Youth Gang Membership : A Serious Problem Affecting Many Youths Essay

When young teens get involved with gangs they pretty much throw their lives away because they leave school and frequently get arrested taking away any hope of getting a real job and honest living.

Gangs were first originated so ethnic or neighbored groups could defend themselves against other people/outsiders. Gang names were usually taken from the area the gang resides in, which would be the street name or street number. There are many reasons why people group up and make a gang. Gangs see that violence gets them what they want faster than most of the other methods. They turn to violence for fun, profit, and most of all control. Most of the gangs were minorities who were being oppressed or bullied for their race or color and sometimes homosexuality.

A former gang member known as G-Ball was very young when he joined a his gang.

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.

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

A two-pronged prevention approach has proven effective, with primary prevention strategies aimed at the community 's general population and secondary prevention strategies targeting youth between the ages of 7 and 14 who are at high risk of joining gangs. Prevention efforts undertaken by law enforcement departments around the country include: “Participating in community awareness campaigns (e.g. developing public service announcements and poster campaigns). Contacting the parents of peripheral gang members (through the mail or during personal visits) to alert them that their children are involved with a gang. Sponsoring gang hotlines to gather information and facilitate a quick response to gang-related issues. Organizing athletic events with teams of law enforcement officers and gang members. Establishing working relationships with local social service agencies. Making presentations about gangs to schools and community groups as a combined effort at prevention and information gathering. Sponsoring school-based gang and drug prevention programs (e.g. DARE and GREAT)” (Hess, 2013 p.230).

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

Juvenile gang members continue to be a severe problem in Nashville, especially in the low-income areas (Bennett, 2016). Gangs seek out youths at schools for membership with great success. This is because many kids are naive or have already committed crimes (Bennett, 2016). Reasons a youth would join a gang also includes the following:

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

     A gang is defined as a group of individuals with the same objective that are bound together by a bond of trust. The majority of gangs are

“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

“According to statistics from the National Youth Gang Center, more than 24,500 gangs, consisting of more than 770,000 members, exist in about 3,300 cities in the U.S.” (Rank 1). Although it is not illegal to be a member of a gang, it should be noted many gangs participate in illegal activity for funding and will use the money as a way to entice new membership. The “money begins flowing, and with that comes all of the things associated with material wealth that is usually beyond the reach of these adolescents without the criminal activity of being involved in a gang” (Nawojczyk 3).

One of the most common gang attraction that young people acknowledge is the economic need. Socio-economic instability is often linked to persistent unemployment and low incomes among the young, which can increase the likelihood of their involvement in criminal activity (World Youth Report, 2003). Social disorganization theory suggests that public money should be spent on employment opportunities and social programs in impoverished neighborhoods. Such an approach will strengthen social ties and residential stability in a neighborhood (McMurtry and Curling

A gang is a group of individuals closely associated. This group is in the form of an organization whose members report to a leader who controls activities within