Youth Gang Theory Paper

For years, gang crime has been loathed by society, as society has perceived it to threaten the well-being of its members. In addition to the fear of gang violence, concerns have been raised of gangs polluting youth; hence, policing strategies have emerged more increasingly in an attempt to put an end to the delinquency. Nevertheless, for society the causation of gang crime has been discussed to a lesser extent; thus, the objective of this essay will be to depict a viable explanation of gang crime through the use of two criminological theories. To accomplish the task at hand; I shall, define gang crime, provide a description of social disorganization theory, illustrate how the application of social disorganization theory provides an explanation of gang crime, describe differential opportunity theory, demonstrate how differential opportunity theory can explain gang crime, and exemplify as to which theory provides a superior explanation of gang crime. In the end, it will be clear that social disorganization theory is a superior explanation of gang crime in comparison to differential opportunity theory, due to its ability to deliver a more enhanced explanation than the one that is provided by differential opportunity theory.

Gangs have been a point of concern for states and societies around the world for centuries. Youth gangs are not exempt from that same categorization and have operated for the same amount of time worldwide. Over the last century however, a proliferation of youth gangs has been witnessed, especially among Hispanic youths immigrating into the United States. Researchers and scholars have offered multiple theories as to why youths, and Hispanics youths in particular integrate themselves into gang organizations. Three schools of thought arise when conducting gang integration research. Rational Economics Theory1 proposes that youths, and all individuals, join gangs for financial and material benefit. Cultural Deviance Theory considers youth gang

The most known African american gangs are the Crips and Bloods. They were “the two most violent and criminally active African American gangs-originated” (Hoover 1). The Crips formed in Los Angeles. Neighborhoods and schools would be assaulted by the Crips. They would also do armed robberies. “They developed a reputation for being the most fierce and feared gang in the Los Angeles area” (Hoover 3). Other gangs were being formed because people felt like they needed to be protected from the Crips. A gang that was formed was the Bloods. This gang was from Compton, California. These two gangs were involved in many crimes such as robbery, assault, and selling drugs. They usually sold “marijuana, phencyclidine, and lysergic acid diethylamide” (Hoover

Youth gangs in North American society are nothing new. When we turn on the news we often hear stories of misguided youth contributing to yet another gang related crime. Even though it is known that youth crimes are overrepresented in the media today, the subject of youth gang activity is quite a predicament to our society. Over the last few years, there has been a moral panic created by constant exposure to the media which portrays a great amount of youth crimes and violence. In Canada there are large urban cities with high proportions of young people, many of which live in poverty, that now have the issue of dealing with youth gangs and youth crimes. Toronto, British Columbia, and Ottawa are examples of Canadian cities that have

America’s cities have experienced a substantial increase of gang membership among the youth living in impoverished communities throughout the last thirty years. Prior to 1990, many individuals associated gang activity with specific communities, but as youth gang violence was drastically increased across the United States’ inner cities, the public’s perception of this emerging social issue shifted. Due to the rapid rise of gang violence and the rise of youth membership, delinquent behavior by youths began to receive a substantial amount of academic and media attention. Gangs have been perceived by the media as groups of individuals who congregate regularly to commit crimes to profit their organizations.

Juvenile’s gang and violent go hand in hand. When you see a violent crime in lower social economic area the cause is usually juvenile gangs. Juveniles commit majority of the crime in the community they reside in. Juvenile gangs have a (OG) “Original Gangster” who gives out order within the group for the juvenile to do as there told. Once the order is given the juvenile will follow through. This paper will assess the negative Impact gangs have on a juvenile in the low poverty

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).

At this time, it is impossible to believe that youth gangs and juvenile violence is a myth. There is no denying that there are gangs and they are brought about by many of America's youth who wants a quick fix in life. There are plenty of studies to back this up. Results from a national survey of law enforcement jurisdiction showed that there are almost a million gang members in the United States alone. Within that ‘million’, there were 46,000 people involved in gang accidents that spurred violent crime in the country. Due to our general information about gang formation, it is common to blame their development on poverty and other social problems. You must start by looking at the availability of drugs and weapons in the community.

Since 2012, Chicago has gain an increase in youth violence. Chicago neighborhoods in the low incomes and unsafe areas has been the steep in gang culture. Both authors, Desmond Patton and Benjamin Roth, showcases how teenagers can become easily affiliated with neighborhood gang’s for varies reasons. Youths participate in gangs for their benefits which includes protections, memberships, and status.

This paper will examine the factors that contribute youth to involve in criminal gangs. It aims to look at social disorganization theory as well as rational choice theory to understand youth and their involvement in gangs. Three main factors that this paper will be focusing on and studying thoroughly are the effects of parental supervision, the community the youth is raised in and peer influence. Despite many programs that are instilled to ensure that youth are helped with delinquency, there are still many influences such as parental supervision, community and peer influence that can sway youth and their decision to join a gang. Based on this discussion, this paper will argue that the ways that children are educated and raised at a young age

The sociological analysis of gang membership explores the different types of effects that arise due to criminal involvement. Because of the social conflicts that are associated with gang membership, this paper will explore the different theories of social learning and both personal and control issues that relate to the recent surge in crime across Chicago. As we open the doors of a crime ridden society, the truth begins to unfold. It isn’t just the thought of helping, it is the action that remains the barrier between living a life of crime or a life that carries hope.

Conformity illustrates the shaping thoughts and beliefs to align with the opinions and thoughts of others. Teens feel this pressure the most. At least 40% of teens say that peer pressure distracts them from reaching their goals. (Peer Pressure Survey Statistics, 2010) Teens are unable to develop a sense of independence to deal with peer pressure. Psychologist Abraham Maslow says “a hierarchy of human needs and one of the needs is to belong and to be accepted by friends, family and peers.” (Grayson, 2015) Due to this, teens end up joining gangs and showing gang behaviour. Gang behaviour and conformity is therefore due to lack of family, guidance, and authority, lack of opportunity, and social and peer pressure.

Abstract: This review studies in depth research done on street gangs. Social issues have social scientists turning away from including this in their research around this time. Sociological views have been changed dramatically in the past 40 years due to gender and racial studies. Also, women have started to join gangs since America has been changed with woman equality laws passing.

Criminal gangs are there to rule, they have been there in every community for a long time. Gang's intentions are to commit crimes. Gang leaders oversee extortion, order killings or smuggle drugs. This paper studies gang formation, why individuals join gangs and the negative influence gangs have to the society and the economy. The study focuses on some of the prominent gangs in the world today; it explains the activities of the Russian mafia and other gangs. This paper explains power struggles within gangs and gives out recommendations to solve problems associated with gang operations. This paper puts into perspective a study on factors influencing gang membership; the study employs personal interviews as a method, causal research design and ordinal scale of measurement. Prisoners in California state prison are the sample population. Structured proxy question are used, and observation to study an individual's race. The study focuses male prison gang members. Findings from the study indicate that the less educated an individual is the likely for one join a gang, from the study it is evident that gang members feel disregarded when formulating policies, it is clear that race is not a factor to gang membership and that most of the gang members come from dysfunctional families.

The presence of gangs has always been of concern to society, largely owing to their criminal behavior. The solution to the problem, however, lays not so much in police and legal action, but in addressing, the social causes of gang development. In other words, society has to change social conditions such as poverty, family abuse and neglect, the educational system, the Criminal Justice system, employment opportunities and the nature of social programs in order to prevent the development of criminally oriented gangs. Indeed, society would probably benefit a great deal if it could stop punishing such behavior and, instead, focus on the creation of a social environment that could prevent the development of criminally oriented gangs. The primary cause of gang development, it has been well established, is poverty. This is because poverty causes economic and social pressures that lead to youth developing a poor image of self and society. In addition, homes that suffer from poverty are often prone to family neglect and abuse, which aggravates the problem. Unfortunately, poverty and dysfunctional families tend to congregate in the same neighborhoods, which lead to already embittered youngsters feeding off each other 's anger and bitterness. This anger and bitterness is collectively so strong that it resists any and all efforts of the educational system, community and social programs to promote socially productive and upright behaviors. In fact, educational and other social efforts