The Subculture Of The United States

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.

When individuals decided to get involve in those type of activities many of them do it for specific reasons. For example, people join gang for acceptance, protection, and some are forced into it, because of their family are gang affiliated. Gangs partake endlessly in finding different method for individuals to more effectively get the things they want, particularly power. Therefore, people that are easily influenced tends to gravitate toward gang activities for recognition in the community. According to Goldman, Giles, & Hogg (2014), “Gang members’ actions impact other gang members as well as the wider community; everyone is at risk of being a victim of gang violence” (p. 825). Gang violence goes further than racial issue, but it more intensely touches African American and Latino communities.

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.

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

According to our textbook, subculture is “a segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of customs, rules, and traditions.” (Schaefer, pp 69) to make this concept more understandable subculture is just a group that have different norms and value than the majority has. I think that is not easy to make a list of subcultures in this country, or even in this city (Hot Springs) Subcultures are sociological phenomena that tend to change over the time. Those changes can lead to create new subcultures and/or make disappearing the old ones. Some subcultures can be created, and some people has no choice and they born into a specific subculture.

What first comes to mind when you think of gangs? Most people picture groups of dangerous individuals causing violence and gang wars, as portrayed in the media. John Hagedorn in his novel: A World Of Gangs provides the reader with a deeper understanding of how “gangs” operate, and that trying to stop gangs abruptly through police force is more of a problem than a solution. Hagedorn begins by describing what gangs really are and what causes them. He notes that the urbanization going on throughout the world leads to poorer neighborhoods or slums and is leading to higher gang rates. Claiming that by the year 2020 half of the urban population will be living in poverty he shows that this can cause social disorganization and mixing that with discrimination is not a good combination that will lead to the formation of gangs. Being that the novel is non-fiction Hagedorn provides many different expert opinions to further his research and beliefs. He also uses quotes from those who are/were in some sort of relation to gang life which is a great way fully understand how they operate rather than only looking from the outside in. Beyond understanding why they form, Hagedorn looks into what keeps them around as well as many other related topics, but also into the problems of defining gangs as well as the world of hip-hop music and its influence on gang life.

The United States has many different cultures and smaller subcultures due to being a melting pot of different peoples of various nations, but with a predominant American culture characterized by clothing brands like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, with a certain type of clothing like cowboy hats, boots, jeans, etc, along with foods like burgers, fries, and hot dogs. Since America has other cultures due to immigration you may find some that Mexican cuisine Is a part of the Texas culture. Within the United States there are smaller subcultures like bodybuilders, bikers, and the BDSM culture. Bodybuilders are defined by weight lifting, while some of the lifters scream to achieve attention. These group of individuals take appreciation in building the human physique, and display of strength, taking pride in being different from conventional society. Bikers also known as the 1% ers, are a subculture with smaller subcultures within it. They are described as hard individuals who go to dangerous venues, and doing leisurely activates on weekends. The different subcultures of bikers are, manufactured riders, sport riders, reginal riders, and activists. BDSM is a taboo subculture

(2004). She discusses the lure of the streets and why so many black men fall slave to it. As a professor of English and leading scholar, she has great knowledge about Gangsta Culture. The overall structure depicts that it is a concept based on actions of black men, mind state and reasoning behind those actions.

Biker gangs and delinquent subcultures are one of the most fascinating areas for sociologists and criminologists to study. Gangs create an atmosphere for people who disagree with the normal culture and can side with fellow delinquents and form a subculture. Many normal motorcycle groups or biker groups have evolved into the society’s general and normal view of what a gang is: an outlaw, vicious, criminal, deviant group of people. The groups that society labeled as ‘biker gangs’ or ‘motorcycle gangs’ are notoriously known for their dangerous and violent behaviors. Therefore, research with any well-known gangs such as the Hells Angels, the Pagans, the Outlaws, and the Bandidos becomes difficult because a code of loyalty within the gang and a

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.

Abstract: This review studies in depth research done on street gangs. Social issues have social scientists turning away from including this in their research around this time. Sociological views have been changed dramatically in the past 40 years due to gender and racial studies. Also, women have started to join gangs since America has been changed with woman equality laws passing.

This chapter had a lot of important and informative insights. Yet the most insightful information that I have learned, was subculture theory. Subculture theory is the “shared [of] several traits with activity theory and disengagement theory- a convention that people lost statues in old age, a focus on role changes in later life, and a belief that activity enhanced the lives of the elderly. It differed in that it built on a sociological theory of subcultural development” (pg.53). I have learned today in one of my other class that we humans are living longer than in the past years. The United State is one of the countries in which the elderly groups are living longer than other countries. The average age of elderly for 2020 is 60-75 years old.

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

Albert Cohen’s thesis is that class based status frustration is the origin of subcultures. Crime culture existed in certain social groups and the individuals learned the value of the delinquent subculture through participation in gangs. Delinquent subcultures have values that are in opposition to those of the dominant culture. The strain is rooted by low economical conditions, poor parental relations, and low school standards, with no chance of succeeding in the future. The anti social structure of cities also affects the why a boy and or girl joins a gang. The formation of gangs in cities, and most recently in suburbs, is assisted by the same lack of community among parents. While almost half of high seniors used marijuana at least once,

Historically, subcultures found its definition originating in the early 1800s, with examples such as bohemia and another example(ref). Whether subcultures still have an identifiable existence in today’s contemporary society is contentious pertaining to its difficulty in actual measurement. It is important to look from a historical perspective at the features that define a subculture, and gives it the unique identity that constitutes some discernible traits that differ from conventional society. This is to say that the traits that make the subculture are not singular in their form, for they can be both abstract and material. It is the intent of this essay to highlight such features and question if subcultures as a term, should still be applicable in contemporary society. From Teddy Boys, mods and rockers, hells angels to punks and even modern day terms for groups such as chavs, subcultures have throughout history attempted to identify themselves from what is considered societies definition of normal (ref).