What Is The Cause Of Gang Violence?

Gangs are not a new problem to the United States. Gangs have often been romanticized in literature and the media with a classic example being “West Side Story”. Americans have long been fascinated with the Mafia, and infamous gangsters such as Al Capone and John Gotti have even been elevated in status as cultural icons. Americans have seen an uprising in “Gangster Rap” since the early 1990’s. Many people tend to think of gangs in America as being made up primarily of young inner-city black males with a small percentage of white males. Americans tend to forget that gangs also include girls, adults, and children. One area that most Americans have not started to look into yet is the influence of the growing number of Hispanic Gangs.

Authors use a number of different tones, settings, themes, characterizations, and points of view in order to create a fictional world inside the readers head. We see these tools used in contrasting ways in “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The distinctive techniques used in these short stories leave you feeling uneasy once you finish them. Using different methods, both authors create a story of horror for their readers.

Not only are these teenage boys and girls committing heinous violent acts; they participate in drug distribution, prostitution, grand thefts, vandalism, human trafficking, and they themselves often become drug users. Gangs make schools unsafe in many areas and increase the risk of other children becoming involved in the gangs. Parents who live in the inner-cities are worried daily about the possibility of their children becoming gang members. They must also fret about the possibility of their children being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being caught in a drive by shooting or something of that

Street gangs in this country can probably be traced back to the first wave of Europeans who migrated to the colonies for a better life for themselves and their families. Many of the first gangs were formed as a means of self protection, with the thinking that there is simply strength in numbers. The missions of gangs in today’s society have grown and emerged to include many violent criminal avenues, including drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, and extortion but the original thinking that there is strength in numbers remains true. Criminology experts believe that the number of teens involved in gangs or gang activity may be as high as 1 in every 5 people in most urban areas. Those number jump to 1 in every 3 people in

Data shows that in 1990, there were a total of 1.492 gang related homicides in a spam of only 408 cities; and from 1996-1998 there was approximately 1,204 homicides per year within 237 cities.What makes the youth so attracted to gang affiliations? Most theories have failed to target the reasons as to why individuals join gangs. However, there has been research that young adults whom join a gang, lack some of these five stages; physiological, personal safely, feeling love and “belonging”, low self-esteem, and self-actualization. When individuals join these gangs, “fulfill” all of these characteristics. Once associated, members receive shelter and food. In their eyes, gangs are viewed as sororities, where they know if anything happens to one of their members there will be protection from the others. With that being said, self-esteem and self-actualization naturally come about, bringing personal satisfaction. Most members are those with poor family network, low net-income, leading to devoting their time to the streets. Much of these has to do with the social network from these children and are often lured into these

Gangs are not a new phenomenon, or a new problem. Gangs have been around for a long time, and will continue to grow and transform throughout the world. I have viewed gangs in a negative manner, and have carried a false misconception of what exactly a gang is. Television and media is partially to blame for society’s view on gangs and gang violence. Today, there are dozens of “reality” television shows about gangs. It is no surprise the information that we take in through television on the topic of gangs is misleading. Gangs can be a problem, especially gangs that are active in violence, and criminality. The problem here is there is no research that suggests that there is a policy that will address the gang problem, or a preventative measure that produces results. Through research, I will define what a gang is, why gangs can be harmful to at risk youth, what prevention programs accomplish, and the efficacy of prevention programs. I will also determine which of prevention programs has the highest level of effectiveness.

In the US, the crime rate has been growing at a high rate and they are estimated to be more than one million, with the majority residing in both California and Los Angeles. Majority of the gang groups are made up of the youth. Most young people join gangs in order to acquire companionship, love, coupled with some forces that can be grouped into social, economic and cultural in nature as they struggle to define themselves and their place

Gangs continue to be a growing problem in the United States. Gangs pose danger not only to society as a whole but to children in particular. According to the Executive Summary: Changing Course prepared by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “nearly one in 12 young people said they belonged to a gang at some point during their teenage years” (Ritter, Simon, &Mahendra, n.d.). Despite the dangerous and criminal activities that gangs participate in, children as young as 11 and 12 become involved in gangs which makes early prevention absolutely vital.

States in 2004” this just supports the statement that it is a huge problem in the United States (Cooper, 2009, p. 1). Unfortunately, the Youth of America and these other countries have been a large demographic of these gangs for many years due to many contributing factors. One criminal factor that initiates gang violence are the overwhelming presence of adolescents and young adults involved with gangs, Celinda Franco states that not only youth participants but whole “youth gangs” have been on the radar for policy makers since the early 1900’s (Cooper, 2009, p. 2). Another factor is the nature of the remorseless and often violent nature of these gang related offenses many gang members act as if they have no conscience and no values, and the fact that a large percentage are “easy to influence” youth doesn’t help the case that most commit gang crimes on a whim. Finally, the fact that most of these gang related offenses that the youth carries out are in poverty stricken neighborhoods that have very poor socioeconomic status, this it is a bad situation that is difficult to escape from because young adults and adolescents do not have the means to move outside this zone and may never attain this goal (Cooper, 2009, p. 3).

Gang related violence and crimes have become an omnipresent problem in the United States , specifically in urban cities. “All 50 states and the District of Columbia report gang problems, and reports have increased for 5 of the past 7 years” (ncjrs.gov). Street gangs in the U.S. first commenced with immigrants from Italy related to the mafia.They became more popular between the 20’s -30’s. Later in the 1950’s and 60’s , other immigrants, “Hispanics, Asians and African Americans began banding together to form gangs” (teenviolence.com). Underprivileged youth across the nation also began to follow the trend. About 10 to 20 years later, national gang alliances emerged and dispersed all over urban cities across the country. Youth violence between

Youth gang violence anywhere has a bad reputation and a curious history. During the 1990’s the number of gangs in the U.S. Increased by six times as many as there were in the 1980’s.

In the past five years there has been an eight percent increase in number of gangs, an 11 percent increase in members, and a 23 percent increase in gang-related homicides. Overall, gangs remain responsible for 16 percent of all homicides, but it increases to 25 percent in cities that have a population of 100,000 people or higher. About 85 percent of gang activity is associated in metropolitan areas in the United States. (Axelrod, Tal) This information shows us that this is a growing problem and we need to stop it.

Gangs are a serious and persistent problem within society. According to the National Youth Gang Survey, “from 2002 to 2010, the estimated number of youth gangs increased by nearly 35 percent (from 21,800 to 29,400)” (Egley and Howell, 2012). In addition, “one-third of cities, towns and rural counties reported gang problems in 2010” (Egley and Howell, 2012).

Gangs are becoming prevalent in today’s society and within our schools. More and more young people are turning to gangs in an attempt to escape their everyday lives and the future, which they perceive as dismal and bleak. They are initially attracted to the prestige and cash flow, which is glamorized by the street gang. Many gangs are actively involved in criminal misconduct, such as drug and gun trafficking, burglaries and homicides. However, street gangs are not just a criminal justice issue, but a social problem, which is triggered by poverty, peer pressure, boredom, despair and lacking a sense of belonging.

Gang violence is a very prevalent, and ongoing issue that is ever growing. According to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (a nationally representative sample of 9,000 adolescents), 8 percent of the youth surveyed had belonged to a gang at some