Youth Gangs Sociology

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HOW AND WHY DOES THE MASS MEDIA ATTEMPT TO DEFINE GANGS AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM.

The mass media create ‘moral panic’ according to their principles of news value, most especially when it is related to gang activity (Cohen 1955). Youth gangs have become a contemporary ‘folk devils’ as portrayed by society and the media and labelled over time. This essay will attempt to cover diverse facets and theories, one being the labelling theory. It will look into the causes and theoretical interpretations of why youth gangs are formed and how these youth’s groups have created ‘moral panics’ and how society deviants have been shed in a particular light. The essay will examine the myths and realities surrounding the sensations of youth gang with reference …show more content…

Cloward and Ohlin argued that, though both were deprived of genuine opportunity, the organised slum has established ladder in crime and well connection and the disorganised slum, in contrast, have no connection and therefore, the only rout to status is by physical prowess and illegitimate opportunities such as street crime (halarambos 2008, …show more content…

Though Home Office statistics indicates a general reduction in violent crime, the emphasis on violent crime and in specific gang linked this crime or crime with knives or guns, means that this will persist at the top of the community protection schedule, with their also being a rising sense amongst the public for the necessity to fight this troubling drift.
Various research schemes such as Operation Chrome and Operation Cruise became operational in order towards developing additional understanding into gang associated behaviour in Manchester and London, this was as a reaction to high profile killing cases such as: Stephen Lawrence was knifed to death in 1993 by a gang of white youths, Damilola Taylor who was murdered, again by a gang of youths, and in 2000, Jamie Robe was beaten to death in 1997, though there is not any definite proof to advocate that the killings are gang associated, other than the point that, it was carried out by more than one

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