When Gangs Infiltrate our Armed Forces Essay

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.

It is estimated that there are roughly 24,000 gangs in America today. There are 750,000 stated gang members. Gangs are taking over our youth and our county. In 1996 50% of all gang members were juveniles. Twelve years later that percentage has not changed. Gang violence is on the rise and it has to stop. We have to take back our streets and our children.

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.

On the eastern side of the United States, gangs first started in the post World War II era. It was a time in which African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Euro-Americans were at battle over territory in the changing neighborhoods after urban renewal. By 2008, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there were an estimation of 640 different street gangs along with more than 1700 active gang members in the New England area. A drastic increase in gangs in the eastern part of the Unites States in the late 1990s is of because of a route

Within the past two decades, a growing concern has been focused on what can be considered a social epidemic among the youth of our nation. This social distress stems directly from the rising number of youth gangs throughout the country. Gang mentality and social deviance of this form has been noticed and documented in this country for decades. “ Prior to the 1970’s, gang violence was still popularly associated with white ethnic enclaves in the cities of the Midwest and East, and gang incidents were typically brawls involving fists, sticks and knives. Today, gangs are made up largely of ethnic groups, especially African American and Latino Americans, and handguns and other military hardware are the typical vehicles for the acts of

The issue of gangs in the United States is one of massive proportions. According to the FBI's website, as of 2010 there are 33,000 violent street, motorcycle, and prison gangs in the U.S. with approximately 1.4 million total active members (Pastor). These gangs derive most of their revenue from the smuggling and distribution of illicit substances and weapons. Many of the gangs in the U.S. recruit members as young as 11 years old, such as the well known 18th Street Gang from L.A. ("18th Street Gang"). The fact that these gangs prey on inner-city youth who have nowhere else to turn is why they remain so powerful, seeing that for every gang member incarcerated the gangs can simply recruit another member. Due to these reasons I believe that gang activity is one of the largest social issues we face in the United States today.

The presence of gangs is an ongoing issue amongst a growing population of individuals who are often recruited, appearing to have a desire to belong, generate money, and obtain a sense of security. The gang life is often a dangerous slippery slope that leads to a lifetime of criminal activity or simply increases the already existing criminal behavior in the gang member. For some, there remains a hope for conversion.

In order to become a member of a gang, most gangs typically have new members “put on” by being beaten up by a large number of older members of the gang. After this, the new member must commit a crime and earn his stripes, either by robbing someone, beating someone up, or in other cases, shooting and killing someone. All members must prove themselves (Howell, 1998). To an outsider, it might seem crazy that a kid would want to join a gang, but to a poor inner-city kid who has very little, gangs provide a family like relationship for kids who feel they are all alone. They provide protection and respect that allows a young person to walk through his or her neighborhood and stay unharmed (Howell, 1998).

Ed Gottesman and Richard Brown agree that for a group to be considered a gang it needs six key elements: “a collection of individuals, the use of symbols, special forms of communication, permanence, a sense of turf, and involvement in crime.” Gottesman and Brown go on to say, “What distinguishes a gang from other groups is its involvement in crime, which is often heavy and recognized as a key feature of membership.” This means that all gangs are involved in crimes, the number one reason why the United States needs to put a stop to gang violence. Gangs form for four main reasons: a need for “family” and companionship, basic needs such as food, a higher social status or appeal, and protection. When there is a large migration or immigration of people, gangs tend to increase in size because there are more people looking for these four basic needs. During the 1950s to the 1970s, gangs grew greatly in the four regions of the United States, the East, Midwest,

Teenagers that live in communities where violence is rampant are particularly vulnerable. Gangs and drug distribution provide exposure to violence and violent role models and positive rewards for violent activity. Many children join gangs for recognition, status, safety, security, power, and excitement. Those that are raised under conditions of social deprivation are particularly drawn to gangs. Many youth view joining a gang as a normal and respectable, although the consequences for joining are a series of delinquent and violent acts

A gang can also provide money and stability for the youth and provide them with some sort of job and income, this is obviously acquired through committing crimes. According to our textbook Criminology Today An Integrative Introduction by Frank Schmalleger it states that, “ When we speak of a delinquent subculture, we speak of a way of life that has somehow become traditional among certain groups in American society. These groups are the boys’ gangs that flourish most conspicuously in the ‘delinquency neighborhoods’ of our larger American cities. The members of these gangs grow up, some to become law abiding citizens and other to graduate to more professional and adult forms of criminality, but the delinquent tradition is kept alive by the age-groups that succeed them.” (Schmalleger, 2015, p. 171) Most of the time youths that join gangs start at a very young age. They may feel joining a gang provides them with more than society will provide them, there are times that youths want to get out of their gang and be part of the normal society. Like it said in our textbook some of these youths that are involved in gangs are able to get out and become law abiding citizens while others stay and become more involved within their gangs. When youths are involved with gangs it

Gang membership is a big issue. There around 33,000 gangs in the U.S.A. These gangs have been responsible for a wide range of criminal activities like; drug trafficking, prostitution, robbery, murder, extortion and human trafficking. Most importantly it has been the reason why so many of our young children have become a statistic and whose dreams or goals were cut short. Youth are the most affect by gangs because they are most likely to be recruited to part of these awful groups. Youth are in a stage of vulnerability and are more likely to be pressure to do things they may not want. That does not mean all youth will join a gang. Males are most likely to join a gang than female, yet female still do make a portion of our gang membership. It is more likely youth younger than 13 are most likely to join a gang and African American, as well as Hispanic, make up a larger percentage of gang membership than any other ethnicity. It is also those who live in neighborhood with high rate crime and poverty who would most likely be exposed to gangs, therefore have a higher possibility of joining a gang. Family structure is also a variable, those raised in a single parent household rather than a two parent household. Peers influence your decision, like if your friend is around trouble, or your family has current gang members.

In this academic website, Armstrong believed that youth who participate in a gang tend to have major consequences when they grow up. Youth who distance themselves from gangs will also face many consequences. The author observes several risk factors that were used by other researchers to find out why youth join a gang. Individuals who join a gang at an early age will commit crimes. Individuals who used to be part of a gang will have drugs problems and other health problems. In this research, Armstrong presents examples from various researchers from the University of Washington think that gang membership is a criminal problem. Moreover, gang membership can be described as a public health problem. Armstrong mentions how researchers are trying

Gangs often form along ethnic and racial lines, although more recently youths are joining for economic purposes. According to Jill Leovy gangs are created as a replacement for law enforcement because minority groups feel that law enforcement doesn’t care about them. She states that, “Black America has not benefited from a state monopoly on violence” (Leovy, pg8). Usually, the state is the only institution that’s allowed to use force to ensure the law is held in place. She explains that because of this failure to stand up for black people, these black communities came up with their own, alternative systems of justice to replace the governmental law. In response to this seeming indifference violence became a

There is no easy way to fix this issue, and no quick solution, but still there are many things that can be reduced gangs from the world. The initial solution that families and the government should concentrate on is the education. Education is basic thing that every child should have. Including from the study that done in Stanford University in 1999, that the parents should learn how to spend some time with their children and make them far away from the gangs by teaching them the consequences from joining to gangs and the risks from doing that (Friedrichs, 1999). As a result, families should care about their children lives and tell them about the risks of joining gangs and how would their life change to if they enroll. In addition,