Why The Gang Will Never Die Out

The word gang-everyone knows what it means or what it stands for. Of course by the time children get to the end of their elementary years they’ve heard of know gangs such as; the Cribs, Bloods, Latin Kings, Vatos Locos, but none of those names cause as much fear and terror as the gang called La Mara Salvatrucha aka MS-13. La Mara known for their psychotic methods of killing and running their turf, no other gang comes close to causing the same fear as La Mara Salvatrucha (ms-13gang.com). Forced to abandon their home land due to the civil war in El Salvador, the adventure to the U.S. was good at the start but soon the odds turned against them. Therefore for their

With the leading number of gangs in the country, Los Angeles is thought of as the gang capital of the world. Employing gang suppression strategies that take distinct forms, from anti-gang injunctions to high rate of incarcerations, the City of Angels has failed to live up to its angelic name. Known instead for its demonic gang activity and police suppression efforts, Los Angeles has taken over media headlines as one of the most dangerous places to subsist. Representing a worrisome issue for residents, visitors, city government officials, as well as urban planners, gang violence has rapidly become a threat to public safety. Although current-day gang culture has eased off on the violence, it continues to be one of the greatest planning challenges

As a result poverty grew and the conflict between the poor and the rich became a big problem El Salvador had to deal with during the 20th century. A Central American Socialist Party was born and lead people against the government and in response the government of El Salvador at the time supported military death teams who killed anyone who supported that party.

Gangsters Without Borders by T.W. Ward is an ethnography about the El Salvadorian gang Mara Salvatrucha. Wards spent years earning the trust of these youth in order to complete his research. Starting out Ward had three broad goals in mind to develop a clear view of gang members and gang life. The second objective of Wards, “To observe how gang members changed over time as they matured into adulthood,” peaked my interest in this ethnography.

August 2015, 907 murders, and average of 25 murders per day committed by 13-15 year old gang members. (Transnational Gangs Part 1;Understanding the Threat, 2016) El Salvador is the epicenter of gang activity in Central America and the largest influence on gang activity in the US. Showing no respect for law enforcement, borders, and little for human life gang violence is a requirement for young teens to become members of the La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and the 18th Street gangs. Two years of initiation culminating in at least one murder are required to obtain membership in these gangs.

The MS-13 gang has cliques, or factions, located throughout the United States and is unique in that it retains is ties to its El Salvador counterparts. With cliques in Washington DC, Oregon, Alaska, Arkansas, Texas, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Canada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and several other South American countries, the MS-13 gang is truly "international" and on the verge of becoming the first gang to be categorized as an "organized crime" entity.” (MS13 Gang….)The strength of the gang members is 36,000 in Honduras. The age of the members is normally between 11 to 40 years. Initially started as a defensive organization to protect El Salvadorian immigrants from the cruelty of LA gangs, the gang soon began targeting the members of the Salvadorian community as well. Criminality became a way of life for the M-13 gang members, with no holds barred. It soon turned out to be business of profiteering, and it expanded rapidly across the United States. By the 1990s, its network spread like the octopus growing in all directions, and its membership had reached the East Coast. Initially they were not well-organized. In the early 2000s, the organizational pattern had changed. The leadership of these newly organized units emanated from faraway places like California and El Salvador. Cells began to sprout all over the country. In Texas and the Rio

“Gangs have morphed from social organizations into full-fledged criminal enterprises” (Thomas, 2009, para 5). Gangs are highly sophisticated and more dangerous then ever. The number one reason to join a gang is money; and 95 percent of gangs profit comes from drug dealing

When most people think of the word status, they think of where it places them in society. If you have a higher status you might be considered a more important human being. If you have a lower status you might be considered “poor” or “in poverty”. But what does it mean to have a status as a gang? That questions certainly can’t be answered by me correctly, however I would imagine in a world of gangs having the highest status would make you the most feared gang. If you are going to join a gang, it might as well be one worth joining such as MS 13. If MS 13 is recognized worldwide as the most “dangerous” gang then they probably are! Having a status like that on the streets would make other gangs stay away from you, as well as make people afraid to tell you no or show you consequences. In the video we watched as a class police enforcement coming up short every time when they would “bust” them for drugs or something else. It made me wonder if the police really were being out smarted or if they didn’t want to dig too deep into an unfamiliar territory. Even though MS 13 is recognized as the world’s most dangerous gang, everyone seems to know little information about them. It is still unknown whether not

One of the most popular gangs is the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) which originated in the Los Angeles area

There has been many long term effects from the civil war in El Salvador. The war lasted about 12 years from 1980 to 1992, and El salvador is still dealing with old issues from that time. It was the darkest times in El Salvador’s history. The inequality of social classes, poverty,and military rule led Salvadorians to revolt against their own government.

Gangs of El Salvador In the documentary, Gangs of El Salvador by Vice News, the viewer gets an insider’s perspective of the gang activity in El Salvador. The two gangs that were talked about in this documentary was the notorious MS-13 and 18th street gang. This documentary was made to inform people that there is a serious gang problem not only in the United States, but in other parts of the world as well. Furthermore, I will discuss the Gangs of El Salvador, current issues regarding gangs, and how the country of El Salvador is combating the gang issue.

The Reagan administration substantially increased both military and economic aid to El Salvador. The civil war raged on in El Salvador, fueled by U.S. aid to the Salvadoran military. The government harshly repressed dissent, and at least 70,000 people lost their lives in killings and bombing raids waged against civilians throughout the countryside. The country's infrastructure had crumbled, and the nation. The government military also start force recruitment to the children who are already twelve years old for becoming the child soldier. so does the geurillas.

El Salvador, located in Central America between Honduras and Guatemala, gained its independence from Spain in 1821, but El Salvador has recently suffered a devastating amount of loss due to a 12-year long civil war. The civil war finally ended in 1992, but the effects of the civil war can still be felt today. El Salvador is one of the poorest developing nations in the world. According to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, El Salvador ranks 59th out of 186 countries based on 10 freedoms. When ranking countries, the Index of Economic Freedom considers the rule of law, government size, regulatory efficiency, and open markets within each country in order to determine its ranking. “El Salvador’s economic freedom has been stagnant and scores for eight of the 10 economic freedoms, notably freedom from corruption, property rights, business freedom, and government spending, have deteriorated markedly over the past two decades.” I believe El Salvador’s poor economic global presence is mainly a result of corrupt government and violence. The existence of corruption and violence in El Salvador demonstrates a politically and economically extractive institution, presents evidence of critical junctures that have led to societal changes, and begins to explain why some nations choose not to be prosperous. In addition, El Salvador’s close proximity to North America does not lend itself to a shared political and economic course. These factors combined with the presence of corruption

but Mexican cartels are known to be involve in much more them that, some areas of organize crime like smuggle of illegal aliens to the U.S., guns, sex trafficking, and kidnaping. Mexican cartels are also known for the extreme level of violence, is known that Mexican cartels are forming new alliances with other criminal organizations like the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the Barrio 18, to act as enforcers for the cartels (Farah, 2012). Some of the levels of violence committed by this organizations have been recorded as violent act that has included mass killing of more than one hundred people, violent act like vicious mutilations, decapitation and dismemberment, gruesome torture, many form of sexual abuse and rape, also “immolation of bodies, car bombing, the placement of dozens of cadavers in public places, hanging from bridges and buildings, and innumerable forms of theatrical and choreographed murders and maiming” (Campbell & Hansen,

To fully understand the reason why El Salvador is currently so dangerous one must look a the history of the country that lead to this point. After the country gained its independence in 1821, many different elements began to arise which left the people of the state worried. Components such as social class inequality, repressive military rule, and poverty played big roles in what soon became the factors that lead to civil war. Since 1931 El Salvador 's government had been under military control, which in a economic sphere did not prove to be successful. The state was also plagued with fraudulent elections which always granted the military victory. The military regime was also closely allied with the elite of the country who were the ones that had the real power considering they controlled the state 's economy. The elite needed the military in order to control the poor who were on the verge of revolting due to the inequality and lack of economic participation by their part. The elite controlled the country by keeping 41% of the population to no land because they wanted it in the hands of those that can produce significant profit. The majority of people who lived in the countryside were also not allowed to vote which furthered the narrative of a corrupt and untrustworthy government. The years leading up to the civil war were afflicted with repressive government rule which in the year 1980 became enough to tip the citizens of the country over the edge to a full