Youth gang is an organization formed by a group of youngster between the age of 15 to 30 sharing a common ideology which is to control the streets in the city in which they reside by involving in unlawful activity such as drug trade, robbery, graffiti, gun violence, prostitution. This group can be identified with a name, symbol, dress code, color and body tattoos. In the United States of America youth gang has brought about more violence into the streets and the most cities a dangerous place to raise a family. This research paper will show why young individuals join gangs, how do the youth get involved with gang activities, what the youth benefit from becoming gang members, problems related to youth gang and lastly how can the country combat
There are an abundance of reasons why some youth may choose to join a gang. The lacking of sense of guidance positively and
Many of the existing prison gangs began as street gangs that formed in the community,
For this research academic paper, I will explain the issue regarding youth gangs in Chicago, Illinois. The reasons why our youth in Chicago, Illinois turn to
Living in Madera for 18 years, I came to respect law enforcement and all they have done to help better our community. The specific branch I respect the most is the gang task force. The officers of the gang task force have cleaned up the city of Madera and helped change many kids to avoid a life of crime. They have to do so much but yet, when I turn on the t.v. Or computer to dive in deeper about the gang task force line of work, most of what there is to find are authors, newscasters, and the general public bashing them along with the rest of law enforcement. It is basic human nature to stereotype and group things together. The gang task to no exception. The gang task officers are viewed by many as racist, profiling, and lying
The following paper will discuss prison gangs. From early prison gangs and their effects on the community to present gangs and their effects on the community. It will discuss the types of crimes that are committed by these gangs. The ability for these gangs to reach out to their counterparts on the outside of prison walls is tremendous. These gangs in our prison system can still cause chaos in our communities and influence our youth population.
Shellie, I wasn't surprised that women want to leave the gang life for a better future for their child but I did find it bizarre that men more so want their children to grow up in the lifestlye of gangs. This to me was something I thought existed in the past when thinking of mobs and the mob lifestyle. I assumed that over time men would also feel the same way and want a better life for their children but when the gang lifestlye is all theyve ever lived and all they know it makes sense now to see why they think its positive and good for their future children to be invovled. I think wanting that is more of a safety factor for a parent and that they believe the best way of life is to follow in their own foot steps which is understandable after
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
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
This paper will demonstrate details within these elements of gang involvement, and the implications that arise within each influential motive. It is essential to investigate gang involvement, as it is common that many young individuals tend to join these deviant groups. To take the correct course of action, it is crucial to understand why young people enter gangs, so that steps can be taken to avoid or prevent future youth from joining gangs and getting into dangerous situations, thus, resulting in the depletion of harmful effects on
The vast majority of young people involved in gangs suffer from persistent social and economic inequalities. The process of a young person’s involvement in gang happens over time. This process is influenced by major risk factors such as high levels of poverty, economic deprivation, and familial conflict. A closer look at the sociological theories of criminology may assist us in understanding youth gang involvement. In this paper, I compare the relative strengths and limitations of two competing theoretical approaches to explain the factors that influence youth gang membership. I argue that Social Disorganization theory can explain both socioeconomic and poverty, while Labelling theory can explain neighborhoods with a high gang presence as reasons that compel a young person to join a gang. I argue that, unlike the other two theories, Marxist theory approaches the issue of youth gang involvement by questioning how capitalist societies generate economic inequalities. In contrast to Social Disorganization and Labelling theory, I argue that Marxist theory offers the most compelling theoretical perspective to explain youth gang involvement.
Americas youth gang problem has always been an issue dating way back. Just looking back 30 years ago during the baby boomers era. We can see that the youth associated with gangs around the ages of 13-17 grew to about 10 percent of the population. In the 1980’s and 1990’s movies like “Colors” and “Boys in the hood” and other Hollywood productions helped spread gang life to suburban and rural areas. Research today even shows us that gangs are now present in Europe and other foreign
Youth gangs and the difficulties related to them were once thought of with comparatively small concern. However, within today’s society, gangs have become a large problem, not only for adults but for our youth. A gang’s ultimate goal is to recruit adolescents to participate in deviant behavior for the benefit of the gang, which can eventually land the minor within the juvenile justice system. Measuring the scope of the adolescent gang problem in the United States is no easy task however the majority of youth gangs include similar elements that include: a self-formed group who are together joined by shared interests, they control a particular neighborhood or territory, use hand symbols to communicate their gang involvement,
Over the years, youth gangs have been a continuing issue in certain neighbourhoods across the world, specifically in inner cities. The scholarly definition of a gang is a group that remains together for a phase of time and has a territory that they claim to be their possession. Primarily, the group participates in illicit and illegal activities that break the law (Curry & Decker, 1998). Communities and the government try to find preventative measures to decrease the number of youth gangs in the area. In order to do this, they need to recognize what causes the youth gangs to be so popular in these areas. Many different factors contribute to the high volume of youth gangs in inner city neighbourhoods. However, there is one factor that is the
When I moved from Sudan and came to the United States, I landed in a rough area of Philadelphia, PA. I remember the first day I attended school in the United States. One thing that caught my attention at school was that different groups of students will often get together and fight against each other. This was different for me due to the fact that in Sudan (as far as I remember), people fought one on one and I was not exposed to gangs back home. Since I was new to the country and my English was very bad, I was vulnerable to being bullied. In fact, I was bullied. I was tired of being a victim and was so interested in joining one of the gangs for protection. Then, I realized that these gangs were involved in all sort criminal activities which discouraged me from joining one of the gangs in school. In this paper, I will first discuss the rate of youth gangs and some of their contributions to violence. Second, I will discuss three reasons for youth gang membership.
Gang involvement among youth is a growing concern for communities as well as the criminal justice system. There are several complex reasons youth become involved with gangs (Merrin, Hong, & Espelage, 2015). The use of illegal drugs and alcohol have been linked to predispose youth to illegal actions as well as violent crime, consequently, this activity can easily guide a youth into a gang life. Further reports state gangs are formed within communities that are unsafe and disadvantaged. A need for acceptance, the longing for belonging, as well as the sense of family, is among the leading reasons that youth join gangs.