When one hears the word “gangs”, many would start leaving the premises or speak in hushed whispers due to the threats attached to these groups. Some would argue, especially its members, that the perceptions on gangs are exaggerated considering that not all gangs are violent in nature. Regardless of these arguments, many often fear gangs as history and the media portray the violence and chaos brought by these groups when they are in their territories or fighting rival organizations. However, there are several sentiments being raised by people when it comes to the possible impacts of gang membership to the individual who become involved with these gangs. How much changes would these gangs bring to the individual and the community? Gang membership …show more content…
Drug and alcohol abuse is one of the most common physiological impacts triggered by gang membership. According to Cepeda and Valdez (2003) and Decker (2000), gang members are more prone into substance abuse considering it is often used by gangs in their activities and sometimes, it is used as an initiation rite for gang membership. Gangs and substance use have long been associated with one another as many gangs sell these substances within the black market. Studies indicate that gang members do indeed understand the risk of bad drugs, but they see marijuana as an acceptable substance considering they can still control their use of the substance unlike other illegal drugs (Decker, 2000, pp. 395-406). In female gang members or those affiliated to gangs, they would use occasional drugs and alcohol use in order to become in with their peers. The more they are connected to gangs, the more these females become enticed to use drugs or drink alcohol (Cepeda & Valdez, 2003, pp. …show more content…
In the study done by Alleyne and Wood (2010), gang members often commit more crime against people in comparison to individual criminals as they are influenced in committing crime by their peers. Some of these gang members would commit crime to gain higher ranking within the gang, or use it as a means to prove their worth to the gang. However, amount of violence these gang members would commit would vary depending on their rank and status. Anti-authority attitudes are also developed by a gang member once he is a part of the group; however, this may vary in gravity depending on the experiences held by the member when engaging with the authorities. If they engaged with these authorities properly, it would lessen the degree of anti-authority. However, should their contact result negatively, it may instill further aggression towards the authorities. Anti-authority attitudes are seen by many experts as one of the common justifications and reasons why people are lured into joining these gangs (Alleyne & Wood,
Issue: “The number of youths joining gangs in the inner city has doubled, while the number of gang leaders serving time in prison and being released after good conduct has increased. The crime rate for gang violence has risen 20% from last year” (American Intercontinental University, 2015).
Gang involvement has been quite higher than past years. The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey estimates that about 32.4 percent of all cities, suburban areas, towns, and rural counties had a gang problem (Egley et al., 2010). This represented a 15 percent increase from the year 2002. The total number of gangs has also increased by 28 percent and total gang members have increased by 6 percent (Egley et al., 2010). This shows how relevant gang related activity is in today’s society. More locations are beginning to experience gang activity for the first time. Gang crime has also been on the rise in the past...
Tobin, Kimberly. Gangs: An Individual and Group Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
In the beginning, cities and police departments refused to accept the fact that there was even a gang problem or acknowledged that that were even gangs present in their communities; however, it did not take long before their views on the subject matter began to change. As more of these so called gangs began to appear the more the general population began to notice how dangerous and violent they were becoming. While rural counties only exhibited six percent of gangs nationwide, smaller cities exhibited a whopping thirty-three percent (Riedel & Welsh pp. 222). It is in these smaller cities where the poverty stricken tended to flock to.
Currently in the United States of America, there are 33,000 or more active gangs, that operate on a regular basis. Many gangs in America are violent and radical. Yet there are also gangs that start with good intentions but soon turn to multi-million drug enterprises. Common gang members are embossed in a community that already possesses ties to the local economy.
The mentality of a gang is to gain control of a neighborhood or surrounding area, so business can be conducted for profit. Usually to gain control and power in these areas, a gang will instal fear. Fear is used to as a form of control through violence and violent means. Gang members use guns, knives, and anything that can be a violent tool to inflict violence on past aggressors, the police, other gangs members, and civilians. The use of violence is part of gang mentality. Gangs will commit crimes to gain profit, territory, importance and prestige, and power and control. The mentality of a gang is revolved around greed, loyalty, power, and need. Many gang members are part of the deviant subculture. The deviant subculture is an alternative to what society portrays as normal and appropriate. In lower income ne...
Gangs that are involved in drug trafficking are likely to be an organized because they are dealing with a product of distribution. These type of gangs were driven by profit and not so much by gang culture. Most homicides by drug gangs were caused by “quantity/quality of the drugs, payment, or robbery of a drug dealer, or customer than from two groups fighting for market control”. Most gangs that are not in drug trafficking are known to be unorganized and not as active in gang behavior. According to Sanders (1994) research, “most of the time, San Diego gangs were like any other group: going to parties, interacting with friends in social situations, and spending time at home with their families”. Klein (1995) explained that life of a gang member is “a very dull life”. Destroying the media image of gangs will make them lose their status and stop the hype. False stories only encourage power of gangs and influence prospects. Another way to counter gang myths is accessing proper research techniques in the field. With accurate statistics, we can determine what the threat level is in certain areas of the communities and approach the situation at multiple angles without wasting
Swahn, Monica H., et al. "Alcohol And Drug Use Among Gang Members: Experiences Of Adolescents Who Attend School." Journal Of School Health 80.7 (2010): 353 360.
Juveniles are important for several reasons. They are most at risk due to their position in their community. Parents in low income areas often work long hours and are not able to supervise their children as much as necessary. This can lead juveniles to seek companionship or support from other youngsters in their neighborhood. This places them in a vulnerable position that gang members may exploit to give them a sense of belonging or community. Older members of gangs may be seen as role models and looked up to. In families in which older family influences are present, gang culture may already be a part of family life. In some families, gang membership may be a tradition reaching back several generations. Younger members of the family may feel expected, or even required, to follow the same path. Such a pervasive presence of gang mentality and culture in a youngster’s life can be tremendously difficult to defeat. Additionally, the high crime rates endemic to many low income neighborhoods may further push youths to turn to gangs as a form of protection and security against the threats that they face.
The authors do a splendid job at going over gang structures and the common misconceptions that are out there about gangs. I do agree with them for the most part that gangs are disorganized and have high turnover rates at the leadership level. I do believe from my experience that some gang activities are very well planned and carried out. This is why researching this gang is so hard because of all the differences with gangs and that they are not well organized. It makes combating this problem even harder. Also, it is clear that more research is needed to develop better deterrence and therapeutic programs and
Miller defines the gang as a stable group, neither overly aggressive nor violent, that helps to prepare young inner-city males for the role adult. (Miller, 1958) The 1995 national youth gang survey from the office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention states “youth gangs are groups of youth in your jurisdiction aged approximately 10 to 22 that you or other responsible persons in your agency or community are willing to identify or classify as a gang. C.L. Maxson states that a gang is “ a group of adolescents or young adults who see themselves as a group (as do others) and have been involved in enough crime to be of considerable concern to law enforcement and the community” (Maxson, 1998).
I have chosen gang crime motivator as a topic to look further into because of the interest I have regarding, why do these members do what they do to each other? They all know about loyalty and love and they know what it is to not have that or loose that as well. Gang members show their emotions all the time by the numbers in which they show up with at funerals and the respect that they have for the family that has lost someone. These indicators allow me to believe that they really do have a heart or they really do have feelings. In fact there are myths about the relationship between gangs and crime. These myths are that: all gang members are hardened criminals, gang members spend most of their time planning or committing
et me start off by describing to you what a gang is. The legal definition of a gang is "a group of individuals bonded together by race, national origin, culture, or territory, who associate on a continual basis for the purpose of committing criminal acts”. The audience this is targeted for are the people that don’t see this violence every day. I believe that those who live in places where youth and gang violence is an issue already know what the root causes of these activities are. However, those outside the circle of violence might be less aware of the causes. People who are in gangs are usually lower class people that live in the urban areas of big cities most of the time. Gang members are recruited at young ages in their own neighborhoods
Youth gang involvement has as a major concern in many countries. There are different social factors that indulge youth to join the gangs. A gang is a distinctive group of members associated with adolescents or youth who due to the negative effect of various social factors joins the gangs. This paper argues the three social elements that lead youth to join gangs are parental influence, peer pressure, and school influence. A gang includes the undisciplined youth gang, street youth gang whose only identity is to involve in an unlawful action.
Almost all cities in the United States have trouble with gangs. Gangs include members from all walks of life. They are made up of female members as well as male members. They can be found in neighborhoods, schools, and even prisons. Many people dislike gangs and wished they did not exist. Some people see being in a gang as their way of life. Today, many young people are attracted to gangs. Gangs are glamorized and talked about in songs and seen in movies. Gangs hold a special attraction for some people. Potential members are recruited into gangs every day for various reasons. Even though there are many reasons why young people join gangs, there are things people can do to prevent young people from joining.