With over 96,000 members in the United States, and more than 50,000 more members nationwide, Mara Salvatrucha commonly known as MS-13 it’s the most dangerous gangs in the world. MS-13 was founded in the Mexican barrios of Los Angeles. It has spread to other parts of the United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. In the 1980s many Central Americans countries were engulfed in a civil war. The cause of these civil war refugees fled their home countries and immigrated to cities like Los Angeles. Mara Salvatrucha then rose in the ranks of LA’s most dangerous gangs, because the founding members were ex-guerrilla fighters in El Salvador’s civil war. MS-13’s criminal activities consists of contract killing, human trafficking, extortion, …show more content…
The “gangs” intentions were short lived at first, until they started integrating in people and locations. There name being broken down means; mara is a Central American term for gang salva refers to El Salvador trucha, which means slang term for clever or sharp. That’s how MS-13 started everything to become the ever expanding gang today. Making an alliance with Surenos, Becoming there alliance which afforded MS more protection in the barrios and prison, and in return MS provided the Surenos hit men thus then adding the 13, Becoming MS-13. In the United States, when a gang such as MS-13 establishes itself. There are many problems attached with the gang activities. In a community such as Fairfax County, Virginia MS-13 creates a significant problems, this suggests that any community can find itself susceptible to and victimized by gang activity. By crossing the borders, we can also examine the problems that a country such as El Salvador and their cities experience. A strong presence of the MS-13 criminal experience happened after the deportation of many MS-13 from the United States back to El Salvador and to some parts of
Michael Sierra-Arevalo received his B.A. in sociology and psychology (high honors) from the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include urban sociology, race and ethnicity, gangs, social network analysis, violence prevention, and policy implications of gang violence.
In the documentary of “The World’s Most Dangerous Gang” it reveals how it’s group gets followers. Children can be as young as eight and be recruited into MS 13. The name MS 13 is Mara Salvatrucha 13. Mara is the Spanish word for “group” or “clique”. Salvatrucha stands for “street smart”. The number 13 was chosen out of respect and because “M” is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet. When children or adults are adopted to this group they have to first go through the initiation process. This ritual consists of being beat up by members of MS 13 for thirty seconds.
The MS13 is a perfect example of a counterculture. They are a world within themselves. The gang is very organized and structured; there is hierarchy with the gang. There is a significant amount of money flow within the gang. A few ways the gang obtains money is by drug dealing, illegal weapons, vendors pay the gang to work in their territories and for their protection, and drug dealers also pay the gang to earn the right to sell drugs in their territories. There are laws and rules that a gang member must abide by. One very strict rule for a gang member is silence. If a gang member becomes informant and it is found out that they are, it will more than likely result in death for the informant. The breaking of laws and rules are punishable, even by death. They have a law system and law enforcement of their own. Check courting is a punishment served by the gang to gang members who break the laws of the gang. There are initiations one must endure to become a member of the gang. Jumping in is one of the initiations, a brutal thirteen second beating by multiple people at the same time. (World’s Most Dangerous Gang) There is a communication system within the gang. They use stacking to communicate, tattoos, graffiti, and an overall dialect that is unique to the gang. This counterculture exists internationally inside and outside of prison walls. Within the gang there are individual cliques, but when threatened they will come together and fight alongside one another. It is instilled in a gang member to kill to maintain territory and to acquire new territories. T...
According to the National Gang Center, the change is gangs from 2002-2007: +12% in larger cities, +33% in suburban counties, +27% smaller cities and +24% in rural counties (National Youth Gang Center, 2009). The gang problem in the United States of America has been getting worse since the first gang was formed by Irish immigrants in the early 1800s. For low income and areas with high population, gang involvement with youths has also been getting worse. Regarding gang-related homicides, it is for difficult data collection industries to gather correct information because after a murder is committed it must be determined whether the murder is gang-related or not. But despite that, reports of gang-related murders are concentrated mostly in the large cities in the United States of America. Including San Jose, where there are long standing and persistent gang problems, which mean there are a larger number of documented gang members. There are literally thousands of anti-gang advocacy groups because there are so many concerned parents. These groups support politicians who are working to try to create legislation to reduce the gang problem in the United States of America. There are a number of theories on how to combat the gang problem, but a strategy which rarely fails is to take small steps in progress and continue to move forward.. There will never be a perfect solution that solves every aspect of a problem. But one policy that covers a wide range of issues involving gangs is the United States Constitutional bill S.132, “Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2009.” It is the most extensive and sophisticated piece of gang legislation to appear in the last decade, it has many objectives on increasing and enhancing law enforcement resources committed to the investigation and prosecution of violent gangs. It has had more supporters from both parties than any anti-gang bill in the last decade. S.132, “The Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2009” has the potential to deter and punish violent gang crime, to protect law-abiding citizens and communities from violent criminals, to revise and enhance criminal penalties for violent crimes, to expand and improve gang prevention programs; it will give jobs back to police officers such as those in San Jose who lost their jobs and will help law enforcement indentify gang crimes to be able to put murderers behind bars faster.
El Salvador’s geography left their country and people extremely exposed to invasions. The people had to create a certain image in order to keep their country safe. “To survive, El Salvador had to develop tough-and often violent-stance toward the outside world” (37,38). This situation is one of the many reasons that gang violence is so present in El Salvador. The country is only connected to one ocean (the pacific) and is surrounded by
The first ever gang-group was created just after the American Revolution ended around 1783. This group consisted of White European immigrants, mainly English, German, and Irish. However, the first serious gang originated around 1820 in New York City. At many times gangs were made informally, in 1826, in the back room of Rosanna Peer’s greengrocery, the first well-organized gang was formed. Through the 1860 to 1980’s period, many more gangs produced in New York City. Asian and European descent, the Chinese, Italians, Austrians, and many more began to create even worse slum conditions for the City. The criminal activity had started to shift around New York, from Manhattan to East Harlem, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. Many fighting gangs soon began to emerge from the African descent, and a little ways after, black gangs appeared around 1950. Later in the 1950’s, a “slum clearance” project in the City began where several thousan...
Although the first formation of gangs was not to threatening, more serious ones began to show around the 19th century. In New York, they were said to appear around 1820. As stated by (Howell, 1999, 2006) Serious gangs tend to be categorized as having multiple year histories, large varying memberships, being organized meaning having some type of hierarchy with leadership roles, and being involved with violent crimes in the course of street presence including homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, and the use of firearms.
1. Dolores Huerta was a member of Community Service Organization (“CSO”), a grass roots organization. The CSO confronted segregation and police brutality, led voter registration drives, pushed for improved public services and fought to enact new legislation. Dolores Huerta wanted to form an organization that fought of the interests of the farm workers. While continuing to work at CSO Dolores Huerta founded and organized the Agricultural Workers Association in 1960. Dolores Huerta was key in organizing citizenship requirements removed from pension, and public assistance programs. She also was instrumental in passage of legislation allowing voters the right to vote in Spanish, and the right of individuals to take the driver’s license examination in their native language. Dolores Huerta moved on to working with Cesar Chavez. Dolores was the main person at National Farm Workers Association (“NFWA”) who negotiated with employers and organized boycotts, strikes, demonstrations and marches for the farm workers.
For many Americans MaraSalvatrucha or commonly known on the streets as (MS-13) is an unfamiliar gang but to (FBI) Federal Bureau Investigation,(ATF) Alcohol, Tabaco, Firearms and Explosives, and local law enforcement agencies,MS-13 is an uprising globalized menace of ruthless criminals who are growing in numbers exponentially. These plagues of criminals are not only making their mark here in the United States but they are deeply rooted in their country of origin, El Salvador and all throughout Central America with the exception of Costa Rica and Panama. From drug and human trafficking across the border, to murders, kidnappings, prostitution rings and drug distribution within the United States and other countries, MS-13 is a force to be reckoned with and is as problematic as terrorism for law enforcement.
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 members as exposed to a lower class subculture that rationalizes and even promotes crime, delinquency and gang membership, contrasting to the “normal” set of prescribed values and culture in more civilized society. Acculturation Theory argues that youths join gangs as a means to be acculturated by ethnically or compositionally similar peers, whether as a response to ethnic marginalization by members of the host country or inability to acculturate to their new home.
It is surprisingly difficult to pinpoint the origin of street gangs. This may be because of the inherent nature of gangs: a group of individuals who come together for the same purpose and in the case of str...
This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.
...th twenty-eight passengers were murdered by gun men that had stopped the bus. These people were killed by members of a street gang (that is also in America that has around nearly 10,000 members and is present in thirty-three states and counting (Campo-Flores 1)) called Mara Salvatrua or better known as MS-13. This attack had chosen their victims at random and it had nothing to do with who was on the bus. This attack was said to show protest (and a warning) against their government’s crackdown on different gang activities (Arana 1). Also, back to America, gangs can be found anywhere, not just in the inner city, so everyone needs to be aware of what is around them and what could possibly happen to them or the people around them. That is another reason why it is so important for us to teach students about gangs and the possibilities that could come from joining a gang.
Sunday July 7th was going to be the last day of my journey to reunite with my mother. By then, it had been seven years since she left us to go work in Texas. In Honduras, we had owned a small convenience store a block from our home before we lost it- along with our peace- to gangs. You see, in the late 90s, the United States government had deported hundreds of ex-convicts to Honduras with the majority turned out to be gang members. Most of them, members of Mara Salvatrucha1 (MS13) and Barrio 182 and well those two gangs aren’t exactly the best of friends. By the early 2000s, those two and other local gangs had begun a bloody battle for the territory they all claimed. Along with that they extorted locals and made and distributed drugs to earn money.
Justin wakes up every morning and gets ready for the streets. He puts on his black flag, black shirt, black pants, and hit the streets. Justin is a Black Disciple. Despite the fact that is has been shown that gangs are bad and can cause death; some people continue to join gangs. This paper will explain why people shouldn’t join gangs. Also, will be about the harm and violence it brings to people and their families. It will also be about the colors gang members wear, the way the act, how they make money the illegal way. Then, it will talk about what we can do to prevent younger children’s from joining them.