...Social Problems Associated with Street Gangs Gangs are becoming prevalent in today’s society and within our schools. More and more young people are turning to gangs in an attempt to escape their everyday lives and the future, which they perceive as dismal and bleak. They are initially attracted to the prestige and cash flow, which is glamorized by the street gang. Many gangs are actively involved in criminal misconduct, such as drug and gun trafficking, burglaries and homicides. However, street gangs are not just a criminal justice issue, but a social problem, which is triggered by poverty, peer pressure, boredom, despair and lacking a sense of belonging. A street gang can be defined as “an organized social system that is both quasi-private (not fully open to the public) and quasi-secretive (much of the information concerning its business remains confined with the group) and one whose size and goals have necessitated that social interaction be governed by a leadership structure that has defined roles; where the authority associated with these roles has been legitimized to the extent that social codes are operational to regulate the behavior of both the leadership and the rank and file; that plans and provides not only for the social and economic services of its members, but also for its own maintenance as an organization; that pursues such goals irrespective of whether the action is legal or not; and that lacks a bureaucracy (i.e., an administrative staff that is hierarchically...
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...Chapter 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING Background of the Study Today’s teenagers generation are more curious especially on things that are new to them, that’s why some of them are joining peer groups that offers sense of brotherhood and acceptance. It enables young people to express their selves without fear of rejection or exclusion. Friends and barkadas serves as the avenue where you can initiate your first steps towards adulthood. In teenagers perception the word “new” is adventurous, exciting, and enjoyable. Fraternity is an ongoing group of people that have a common name or common identifying sign or symbol, form an allegiance for a common purpose and engage in unlawful or criminal activity (Hess 2010). In the United States there are large number of Filipino gang membership around the Southern California region (SoCal) and generally the entire West Coast region. Due to their Hispanic culture they are more assimilated with other Latino gangs. There are thousands of Filipino gang members which mostly center around the California region, Chicago, New York, and Miami. They represent a diverse array of backgrounds and affiliations with some being with the Bloods, Crips, Sureños, Norteños, Peoples, and Folks. A number of gangs in the Philippines are known to be active around the nation, the majority being centered in Manila with locations in and around the general Metro Manila region. One of the most infamous areas in the City is Tondo, Manila. Tondo is known to be the...
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...Counseling Children and Adolescents Dr. Lawrence Rubin Capstone Module 4 People join gangs for many reasons, not least to fulfill the universal needs among young people for status, identity and companionship. There is some evidence to suggest low self-esteem has a significant relationship with the characteristic features of gang membership: aggression, antisocial and offending behavior. Other important psychological motivations contributing to gang membership include the need for money, protection against victimization, connectedness to others in the gang, the need for status and respect, and excitement (Madden, 2013). As a former probation officer, I was able to supervise and form relationships with a significant amount of gang members. I was able to see firsthand the risk factors that circle around the neighborhoods where gang activity was prevalent. Gang membership doesn’t just appear in a vacuum. There are so many different forces at play and risk factors that coincide with mental health problems in these environments including: low-income households, unemployment, use of illicit substances, low parental involvement, low educational attainment, and involvement in the criminal justice system. As a therapist, I realize there will be numerous mental health issues that will be challenging. There appears to be a high prevalence of conduct and antisocial personality disorders among the gang membership population. Violence before age 15 that persists into adulthood is one...
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...Importance of Help for Juvenile Delinquents With the never ending problem of juvenile delinquency on the rise in United States, a solution to this problem has never been more important. Many of today’s youth actively and proudly engage in criminal activities, with much of it being spurred on by gang activity. The lack of structure within the lives of adolescents and lack of discipline has created a generation of unlawful, disrespectful delinquents that are difficult to successfully integrate into society. This column reviews three article that take an in depth look at what can cause this scenery to play out for youth and what some of the solutions may be to the problem. The first article examines the connection that has recently been discovered between level of functioning and the recidivism risk for offenders based on that. The second article takes a look into gang life and how the use of drugs within gangs plays a vital role in the ability of youth to successfully integrate into society. The third article reviews the developmental aspect of juvenile delinquency and how serious juvenile offenders are often overlooked in many studies dealing with mental health social disorders. Level of Functioning and Recidivism Shepherd, J. B., Green, K. R., Omobien, E. O., (2009). Level of functioning and recidivism risk among adolescent offenders. Adolescence. 40, 23-32. In this article the author’s main focus is that there should be more attention paid to the level of functioning...
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...Gang Violence: What Really is Going on? Professor Holly Walpole ENG 1270: English Composition II Module 4: Research Paper Indiana Tech 10 December 2014 Outline THESIS: Gang violence is an escalating problem in American society today I. Gangs in the United States are becoming more violent and deadly than ever. Thousands of people are dying each year from these ill-mannered thugs. II. Gangs within the past two decades, beginning in the early 1980’s a growing concern has been focused on what can be considered a social epidemic among the youth of our nation. III. In recent times, the news media has cried out against violent media, painting it as the leading cause for youth violence. Gang violence is an escalating problem in American society today. The article offers developments on the research initiated in the 1990 related to the gangs in America. It also examines the increasing proliferation of criminal gangs of Central America origin. Furthermore, it considers the threat that gang violence and gang criminal syndicalism pose to U.S. regional security and foreign policy objectives when gang widening reaches that third generation gangs. There are many different factors that can be blamed for this problem. During the last decade of the twentieth century people began searching for answers to this dilemma which is haunting America. Many tragic school shootings have taken place within the last decade that have the attention of the public. As of now, no one...
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...relatable. I have been a detective assigned to the Multi-Agency Gang Unit for the past six years. Therefore an article relating to gang interventions in jail is quite fulfilling. The focus of the research was the necessity and effectiveness of gang intervention programs in a jail facility. An initiative such as this is paramount as the jail administration seeks to maintain influence over the gang members. The jail is intended for inmates awaiting court processes for less than a year. Along with the federal and state prison system, local jails have experienced significant growth in the past two decades. The type of increase has also contributed to higher volumes of inmate violence....
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...Research Paper Social Research Methods Fulkerson Research Question: What are the main factors that lead teenagers to join gangs? Hypothesis: The amount of violence, crime, and fear gangs create in society has only been increasing throughout the years. One of the major problems with these gangs in society is that teenagers are the main members of them. The topic I am going to do my research experiment on, and try to find more valid research on is the reasons why teenagers join gangs. When conducting my research I would want to find out the main reasons what is driving teenagers to participate and turn to gangs. There can be so many factors that pushes a teenager to rebel and go as far as relying on gangs to be there for them. This would be great research to expand on, because learning what motivates these teenagers to join gangs would increase peoples knowledge about it. Increasing peoples knowledge about it I think would decrease the number of teens joining them. Friends, family members, school teachers and many more would be able to point out the early signs, or factors in their life that might be affecting them to go down the wrong path. With more knowledge about the teenage gang situation people might be able to steer kids into getting some help, such as talking to a counselor about their struggles, or directing them into better extracurricular activities such as sports or clubs. Method of Investigation: Based on previous literature I have read up on and studied...
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...organized criminals would form their own organization, before coming to the Unites States because they believe that they could not trust Span’s law enforcement. So the citizens of Sicily would organize their own protection of society would eventually would evolve into the Mafia. As the years go by many more organized crime groups would appear from Russia, Mexico, and African Americans groups. In this paper I will discuss the why I feel that these groups are assumed to break the laws of our government and compare the difference of my definition to what is actually read from the book” Organized Crimes”. I would also like to discuss the characteristics that might be associated with organized criminal behavior. WHAT IS ORGANIZED CRIME? When I think of organized crime, I think of Italian mafia, Russian Mob, Mexican Mafia, biker gangs like the Outlaws and Hell’s Angels willing to get what they want under a well thought out plan. These organized crime groups work under legitimate businesses to front their illicit good and services to profit money. Just like in the television show “The Sopranos, “where Tony the main boss use a construction company to front his underground illicit drug and services for profit and power (Lyman & Potter., 2007). My perception also looks at the biker...
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...At least that indicates their recent problems with Biggie Smalls and his recent relationship with Death Row Records (a music company) at that time had been accused of a possible relationship with Gang Members and on June 4, 1996, Tupac and Outlawz(Rap group) released the diss track "Hit 'Em Up", a song with lyrics that assault on Biggie and others associated with him. In the song, Shakur claimed to have had sexual relations with Faith Evans, Biggie's wife at the time, and attacked Bad Boy's (The music company were Biggie Work). Shakur was convinced that some members associated with Bad Boy had known about the '94 attack on him beforehand due to their behavior that night , what his sources told him but mainly because the attack happened when Tupac enter the building to give a visit to his former friend Biggie...
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...English 106: Writing Intensive May 7, 2008 Global Organized Crime Globalization has brought about many new ways of communication and different ways of interaction. Helping societies progress in the ever changing world by introducing beneficial styles and ideas to each other are just some of the positive concepts to result from globalization. Unfortunately, globalization has also led to negative concepts such as illegal trade and other various crimes. Organized Crime has been around for centuries and now exists in a variety of distinctive manners in almost every section of the globe. How is the world today so polluted with crime, and why is there a substantial presence of gangs, racketeering and counterfeiting throughout our society? Global organized crime rose greatly in the early modern era during times of the spice trade and well through the industrial revolution. Throughout this period, markets became self-regulating as well as less dependent on the state from where they were located or originated. The world was rapidly becoming more globalized and crime evolved with it as well. Underground organizations at the time could not be prevented from carrying out illegal trade as well as smuggling. As the world was changing, so were methods of illegal operations. Older structures of organized crime were more centralized. All through the time of the early modern era, organized crime became more diverse, decentralized, and highly mobile, similar to how it is today. In the present...
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...West Philadelphia Gangs West Philadelphia Gangs West Philadelphia is a diverse community that is inhabited by people of various religions, economic classes, and race. It is an area with in the city that has a large number of universities and a very large amount of urban row homes and apartment complexes. West Philadelphia is an area that contains many homes in a very small area. The population of the 19th Police district is approximately 231,200.("Population Demographics," 2013) This section of the city and specifically the 19th district is home to many small gangs. The vast majority of the gangs in this section of the city consist mainly of young African American males. The gangs in this district typically associate with other males and females who are from the same street or within close proximity to the specific street name in the title. For example the 19th district has a group called the Lansdowne Ave gang and the Callowhill Money boys. The distance between these two streets is approximately one half of a mile depending on the route taken. These two small gangs are responsible for various crimes within the 19th district. The crimes they commit vary from narcotic distribution to homicides. These two gangs specifically consist of young African American men who come from a neighborhood that is poverty stricken. Miller states that men who come from lower-income families are concerned with being tough and that this is rooted in the fact these families are frequently...
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...Girls and Gangs For much of history, gang members who are female have generally been left out of the equation. When both the layman and the researcher looked at gang life, gang members, and how they function, rarely have women and their role in gang culture been considered. However, women have long played important roles in gang life, culture, and membership, and the importance of such cannot be ignored. When women in gangs are studied, patterns emerge, the paths that often lead to gang life are able to be greater understood, and this understanding may lead to better practices in gang prevention and intervention. Women and girls have not been well-studied in relation to gang life until recently. According to Holsinger (2000), female delinquency has historically been ignored altogether, or researchers have tried to plug the female experience into theories formulated for males. Female roles in gangs were viewed as unimportant, and when they were studied, it was only in relation to their male counterparts (Campbell, 1990). Because the female experience is so much different from the male experience in a wide array of ways, it is important to take into consideration the different factors that may lead girls and women to pursue the gang life and join gangs. It is estimated that between 8-and-32% of gang members are female. That number has been disputed by several surveys, but as one researcher clarified, 32% of the jurisdictions surveyed did not even consider females...
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...identification of the proportion of youth in the community who claim gang membership or who are at high risk for gang membership. School-level data and information from school staff are vital to rounding out the picture of gang activity in the community. This chapter provides guidance on collecting data on the following: Student characteristics and disciplinary actions School-aged youths’ perceptions of gangs and gang activity (student survey) School staff perspectives on gang activity on campus Prevalence of Gangs in Schools In the mid-1990s, 28 percent of the national sample of students reported that gangs were present in their schools (Chandler, Chapman, Rand, and Taylor, 1998). This number dropped to 17 percent in 1999 and then increased to 24 percent in 2005, almost the level reported a decade earlier (Dinkes, Cataldi, Kena et al., 2006). Thus respondents to the national survey of students reported a decrease in gang activity in the late 1990s and an increase in the opening years of this century. Impact of Gangs in Schools Where they have a substantial community presence, youth gangs are linked with serious delinquency problems in elementary and secondary schools across the United States (Chandler, Chapman, Rand, and Taylor, 1998). This study of data gathered in the School Crime Supplement to the 1995 National Crime Victim Survey documented several examples. First, there is a strong correlation between gang presence in schools and between both guns and availability of drugs...
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...Introduction Gangs have been around for over a hundred years. In the late 1800’s to 1930’s there were a lot of famous people known for their association with gangs, some are Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Al Capone. There have been many movies about gangs and in the movies make it seem like being part of a gang is really cool, but in reality there are many risks with being part of a gang. This paper will discuss three articles discussing the risks of gangs. Article 1: “Why Do Youth Join Gangs? The Problem, Risks, and Attraction to Gang Life” This article discusses the increase in gangs across Canada. Most gangs in Canada are adult gangs, however there is an increase in youth gangs and problems arising in the community. The article further describes specific things that they believe attract youth to join gangs at an early age. This article addresses five characteristics that can cause youth to join gangs. They are poor school...
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... a report on street gangs called ‘Dying to belong’ argued: “Over the past decade, British society has seen an increase in gang culture and its associated violence. In addition, the composition of gang culture has shifted: gang members are getting younger, geographical territory is transcending drug territory and violence is increasingly chaotic.” The report went on to say that the “police in London and Strathclyde have each identified 171 and 170 gangs respectively.” The Metropolitan Police Service have also identified that the majority of gang members are between 12 and 25. The proposed new injunction would enable a court to impose a range of restrictions: • Not entering a specified place, for example, the neighbourhood that the gang regards as its territory. • Not being with named members of a gang, Gangs are able to intimidate people because they operate in significant numbers. Being alone, gang members are much less able to threaten or commit violence. • Not wearing particular items of clothing such as gang colours or balaclavas which prevent identification. Under the Policing and Crime Act 2009, police and local authorities now have the power to apply to their local county court for an injunction against local gang members. At present, the injunctions are for over 18s, although the government intends to roll the scheme out to younger teenagers later this year. Gang injunctions appears to simply shift the problem to civil courts. The...
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