Why Do Youths Join Gangs

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

Furthermore, the book, Youth Gangs in American Society by Randall Shelden, Sharon Tracy, and William Brown (2013) discusses several theories about why people join gangs. One theory that I think especially fits the explanation as to why people join gangs, with regards to this book, is the control/social bond theory. Shelden et al define control/social bong theory as “when a youth’s, bonds or ties, to society are weak or broken, especially with family, school and other institutions, when this occurs, a youth is apt to seek bonds with other groups, including gangs, in order to get his or her needs met”(p 193). I think so many groups in society let this boy down in My Bloody Life, including his family, the school system and even the police. Consequently with his ties to society so weak, he reached out to a gang that gave him a sense of comfort and belonging.

There are an abundance of reasons why some youth may choose to join a gang. The lacking of sense of guidance positively and

Teenagers and young adults join youth gangs for many reasons. Reasons a teenager would join a gang include family

Some of the reasons are abusive homes, low-income, and peer pressure. In Chicago, Illinois, Vice Lords, a gang that consist of African-Americans, use violence when they run into rival gangs. The recruitment of Vice Lord members start off young, in low income neighborhoods of Detroit and Chicago. Family problems play a key role in adolescents joining gangs. The American Journal of Community Psychology, stated, parents who provided maternal support and restrictive control to their children creates the adolescent to roam the streets. (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02512027 ) This gives teens the oppurtunity to be influced by violence, drugs, and gangs. Drugs, such as marijuana, are fairly easy to get and drive a huge profit. However, marijuana has medical benefits. Nancy Comeau, Addictive Behaviors, explains how the relations of anxiety, stress, and sensations are the motives for the use of marijuana in adolescents. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306460301002386 ) Anxiety and stress are part of most teenage lives whether if its with cooping with school or family issues. Thus, explains a reason why adolescents join gangs. Adolescent teens are being charged as adults due to criminal activities. The teen mind is still developing and will become worse due to the actions of prison. Teen prisoners face depression and violence within the cell walls. This leads to suicides and long term mental breakdowns. (http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2004.056325 ) Familes are tramautized seeing their young children being sent away for many years and can also create depression for the familes, as

Teenagers are now starting to join gangs and it is ruining their lives, most gang members range from the ages of 12-40. The reason why people will join a gang is because they want something to

Future gang members tend to become involved in delinquency--including violence--and alcohol or marijuana use at an early age. During childhood and early adolescence, friendships with aggressive peers, conduct problems, and involvement in delinquency are stepping stones to gang membership. Future gang members are likely to have other gang members in their school classrooms, they perform poorly in elementary school, and they have a low degree of commitment to school. They often are identified as learning disabled. They show higher levels of stability in the family, peer group, and school settings, and they spend lots of unsupervised time with friends. Many youth gang members have none of these characteristics. These are good kids, from good families, and they are good students; however, these youths do not remain in gangs long. Adolescents ' allegiances to friends, gangs, and other peer groups tend to be brief.

The concept of Juvenile gang’s is not unknown to the world. They can be found in any corner of the world and any ethnic/racial background. Gangs have been around since humans learned how to get into organized groups. This was about around the time of the middle ages. In fact, the first recorded history of such gangs was in the city of London (Sheldon., Tracy and Brown, 1996). For America, it was not until the early 1800s when juvenile gangs became a problem (Sheldon., Tracy and Brown, 1996). This being due to the social and economic problems in this period. Due to the wars, Immigration, and financial situation of the time, many juveniles see the gangs as a refuge from their situation. There are many reasons as to why a juvenile will seek

     Youth gangs have been getting a tremendous amount of press and media attention as the problem grows worse and worse, and because of this attention and exposure the rate of adolescents joining these gangs is constantly increasing. As of right now, gang life is in a lime light all to its own. There has been documentaries, movies, books and so on that have demoralized it as well as glamorized it, and to trouble youths who think that they have no place else to turn, gang life seems as though it can be a very acceptable and possibly through their point of view, a positive change in their some what hitched lives. Social experts chalk up the sudden increase of youth gang activity to two distinct reasons; “ (1) the diffusion of gang culture through popular media, and (2) economic

Another reason why kids join gangs is because they feel like they are misunderstood. They feel like school, parents, and law enforcement don’t understand who they are. “One felt besieged, under intense scrutiny. If you spoke out, dared to resist, you were given a “jacket” of troublemaker” Rodriguez mentions (18). School and polices see a group of adolescents living in poverty, give them the “jacket” of troublemaker and label them as a lost cause to the community. They don’t understand the reasoning of why they have chosen to gangbang, they don’t see the struggle that they face

Although gangs target and recruit youth at a young age, sometimes youth have no other choice at times, but to fall into deviant behavior and gangs. Most of these gangs are within urban areas, and even some grow up in the same

“Violent crimes committed by juveniles are not diminishing, as other crimes, as reported by the Justice Department statistics, are (Siegel and Welsh, 2011).” We see that juveniles have more access, and more use of the weapons of violence, including gang affiliation. So why do young people join gangs? First of all, the gang

Low self esteem is another reason why as well. An individual can join a gang because they feel as if they can look at their self as if they have more confidence than they had before all the gang situations. It may boost up their ego and make them feel like a bigger person than

Furthermore, youth who display higher levels of previous delinquency are more likely to remain in the gang. The reasons for joining a youth gang are various. Some seek excitement ; others are looking for prestige, protection, a chance to make money or a sense of belonging.

Juveniles often join gangs to be accepted into a society of their peers. These juveniles are looking for acceptance and a sense of belonging. They join these gangs for special status amongst their friends, protection from other gangs, financial help, peer pressure, excitement and for some juveniles, they are born into a gang society and it is a family tradition. Gangs can also act like a family. They will praise, chastise and show them a form of love and respect that they are looking for but cannot get at home.