discontinue the trend. The definition of a gang is an organized group of criminals. There’s plenty of consequences to being in gangs, alternatives to being in a gang, and signs of someone being in a gang. Gangs are dispersed throughout the United States and may be located in your local area.
The Social Work Dictionary defines a social problem as “a condition among people leading to behaviors that violate some people’s values and norms and cause emotional or economic suffering”. The above definition accurately describes the social problem that gangs are, and their impact on a community. People who live in gang infested neighborhoods live daily with fears of losing their lives and the lives of loved ones. That fear, along with the fear that their family members will join the gang, or that they will be physically harmed in some way by the gang. They may exhibit many emotional, psychological and physical problems that people who don’t live in gang infested neighborhoods do not. Since before the 1940’s law enforcement and others have attempted to put a stop to gangs. These solutions usually hampered gang activity but didn’t eradicate it. Gangs evolve their practices over time to adjust to law enforcement tactics. Today gangs are involved in sex trafficking rather than drug dealing. Sex trafficking is easier to hide, more profitable and has less legal ramifications.
A gang is mostly known as a group of people that engage in activities that are against the law. Gangs are also known as an outlaw. There are a number of reasons that make most young people want to belong to a gang. The most basic reason is that of wanting to belong as well as trying to satisfy ones needs. The youths thus shift to being in gangs that help them fulfill their needs.
When we hear the word gang we automatically think about crime and violence committed by a certain group of people. The misconception of how we generally associate “gangs” is extended to us by main stream society which relates that gangs are linked to antisocial behavior and are to be composed of generally of criminal involvement with violent motives. An actual definition for what a gang is does not exist due to that gangs vary on a number of dimensions including size, use of symbolic representations of membership, age of gang, age of members, level of organization, and involvement in crime (). There exist a variety of gangs, no two gangs are alike and their role in society may be distinct for example one gang might be good and another gang
A gang is a group of people that come together under a certain belief or certain circumstances. Things suchs as being in poverty, no other source of income. Or for some people a gangs has something they want; a sense of belonging ,acceptance. A gang can also be portrayed as someone's family. Because sometimes that is all they have and known all their life. Along with gang membership comes easy gains for the gang member. The gang members are easily consumed with the money, power, protection, and thrill that being a part of a gang can offer. Instead of committing to a 9 to 5. Being a part of a gang a person get the sense of identity, status, and boost in self-esteem that human nature craves. Being a part of a gang requires for someone to wear a particular color to show loyalty or relationship to gang. This is why schools adopted the rule of the dress code.
The idea of “gang” originate in Europe and then transfer to America. Although the method and time of when it migrate to America remained unknowned. OJJDP claims that the first record of gang activities were in 1783 after the American