...Gangs Kimberly Richardson Everest University A gang is a word that is not uncommon in this day and town. You can find one in every town every city every state. Many people could say that they are scared of them because they are big and bad. Then when you talk to the young boys they would tell you that they are the protection of the streets. My friends are always there when I need them. In the following paragraphs I would like to discuss the gangs in America and what they mean to people today. Now let’s first start off with the definition of a gang. According to the freedictionary.com the definition of what a gang is “a group of people who associate together or act as an organized body for criminal or illegal purposes.” According to a 2005 report there are approxiametely, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members in the United States(Grabianowski, 2011). Every violent crime that happens in America most of the time comes from a gang. There are no more of the traditional gangs now. The Crips and the Bloods are no more. You now have smaller factions who the younger kids as young as thirteen have gangs such as crews or cliques. There are many reason why a person would even join a gang lets discuss it. Now there are many reason why a person would even think about joining a gang lets discuss a few of them or even all of them. The first reason why a person would thing about joining a gang would first be there are very bored. When you...
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...The adolescents are struggling these days. In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton describes the main character Ponyboy also known as Curtis is in a gang called the Greasers. The Greasers always thought that the Socs had it better than them, but they found out that the Socs are cool to the point of not feeling anything. In the article, “The Allure of Gangs” it also describes why kids join gangs and what leads them into conflicts, like in The Outsiders. However in the article “Cool at 13, Adrift at 23” it shows how the influence of their childhood plays a role later in life. In The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton it describes two groups of teenagers who have so many differences. In the book it says the Greasers were the poor kids and lived on the East Side. On the other hand, the Socs were the rich kids and lived on the West Side. The Socs were always getting drunk and looking for fights with the greasers. However to the public, the Socs were seen as good kids who didn't get into any trouble. On the other hand, the Greasers were seen unruly and unlawful to the...
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...Gangs Gangs have been a part of American Society for many years now. Some people would argue that gangs started around the 1950s (Made in America video). However the notorious gangs that most people know of, the Bloods and the Crips did not form until later. Many people question why young men and even kids join gangs, and there can be different answers to that question. However many people can agree that gangs and gang involvement is deviant act. The question now is what type of deviant organization are gangs, according to me, I believe that gangs are organized crime groups, or also a deviant family outlook. I believe that gangs are organized crime groups because gangs make up 48% of violent crimes (www.fbi.gov). Gangs take part in many different violent acts such as murder, theft, rape, kidnaping and etc… That is because gangs compete with other rival gangs, and when asked why they fight most gang members did not have a reason why. (Made in America Video). However they said if they kill one of us, than we go and kill three of them, it is that type of attitude that has led to 48% of violent crimes. (Made in America Video). Gangs to me are also organized crime groups because they participate in drug manufacturing, trade, and distribution which has to be carefully operated, without it being organized there would not be a profit made. Participating in all these different activities within the gang is what leads me to believe that they are an organized crime group. Another question...
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...Gangs By: Kanan Suleymanov A gang is a very complex group of people made by certain people in order to obtain money and power. It maybe hard to believe and one may think how is a gang even remotely complex? A gang is far from being simple and easy to establish it takes a lot of man power and intelligence. It is considered somewhat like a business an illegal one of course but a business never the less. In the dictionary a gang is defined as a group of people through organization, formation and establishment of an assemblage they all share a common identity. In the industrial age, which is the 1800s the word gang did not denote to a negative connotation but it actually referred to a group of workmen. In Britain the word is still used today as the original meaning but it later underwent what is known as Semantic Change. People always wonder why do others join gangs? Why would they just ruin there lives devoting it to crime and all these other terrible things that come along with problems within the gang? Some reason might be money, identity, discipline, recognition, love, belonging, and peer pressure. Others really have no choice. Imagine you’re a little kid living in the urban world, you know your family cannot provide for you the care that you want and the basic needs a child needs. The reason being for this is because they do not have enough money what would you turn to? You would of course go into the one thing that you may think is really easy and a fast way...
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...HOW TO PREVENT LOOSING OUR YOUTH TO GANGS To prevent youth from being involved in gangs or gang-related activities more states should implement programs similar to A&E’s “Beyond Scared Straight” to let kids see what the consequences of their actions could lead to. Gangs and crimes are increasing each year that it’s no wonder why kids fall susceptible to them. There are currently about 400,000 youth gang members and about 600,000 adult gang members in the United States. Out of all the youth gang members 360,000 of them are boys and 32,000 of them are girls. A lot of youths that join gangs end up committing crimes which land them in juvenile detention, according to research 15% of youth females and 85% of youth males are incarcerated in juvenile detention. Gangs also often lead to death and in 1994, 24% of youth deaths were gang-related and I’m sure the number has tripled by now. Some kids are born into gangs because it runs in their family and others choose to join but no good ever comes from them. Youths are easy targets for gang members to recruit for many reasons. Children aren’t very mature and do not yet fully understand the consequences of joining a gang so their easy to convince. Children also don’t know that gangs can be very difficult to get out of and sometimes the only way out is death. Some gangs let females get out if they become pregnant but the other options are to get jumped out. Children also see gangs as a way to make easy money to buy those things they...
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...Gang Life The term gang (noun) is simply defined as an organized group of criminals. However, the gang sub-culture is more complex. A gang is better defined as a group of adolescents and young adults who are united upon on a common idea/identity, and are often involved in delinquent activities to better their own stature. Gangs usually have a somewhat military like structure, with leaders at the top, lieutenants and sergeants, and soldiers at the bottom. Young children have various reasons for joining street gangs, but do not realize the ramifications caused by the gang life. Children often believe joining a neighborhood gang will make them become recognized, or safer, but the harsh reality is that so many youths don’t realize the hazards associated with gangs until it is too late. The history of street gangs in America dates back to the formation of America herself. The first gang-like groups formed in the Northeast right after the Revolutionary war ended, in 1783, in New York City. These groups were mainly young white immigrants from Europe who just fought over turf in the city. In the Midwest region (mainly Chicago) the first street gangs developed in the 1860s and were mainly white immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and Lithuania. In the most western region of the United States Mexican gang-like groups started appearing in Los Angeles sometime around 1890s. Gang-like groups have been around America for quite some time but a few key events escalated gang presence in the...
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...Darry allows and encourages violent acts towards others. In the article “ The Allure of Gangs” explains kids joining gangs from not getting attention. Kids want to join gangs so they feel like they have an actual family. They also feel comfort from being in a gang. Also the article explains how kids and the causes of joining gangs. Kids feel alienated and different from others. They also feel separated from society. That is why Darry should let Ponyboy into the system. Ponyboy feels apart from everyone and society. In the article “ The Allure of Gangs” explains kids feeling alienated and alone. Ponyboy feels like he doesn’t really relate to anyone. Kids join gangs to feel like they are loved and they can feel safer. In addition, the article describes the feeling of being in a gang. Kids feel safer than in their own homes. They also feel like they have an actual family. Ponyboy feels alienated from society. Ponyboy should go into the system because darry lets violent acts occur, he feels apart from society, and he also lets him wander the...
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...Why Do Urban Youth Join gangs? There is no universal agreed upon definition of a gang. According to the national institute of justice the federal definition is “An association of three or more individuals whose members collectively identify themselves by adopting a group identity, which they use to create an atmosphere of fear or intimidation, frequently by employing one or more of the following: a common name, slogan, identifying sign, symbol, tattoo or other physical marking, style or color of clothing, hairstyle, hand sign or graffiti.” The purpose of a gang is to engage in criminal activity and which uses violence or intimidation to further its criminal objectives. Gangs come in all different types, there are multiple types of gangs; for example motorcycle gangs, prison gangs, hate groups, adult organized crime groups, terrorist organizations and other types of security threat groups. The reasons people tend to join gangs are lack of jobs, poverty, domestic violence, and lack of education. The most common age for youth to join a gang is between 13 and 15. Youth join gangs for various reasons; money, sense of support and belonging, peer status, and a sense of protection are seemingly provided by the gang. Youth in gangs are more likely to abuse drugs, engage in high risk sexual behaviors, and experience long term health and social consequences. The reason that today’s youth join gangs is because of environmental factors, early academic failure and lack of school attachment...
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...Why Youths Join Gangs and How to Prevent it from Happening Reaver J Childers Liberty University CJUS 310-B02 Professor Godwin Abstract Have you ever been watching the news and heard the news reporter say, “A young man was shot and killed outside of a corner store. It has been reported that he was a part of a known gang, referred to as the Crips. He was shot by a rivalry gang member.” Do you ever wonder what provokes a juvenile to want to join a gang? There are a lot of parents who ask this question after hearing about someone else’s child or their own child becoming a part of something so horrible. There are so many parents in the world who are losing their children to gangs. The gangs are coming into the communities and praying on what is considered to be the “weak ones.” The “weak-ones” are the ones who seems to be lacking something in their lives, and the only way they know how to fill that void or to get what they are looking for is by joining a gang. The gang gives them status, love, trust, attention, and most of all, it gives them an opportunity to have all the things that they think are important. They find all that they are missing without thinking about the consequences of being affiliated with such groups. This isn’t new to our society; youth gangs have been around for more than 150 years. The youth gangs have grown larger and bolder since the beginning of their time. This paper will discuss why so many youths join gangs...
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...Changing Course – Keeping Kids Out of Gangs Ashley Solipo Kaplan University CM107 Changing Course: Keeping Kids Out of Gangs The article I have chosen is Changing Course: Keeping Kids Out of Gangs by Nancy Ritter who is a writer and editor for the National Institute of Justice. The audience that the article is directed towards are parents, families, teachers, law enforcement, as well as youth groups who have interaction with our youth on a daily basis. I selected this article to write about because I believe it is a huge problem in our society today. Our communities should be forewarned of the violence and consequences of youth gang membership. Here in the United States gang membership has remained persistent and has been such a huge problem for many in the past years. It is said that One in three local law enforcement agencies have reported gang problems in their jurisdiction. In a 2010 national survey, about 45 percent of high school students and 35 percent of middle school students had admitted to being gang members. It is sad to see that this is the world we live in today! Because of the increase in gang membership, consequences for gang membership has increased tremendously and placed such a burden on communities and law enforcement today. The influence of gangs today has played a huge role in the generations to come. Our youth who are in gangs are more likely to be both victims and perpetrators of violence then those whose...
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...01/13/2011 Juvenile Gangs My bias opinion on youth gangs is the same as I view planting a seed. If you plant a seed in bad soil most likely you’ll grow a defected or bad plant. I say that to say this “if a child is raised in an unstructured household most of the time that child will take his home training outside the home. Then we also have our young kids joining gangs that come from good homes, but can’t escape their negative environments once they walk outside their front door. Also some of the youths get involved in gangs looking for something to call a family; these are mostly our kids coming from foster homes, adoption agencies and so forth. Personally I feel the majority of the kids involved in gangs are lost and out trying to find themselves. Then we have younger kids who are labeled gang members, but are far from it. These kids usually grow up together and have strong bonds with one another; they occasionally dress alike, hang together, and claim to belong to a certain neighborhood only by personal childhood reasons. But the local authorities see things different, they feel as if you wear certain colors, hang in certain areas with 3 or more kids claiming to belong to anything other than a sports team are considered gang related. To the rise of drug use amongst teens is also a major contribution to the growing number of youth kids joining gangs. Being that drugs from marijuana, to heroin has become so easy to get a hold of the kids are experimenting more freely now...
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...Gang violence can be prevented and put down; people should be aware on what is happening in their communities and tell and or educate people on how to prevent these kinds of things from happening. Every where in the world local and ton of local communities suffer from crimes that aren’t even related to them due to gangs being a major problem in their area this needs to be brought to the spot light so we can put a end to gangs/gang related crimes and by doing this and educating the younger generation and youth we can aspire and hope to create a future where kids and people can be safe from poverty, drugs, violence and shootings and the killing of people due to gang related crimes kids and teens often join gangs because a friend is in a gang,...
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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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...Juvenile Gang Violence The expansion of youth gangs has widely increased since the 1960’s mainly due to the baby boom during this era. In the article “Preventing Adolescent Gang Involvement” from September 2000, Finn-Aage Esbensen describes the major impact on how gangs hurt the community. The population of children ages 13-17 rose ten percent corresponding to an increase of crimes of the American youth. In the 1980’s only seven percent of the American youth made up the population yet no signs of decrease in crime was slowing down. Movies and television brought notice of gangs to suburban and rural areas of America. With high rates of gang involvement and the increase of lethal weapons being bought by these gangs it turns attention to law enforcement to find a way to stop gang violence across the United States. In order to prevent the formation of gangs and youth to join new or existing ones it is necessary to understand the causes and attractions of gangs. The first criteria that concerns law enforcement is defining what elements resemble a gang. Some usual signs are groups larger than two people between the ages of 12 and 24. These groups may have a specific name, colors they wear, or symbol and handshake they use to define who they are. They must be stable for over a period of one year and have an area or “turf” of where they represent. The last and major area is to have some type of criminal activity in which they are involved in. The typical gang member...
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...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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