Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Gang violence in the united states on youth
Conflict theory on youth gangs
Gangs in the world
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Gang violence in the united states on youth
Introduction
I am researching this topic because preventing youth involvement in gangs is an important issue. Teen violence and gangs have been around for a long time and there is many family, community, news media and political issues about how to handle and deal with these troubled youth. Gang members compared to non-gang members, commit majority of the violent crimes and non-violent crimes in the United States (Allen, Latessa, & Ponder, 2013). Gang involvement and its violent crime have become a growing problem in the United States. Most gangs consist of people of the same ethnic, racial, and economic background. They usually come from low socio-economic backgrounds, low-education background and have some form of discrimination against
…show more content…
them (Allen et al., 2014). Gangs get involved with illegal money making activities, intimidate their neighborhoods and rival gangs with violent crimes and victimization. Youth violence and gangs are part of ongoing process that involves lives of young people, but is more influenced by the world and people around them. History of Topic Gangs have been around for a long time but their reasons for forming continued to change as population increased in cities and more racial and ethnic groups started to migrate to the United States.
Street gangs in this country can probably be traced back to the first wave of Europeans who migrated to the colonies for a better life for themselves and their families. Many of the first gangs were formed as a means of self-protection, with the thinking that there is simply strength in numbers (Howell & Moore, 2010).
The missions of gangs in today’s society have grown and emerged to include many criminal activities such as prostitution, violent crimes, drug trafficking, and extortion. Gang members exemplify a high value for group loyalty and sacrifice and expect nothing less from its members. According to Howell & Moore Gangs began to flourish in Chicago and other large cities during the industrial era, when immigration and population shifts reached peak levels. Early in American history, gangs seem to have been most visible and most violent during periods of rapid population shifts (2010).
Scope of the
…show more content…
Problem The problem with gangs is that it involves youth in crimes, brings fear and violence to neighborhoods, it brings drugs to the neighborhood and destroys property, whether its personal property or retail property and due to that it will drive out businesses and families. When you have gangs it affects everyone in the community internally and externally. Also the problems with juvenile gangs isn’t easily addressed as it should be, because most of the problems occur within their own neighborhood due to social & economic conditions and ethical & racial discriminations that goes own in the inner city neighborhoods. Media and political officials believe that these problems and conditions are beyond their control when in fact they are the reasons these groups are in those conditions. Lastly, understanding that gangs and the control of their behavior has become much more complex as a result of social change at global, national, and local levels. Immigration continues to change the face of this country, as people come from all over the world in search of a better life (Howell, 2010). Past Cure for the problem There weren’t many trainings or programs designed just for youth gangs and violence and until the twentieth century, there was little difference between how the justice system treated adults and children. Age was considered only in terms of appropriate punishment, and juveniles were eligible for the same punishment as adults, including the death penalty (Allen, Latessa, & Ponder, 2013). Over the course of the last century, attitudes toward children who committed crimes began to change and the term "delinquent child" rather than "criminal" began its development with the creation of the first separate juvenile courts. Juvenile delinquency in the United States, because of its emphasis on rehabilitation and the remnants of the parens patriae doctrine or the requirement that the state act in the best interest of children, has become an increasingly complex subject. Current Cure for the Problem The majority gang control programs in the United States always targeted individuals rather than groups and have always ignored that the gang group process and structure is also important to gang behavior.
Here are many training programs established to deter and prevent youth gang involvement and youth violence. Starting in the early 1990s a program was created by the Phoenix Police Department to prevent and reduce youth violence and gang involvement. This program was called G.R.E.A.T. According to The Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) website, this program is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership. The G.R.E.A.T. Program is built around school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curricula. It provides a continuum of components for children and their
families. Another current cure for the problem is based in Chicago and is called Chicago's Operation Ceasefire. The Ceasefire program was established in 1999 due to the on going senseless killing in the city of Chicago by gangs. This uses prevention, intervention and community-mobilization strategies to reduce shootings and killings. The program is managed by the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention (Gangs and Gang Crime, 2011). There are many other programs but these are some of the early starters in the 1990s. Summary Despite all efforts from families, communities, and political officials at youth gang and crime prevention, some youth will just become involved in the juvenile justice system no matter what programs or training have been established. We must protect and nurture the well being of our children and youth by making sure our families, schools, and communities are in the best environment to raise our young people. The best way to help troubled youth is to build an effective system that works to build positive relationships between troubled youth and caring, well-trained adults that will take the time to listen and find ways to help in communities and schools. This will minimize the grouping of juvenile offenders in facilities and separate high-risk youth from low-risk youth and only keep high-risk offenders in rehabilitation centers.
This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.
Schmidt, L. M., & O'Reilly, J. T. (2007). Gangs and Law Enforcement: A Guide for Dealing with Gang-Related Violence. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD.
It is surprisingly difficult to pinpoint the origin of street gangs. This may be because of the inherent nature of gangs: a group of individuals who come together for the same purpose and in the case of str...
The American headlines of any large city will site killings on street corners, robberies, assaults, intimidation, and drug interaction. While not all-criminal activity is associated with gangs, the 780,000 strong members do account for a large majority of the problems that are plaguing America. There is no one-way to stop gang activity in one single swipe, but through a combination of cooperation, education, and training techniques law enforcement can minimize the gang’s movements and even stop a crime before it is committed.
In 2003 as a response to communities with a large amount and growing number of youth gangs the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, initiated the Gang Reduction Program (GRP) (U.S. Department of Justice 2008). The formation of gangs is seen as a response to system failures and community dysfunction. As a result, one of OJJPD’s anti-gang initiatives is to make communities safer and have a pro-social environment (U.S. Department of Justice 2008). Furthermore, OJJDP plans to provide economic and social opportunities that gangs often promise to new recruits which are often obtained in an illegal and dangerous fashion (U.S. Department of Justice 2008). OJJDP believes that the GRP is capable of addressing the underlying issues for the increasing popularity and intensity of gang activity in specific suburban and rural neighborhoods (U.S. Department of Justice 2008). The program takes an integrative approach to dealing with the issue of increasing membership and participation with gangs. The following will discuss the program’s goal, theoretical basis, methods of operation, and overall effectiveness. After reviewing these major aspects of the GRP I will personally assess the value of this program and conclude whether or not the evidence supporting the program’s efficiency is strong enough for me to recommend it for implementation.
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...
Street Gangs are becoming popular in many cities across the country. According to the Department of Justice's 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members (Grabianowski). Gangs bring fear and violence to neighborhoods, drugs, destroy property, involve youth in crimes and drive out businesses. When you have gangs in a community, it affects everyone in the community. An alarming amount of young adults are joining gangs and becoming involved in illegal activity. Most gangs have a rule that when you join the gang you are a member of the gang for life. Gangs can be removed from our communities with more community involvement and education.
The streets of Philadelphia are rapidly becoming a home to violent acts and random homicides. Innocent lives are taken every day due to the strong presence of gangs, and the streets are run by unruly groups of fearless young adults. Gang violence in Philadelphia is a major issue, and the citizens will never be safe until gang prevention occurs. Gang prevention is not a simple task, but with the right resources available, it is possible. Gang violence is a problem that will contribute to the collapse of Philadelphia, and it has yet to be solved throughout many generations. With gang violence on the rise, the best solution to gang violence is to educate the youth and parents about gangs and use family support to prevent the creation of gang members from the problem’s core.
Tobin, Kimberly. Gangs: An Individual and Group Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Throughout the centuries, gangs have been rapidly growing. As early as the 1730s different groups of people in Europe began forming gangs. At first they were composed of people upset with the government who started riots to rebel against the government. Decades later, gangs began to spread worldwide very quickly. Gangs made their way all the way to the United States, or the 13 colonies at the time. They were largely created by people upset with the government. There were gangs for federalists supporters, and gangs for people who supported the Anti-federalists (“Gangs” 2015). As centuries passed, people formed gangs for different reasons. Beginning in the 1940s in cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit, gangs of white
Social Class Most of the gang members that have been reported come from the lower social economical class. When these kids are out in the streets they have nothing better to do so they begin to commit delinquent behavior. Since these economically challenged kids have no money to go anywhere, they tend to hang around their neighborhood. These kinds of groups encourage each other to commit criminal activity. They feel that if one does it, all of them can do it too.
Gangs originated in the mid 1800’s in the cardinal direction using it as a method to defend themselves against outsiders.The idea of gangs became populous, powerful, and a broad influence. But like all powers, they tend to corrupt and recognizes violence as a way of getting what they want faster than other methods.They turn violence into fun, profit, and control.Creating a situation that affects youth in today’s society.
Statistics show that school-based programs as well as community-based prevention programs minimize gang involvement. School-based programs address substance abuse and violence, which reduces the risk factors for gang involvement. For example, in the article “What Can Schools Do to Prevent Gang Involvement,” by Gary D. Gottfredson, he states, “universal programs in kindergarten through secondary school, which [is a] rewarding educational environment im...
Many stereotypes of gangs have been fabricated. The problem is that a majority of gang members do not fit these stereotypes, which, in turn, makes it hard for the to be caught (Klein). Traditionally they organize their group around a specific neighborhood, school or housing projec...