The Los Angeles Intervention Approach

Chicago has the biggest gang problem in the country (Thomas & Bass, 2009). “There are more gang members per citizen in Chicago than anywhere else in the country” (Thomas, 2009, para 4). The average Chicago gang leader is 43, convicted of murder and lives in the suburbs. That leader on many occasions directs his gang from jail (Main, 2006) and 95 percent of inmates in the Cook County Jail are gang members (Thomas, 2009). Gangs are everywhere today just like they use to be. The high number of gangs causes violence and deaths to rise in Chicago.

Chapter Four is entitled, “[The] Scope and Nature of the Current Gang Problem.” It focuses on recent trends in number of gangs, gang members and gang-related crimes in each city. In Inglewood, almost all the neighborhoods were claimed by at least one gang, with gang-unit officers agreeing that the city was facing a major gang problem. In Albuquerque, gangs were involved in drug trafficking and property offenses, with 7 out of 8 gang-unit officers believing the city had a major gang problem. In Las Vegas, migration from other cities was thought to be the primary cause of an increase in gang members. 50% of crime in Las Vegas is attributed to gangs, with most officers believing they had a moderate to major gang problem. In Phoenix, the gang problem is described as wave-like, with 70% of gang-unit officers thinking the city had a major gang problem. These statistics were backed up through interviews with officers and city records.

As the years pass, the rate of gang affiliated crimes in the Unites States has progressed extensively, accumulating more inmates into our major prisons doubling the maximum occupancy that the jails can hold. In the U.S there are currently 33,000 active violent street, motorcycle, and prison gangs with a recorded 1.4 million members combined. The registered number of police officers is a mere 683,396; which is not even half of our countries gang population. Incredibly enough, even with their small numbers these officers do the impossible to control, learn, and manipulate the ways of the inmates; taking all of the precautions necessary to stop and protect the normal citizens on the streets and the

This particular gang intervention face various barriers, but also have support agents who make the intervention possible for at problem youths. A barrier to this program

After realizing this method was not exactly efficient in preventing gang violence, programs were started to steer gangs in the right direction. Although these programs are new and are not fully functioning yet, they have shown significant improvements in prevention and continue to research the topic to this day. The solution to gang violence has not been discovered yet, but there are many theories regarding the issue.

The development of gangs in the course of the last two decades has been accompanied by the development and progression of specialized law enforcement responses to gangs. The nature, features and scope of police gang control shows the formation of police gang units and theoretical and policy rationales for police gang units. Police gang units are imaginably the clearest embodiment of the gang suppression approach (Klein, 1995a: 161). Under the suppression approach, Klein (1995a) argues, enforcement officials see their primary responsibility as responding to gang street crimes. Suppression strategy is based on deterrence theory. The purpose of the deterrence is keep a possible offender from repeating in crime nature and deter others from preventing

The presence of gang violence has plagued the United States for many years. Although it is more active in some parts of the country than others, gang violence affects every American: either monetarily as a taxpayer or directly as a victim. Regardless, it is a concern of every individual; therefore, the criminal justice system has been addressing it for years in different ways. The approach of emphasizing harsh punishments has been implemented for quite some time now and it remains to be an accepted tactic. Despite its popularity, the implementation of harsh punishments has been shown to be counterproductive. It continues to spread ignorance, which is eluded by politicians and the

The correlation between gangs and drugs has always been an issue for the United States government. Major cities often overlooked the problem of youth gang violence, thinking it was only a 1960’s trend. Sixty years later, gangs and drugs continue to be a problem, but in an increasing number within urban, suburban and rural areas in the United States. People may characterize this problem with words such as violence, increase drug activity, and delinquencies, but not many seem to see the bigger picture. Lack of interaction, collaboration, and strategies from law enforcement, youth centers, businesses, churches, and political icons are increasing gang violence and drug related offenses in major cities. In such cities as Chicago, minority groups are the most vulnerable to joining a gang, which then leads to an involvement with drugs; they are faced with barriers – lack of family support, poverty, segregation, unemployment, etc. An incident that happened in Chicago history is the closing of the Cabrini-Green Project, where people involved with gangs had to find a new home, scattering gang-members throughout the city, and eventually leading to their spread and growth.

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.

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.

Almost all research spoke about the increase in gang violence “Gangs grew dramatically in the United States during the 1990s.” (Braga; Decker, 2007), and that any proposed program was a direct response to a growing gang community ( problem).

The sociological analysis of gang membership explores the different types of effects that arise due to criminal involvement. Because of the social conflicts that are associated with gang membership, this paper will explore the different theories of social learning and both personal and control issues that relate to the recent surge in crime across Chicago. As we open the doors of a crime ridden society, the truth begins to unfold. It isn’t just the thought of helping, it is the action that remains the barrier between living a life of crime or a life that carries hope.

According to the Merced Sun Star, the main individuals that join gangs are often people who are at a social disadvantage or have inequality compared to others. These people are more likely to have lower income and live in neighbourhoods that are surrounded by people who live in these conditions.In order to put up with these cases, it is important to start at the root of the cause in order to make changes happen for a better future. Since one of the main similarities among the gang-related issues revolves lower income families, we should create programs that can help rebuild their neighbourhoods. For example holding fundraisers and raising money to create a park or play place near the neighborhood that way when these individuals are young thye will have

Gang crimes, such as graffiti, burglaries, murder and extortion, are devastating to a community’s well-being and sense of security. “The vast majority of violent incidents involving gang members continue to result from fights over

In society today, there is a major problem We live in a society where gangs are taking over our neighborhoods in numbers. It is the responsibility of the individuals to part take in getting their neighborhoods back under control. Gangs are becoming a growing problem in American society. More young people are turning to gangs to solve problems in their lives or for acceptance. When youths join gangs, they drop all their social activities with school, family, and friends. However, individuals ruin their lives, and the chances of them having a decent education, and a successful life by getting involved in gang activity.