Essay on L.A. Gang Members

The state of California has a rich history of events, that on a social level, have played major parts in change and perception among the populations as a whole, and in individual communities. History has shown, and will continue to do so in the future, that changes within communities, towns, cities, states, and countries is generally motivated by civil injustice. In researching “defining moments”, I have chosen the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. The riots of 1992 mark a pivotal point in time for California

The United States is infested with street gangs, from rural towns to inner-cities, that perpetuate violence and criminal activity. There are four gangs that have gained nation status--Crips, Bloods, People Nation, and Folk Nation. American’s strain on African Americans and Latinos creates oppression and has led to the creation of these gangs. Minorities are predominantly in the lower class, stratified by inequality in the workplace, schools, and social groups. Vince Staples, a former Crip, details

Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member, by Sanyika Shakur, also known as Monster Kody Scott, from a differential association perspective and how this ultimately leads to the use of techniques of neutralization. I will begin by giving a brief description of the text as well as providing examples to support my differential association and techniques of neutralization approach. Kody Scott, at the young age of eleven years old joins the Eight Tray Gangster Crip gang. He is initiated in by being

when an opposing gang member passes by and purposefully bumps into the athlete at a party on the street. That gang member then sees Ricky staring him down and says, “Fuck you lookin’ at, nigga?” Ricky makes the mistake of being a tough guy and says, “I’m still trying to find out,” then shouts, “Nigga” to end his comment (Boyz in The Hood). Dough backs him up by getting out of his car to show the gang that he has a gun tucked into his pants and says, “We got a problem?” While the gang goes to their car

crimes. For example, Ricky and Tre drive away from the party on the street, and two crooked black and white policemen pull them over. The black policeman, Officer Coffey, has both Ricky and Tre step outside of the car, and proceeds to start questioning Tre. Tre quickly pleads, “I didn’t do nothin’!” Officer Coffey retorts, “You think you tough?” He then pulls out his gun, points it at Ricky’s face, and sternly says: “Scared now, ain 't you? I like that. That 's why I took this job. I hate little

shooting of a cop and is now spending the rest of his life in prison. Maria Reyes is a latino american living in california, her neighborhood is ran by a local gang and she and her family are part of the gang. At age 11 she was jumped into the local gang and was arrested many times before she was 15 years old. One day Maria is jumped by the rival gang and Paco ends up killing one. Now she is faced with either putting an innocent man in prison or put Paco in jail. In the following paragraph i will explain

Gang violence and organized crime have become a serious problem for El Salvador and Central America for the past decade. Gang violence is an enormous problem in El Salvador especially among young people with an estimate of 60,000 minors belonging to gangs. According to government organization Instituto de Medicina Legal, the country has the highest murder rate in Latin America and the Caribbean with 103 murders per 100,000 person. High rates of violence are contributed by competition between rival

was named after General Douglas MacArthur (LA Times, "Mapping LA>Central LA Westlake Comments"). Westlake is a neighborhood located in the Central L.A. region of Los Angeles County. Communities that neighbor Westlake include Downtown, East Hollywood, Echo Park, Koreatown, Pico-Union and Silver Lake (Los Angeles Times, "Mapping L.A. > Central L.A. Westlake"). Wilshire Boulevard divides the park in two. The lake is located on the southern

When you think of inner city do bad good things comes to mind? Thoughts of gang violence, crime, and poverty come to mind. How did it become this way? What made it become as bad as it is now? Is there a way we can change a mentality of the city? For these answers we have to go to the base root of all these cultures, see their beginnings and their breaking points. Focusing on Chicago and East Los Angeles the Latino and African American culture. The story of a struggling people and the abandonment

and many others to join a gang. The racism faced by Mexicans from the police drove people to be involved in gangs and promoted the idea that racism towards Mexicans was acceptable. I also argue that education provided Rodriguez with a path to a new life away from gangs. I argue the prospect of power and protection made gangs appealing to those feeling like they had no other way to survive the barrios and gang activity that surrounded them. Rodriguez’s involvement in gangs can be blamed on the government