The Possession And Use Of Lethal Weapons

The sad reality is that society does not take a minute to step out of their shoes and try to understand why someone becomes a gang member. Throughout Barking to the Choir, two common themes that arise is the lack of love, and growing up with a rough childhood. For many, survival becomes the priority, especially if they have siblings to look out for. Thus, gang life is not an ideal choice but rather a lucrative option. Through Rational Choice Theory, it is easy to place blame on the gang member, but the reality is that for a plethora of gang members there was no other

Gangs have been a growing issue across the United States for many decades now. Youth gang violence may have started around the ‘50s, but did not become a serious issue until the ‘80s and from there went through a downward spiral in some cities like downtown Los Angeles, which was where the notorious Bloods and Crips gangs both started. First, let’s simply define a gang as a group of people, mostly men ranging for ages 14-30, who claim territory and use it to make money for themselves and their neighborhood through illegal activities such as trafficking drugs and weapons. There are many reasons and components that are factored in when conducting research to hypothesize “why do people join gangs?” That is why it is necessary to compare and contrast all the social, biological, psychological, developmental, and substance abuse aspects and relate it to joining a gang. It is also important to touch base on the differences between males and females that join gangs, such as power differentials, social learning differences and social stratification differences.

Anderson posits that this is a major reason why they join gangs; they want to earn their “manhood” or at least learn what it means to be a man. This leads to them getting a twisted idea of what it is to be a true man (Anderson 14-16). Another issue that Anderson discusses is the growing intensity of girls becoming more violent in reaction to different types of threats to respect such as rumors and gossip. While Anderson does say girls are less prone to killing others based on these issues, there is still a rise in fighting amongst those in the areas these gangs run rampant (Anderson 16-18). Finally, Anderson ends his article with a final component in which gang members try to earn a reputation for being “bad” as they call it. This comes down to the willingness to perform risky behaviors, and how little they fear death as a result of their activities (Anderson 18-19). Anderson terms this kind of culture to be an oppositional culture (Anderson 20).

Most boys know they need to be “manly” to fit into this equitable world because feeling ambivalent or indecisive does not measure up to the macho image. When boys and men do not conform to conventional gender roles, they are punished and victimized; however, this punishment does not outweigh the reprisal and backlash of those who are being punished and victimized for not adapting to the norms of society. The inordinately male episodes of school shootings, bullying, and other actions of violence are largely misunderstood problems in middle and high schools. Shootings are often explained as a logical and unsurprising outcomes of anything. It is negligent and reckless to ignore the fact that it is not just males who are mainly the perpetrators, but males who have been neglected and mistreated by society. It is implied that“black kids in the ghetto” are most often the perpetrators of all violent crimes. However, this is not the case, for it is those who feel oppressed and dehumanized by society that feel they have no choice, but to lash out in order to voice their anger. School shootings are really the outcome of those who are oppressed and bullied to their breaking point. In guns, boys and men find a weapon that provides the ability to act out their revenge fantasy in a twisted way to finally receive some distorted form of respect, that they are deprived of through gender

Gang crime is one of the most intriguing social phenomena’s across the world, as defining the deviancy has been difficult due to a broad range of definitions (Wood & Alleyne, 2010, pg. 101). One definition is given by David Curry and

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.

Gang members are full of shame, because their past is made up of poor decisions. Father Gregory Boyle proves that many times people, in this case gang members don't realize how they are when he explains, “You show them the blue sky of their sacredness, and they are transfixed only by the ominous clouds” (Boyle 100). Gang members don't feel like they can be seen as acceptable people, everytime they are told something positive they think something negative to contradict what they just got told.

In her article “Gangsta Culture”, bell hooks explains the social calamities and degeneration of social attitude that has occurred as a result of the glamorization of street gangsta culture. Her purpose is to inform us of the detrimental effects of the patriarchal maleness that has plagued black culture with its violence and incarceration driven norm of supremacy. As a Distinguished Professor of English at City College in New York, hooks structures her text in a cause-and-effect procedure, utilizing a general-to-specific organization scheme to establish her claims. She begins with a biographical segment noting on the influence of Dr. King and Malcolm X in gangsta culture and its cultivation into mainstream media, which aligns her claims on gangsta culture serving as the vehicle for patriarchal manhood. Throughout the article, hooks uses repetition of the term “patriarchal” to emphasize that the prominent figures in hip-hop portraying such image are influencing and presenting a false facade for all black males.

The processing of possessing a gun is pretty easy and it goes by the steps. Processing depends on state because each state has different ways of possessing gun. At first, Many states require a few days to pass between the time a person purchases a gun and the time when they can take possession of the gun. A background check of criminal records is mandatory in some states before one can assume ownership of a gun. Gun permit is required to own a gun or use a firearm, more likely, people are required a permit for any jobs and some states also require all guns to be registered. Gun control laws sometimes create a direct ban on some types of guns, including Unregistered and illegal guns, Concealed weapons, Assault weapons such as machine

Through in-depth interviews with 20 female gang members in Columbus, Ohio, Miller (1998) found that women often have difficulty being accepted as gang members. Many attempt to show “masculine” leadership qualities, such as being tough, able to fight, and being willing to engage in criminal acts for the gangs. Beliefs that women are weaker than men, however, mean that women have a harder time proving their commitment to the gang. Nevertheless, women might also gain acceptance through connections to influential, high-status men – a route to acceptance that is less available to men (Miller 1998). Women’s participation in crime within the gang is also different from men’s. Though girls are involved in less serious forms of delinquency, gang boys are still more likely to be involved in the most serious forms of crime, such as drive-by shootings and gun assaults. This is due both to the deliberate exclusion of girls from these types of crimes and the fact that young women themselves often use gender as means of avoiding crimes they find dangerous or morally dubious (Miller and Brunson 2000). The lesser involvement of girls in more serious forms of crime, however, can lead to the devaluation and mistreatment of female gang members because they are perceived as less valuable to the gang. Female gang members are also more likely to be sexually mistreated than male gang members (Miller 1998). Given these

Cohen posited that many working-class boys are not only concerned with financial success, but also seek the goal of “middle-class status,” which often causes strain due to the lack of means for attainment (Cohen, 1955). While criminal activity may provide monetary rewards, it is unlikely to produce middle-class status. As a result, individuals may adapt though rebellion which may include a new set of goals and means for attainment. For example, criminal gangs are less likely to seek status through home ownership or stable employment, and are more likely to value violence or a reputation for violence, or respect from other gang members resulting from criminal

During a House of Commons debates (June 2009), Chris Gray ling argued “ the truth is those who join gangs often come from the most difficult family backgrounds—from an environment where they feel neglected and unwanted” (they work for you 2009). Within the same debate it was further argued that if we mapped out the geographically rates of unemployment, family breakdown, educational failure and addiction within the family, we would uncover a high correlation linking social breakdown and gang culture. This would serve to remove any misconception of the relationship between deprivation, gang membership and knife crime. Contrary to this, research by the Sutton Trust has confirmed there is a correlation between certain types of violent crime and

The perception that gang culture in relation to youth crime is growing in the UK is intensified by the media, it is very rare to read a daily paper these days without coming across some mention of gang related crime. In order to understand why some of the young people living in the global city join gangs it is important to have a clear definition of what a gang is and to also investigate the role of the media

The look and study of street gangs have been shifting over the past 4-5 decades due to changes in the tactics taken by sociologists. There were many books written about these gangs including “The Gang” , by Thrasher, which was recognized as one of the first or if not the first gang related to sociological views. People ask questions such as, “Why do people join these gangs and why do most of them end up causing havoc and violence within a city.” This is a question a normal person that isn’t looking at these people as subjects due for change but rather people who aren’t “normal”. Sociologists look at these people and ask questions like, “Where do they live? Who are they friends with? How and why did their social practices and cultural values change?” These are questions a sociologist would ask simply because there are many factors which come out when determining the choices of deviance within a person.

Some members of delinquent gangs may be the sole carriers of a particular subculture in a particular location, and some are shared. For example conflict subcultures are shared by rival fighting gangs among whom individual and group status involves values related to defense of turf and reputation and norms loyal of these values. Some subcultures oriented to theft and other forms of property crime which they are connected with a particular group. Some property crime involves more organizing and planning in order to succeed. Other crimes such as mugging may involve only one person who shares the same subculture as the larger group. In an article by Terry William’s it states that delinquent subcultures contain elements of both youth and adult cultures. It also stated that to speak of youth culture is to symbolize a subculture of the larger adult-dominated and institutionally defined culture (1989). Many of criminal subculture shares a symbolic relationship with their customs, manly the people