Essay On Gang Related Crime

Today there isn’t a community in the United States that can say gang related crimes are not an issue in their community. Over just the past four years the country has seen a 13% increase in gang related activity. The unfortunate part is that most of the crimes committed are violent in nature, consisting of arm robberies, home invasions and other weapon related crimes Youth Gang Programs and Strategies. (2000).
As with any criminal activity that his showing signs of growth, the gang issue is one that needs to be viewed form the point of where is starts. The base point is the lack of consistence and stability in the family environment. The broken family unit and the lack of economic stability leaves the family with little to no recourse to effect a positive change. This points the families of the juvenile offender with the only direction left, which is the court system. By the time the juvenile offender has reached the first appearance in the courts the aspect of criminal behavior has become an imbedded behavior reducing the possibilities of a reversal of a learned behavior.

The assumption that this is the first criminal act perpetrated lends to a lenience, with little to no corrective measures. As with any problem that needs to be solved locating the root of the problem is the first step, and most of the time it encompasses the family. There needs to be an in-depth evaluation of the juvenile as to his family environment. The first stage of this evaluation needs to look at whether there are issues in the family. It needs to dwell into the aspect of child-rearing, supervision, the size of the family, is there a criminal history with other family members, is there or was there a history of child abuse, and what is the social economic status (Saminsky, A.