Juvenile Criminal Gangs

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Juvenile criminal gangs have long been a significant issue with the criminal justice establishment. Youths coming together to commit criminal acts normally attributed to adult and more vicious criminal organizations are now being routinely committed by juveniles. The reasons for these youths in committing the activities have somewhat baffled author tries as well as scholars and researchers. It must be noted however, that juvenile delinquency is not new; laws in the past have sought to control the criminal and deviant tendencies of children, and prescribing changes from rehabilitative to retribution against criminal acts committed by juveniles. Many of the common assumptions-from being accepted and venting violent behavior- have long been considered as the more traditional reasons accepted as the reasons why youths join gangs. However, research studies have shown that youths are joining gangs for different reasons than just material gain and acceptance. The paper seeks to use the theories espoused by Agnew as well as other supporting postulates proffered by Akers and Sellers, Guillon, and Merton in analyzing the issues as well as the possible solutions in lowering the propensity for youths to join these gangs. Literature Review Gullion (2006, p. 1) states that the strain theory has a rich academic “heritage” in defining the criterion for explaining deviant and criminal disposition, collected from the work of Durkheim to the modern writings of Agnew. In recent times, youths have been committing criminal actions and have been engaged in criminal behaviors; however, the term “juvenile delinquency” is of more recent vintage. Some of the earliest laws included the “rebellious or stubborn” child law in Massachusetts. The law was the ... ... middle of paper ... ...ablishing an accurate profile of juvenile gangs has been collected from police reports and profiles rather than from surveys of juvenile gang members. For example, one of the flaws is that though offending youths differ in a number of psychological and social factors, the non offending youths do not differ much from juvenile delinquents. Here, the tenets of the strain theory with regards to youths in criminal gangs can be used by lowering the factors that will likely cause the strain in the life of the youths. Improving the economic opportunities available to the lower economic classes, offering equipping programs for youths who are at the greatest risk of joining gangs, and working to integrate the goals and objectives of these gangs into social uplift and development policies can work to help reduce the instances of youths joining gangs (Pennington, 2013, p. 8).

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