Gangs Essay

740 Words2 Pages

The origin of "Gangs" can lead all the way backk to the post revolutionary times. In the early days, gangs were meant to only protect or act as clubs to some. The revolutions of gangs have since taken a turn for the worse. There are an estimated 785,000 known and active gangs in America only. Gangs have popped up in almost every country, every continent, each with their own distinct style. Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians are all linked to the history of gangs.
The gang culture is usually linked to the amount of criminal mischief, relevance, and competitiveness the gang has. The criminal mischief a gang has, can build the reputation of a gang. Mischief such as thief, assault, and even petty larceny can help a small gang build reputation in the area that the gang is located but can be easy controlled by the local police department. Bigger gangs are known to be associated to murder, drug trafficking, and human trafficking which is on another level, far past the scope of local police departments but on the main focus of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Gangs that commit the most unlawful deeds gain the most reputation which is a great asset to making the gang relevant. The relevance of a gang has two sides, one side can boost a gang up in the rankings while the other side can make the gang a primary focus point for the FBI.
For the culture of a gang, being relevant means a lot because that puts the gang in the spotlight and adds even more to the gangs reputation. When a gang is not relevant this can mean two things: one would be that the gang has lost confidence and is disbanded, and the second would be that the gang will become more violent, committing large scale acts of unlawful deeds ...

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...o take stress on individuals with a higher chance of breaking they resort to gangs to protect and strengthen them.
The cons of being in a gang would be that you have to stay loyal to the gang, if they ask you to murder someone close to you because they got in the way or is part of another gang, can cause a role conflict. Breaking rules of the gang would get you either killed or beaten for a certain amount of time. Though gang life does have structure, it can easily overwhelm a new member. The thought of having seven members beat on you or having to commit a violent crime, can easily force an individual to have second thoughts. Those who do become initiated and rise through the ranks have allow the culture to consume them. The violent culture, the needs and wants of the gang surpass the needs and wants of the individual and in that they live only to serve the gang.

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