Gang effects on the community:
Gangs has their own culture and characteristics that includes their dress codes, identifying symbols, language, graffiti, drugs use &trafficking, use of other narcotics, and involvement in other illegal activities. However the nature and characteristics of gangs differ from community to community. Gangs however are found to be more prevalent in high crime areas and are also responsible for the majority of crimes committed.
However to understand the function of gangs within the community we have to delve once more into the definition which is characterized as an identifiable group of people who: are generally perceived as a distinct aggregation by others recognize themselves as an street identifiable group (almost invariably with a group name) have been involved in a sufficient number of delinquent incidents to call forth a consistent negative response from neighborhood residents and/or law enforcement agencies.
(Reference: Klein 1971; Klein and Maxson 2006)
According to Howell et al., (2002) most of the less-populated areas, including rural counties, that first experienced
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Even though some members face incarceration the street culture is most often transferred into the prison system and gang operations continue which often results in hits being called on people from within the prison walls. Although a major concern of residents is the more organized and violent gangs, the start-up gangs also instill fear in residents when troublesome behaviors involve intimidation, vandalism, graffiti, and occasional drug sales (Weisel, 2002,
How well Wes Moore describes the culture of the streets, and particularly disenfranchised adolescents that resort to violence, is extraordinary considering the unbiased perspective Moore gives. Amid Moore’s book one primary theme is street culture. Particularly Moore describes the street culture in two cities, which are Baltimore and the Bronx. In Baltimore city the climate and atmosphere, of high dropout rates, high unemployment and poor public infrastructure creates a perfect trifecta for gang violence to occur. Due to what was stated above, lower income adolescent residents in Baltimore are forced to resort to crime and drugs as a scapegoat of their missed opportunities.
In the article “Gang Membership and Drug Involvement“ by Beth Bjerregaard, when we hear about gangs we think of murders and drug dealers but are gangs involved in more stuff than we think. Gangs are more likely to sell drugs than non gang members. Gang relationships are very complicated and many members have violent behaviors . Gang memberships and their drug use. Many gangs sold drugs likes heroin, cocaine and marijuana.
Prison Gangs Our streets and neighborhoods today are filled with drug abuse and violence, generally distributed and perpetrated by various gangs. Many people cannot go out of their houses at night or take a walk after sunset in fear of falling victim to these gangs. When these gang members get caught for their illegal activity, people just assume that they are locked up, away from the gang behavior that incarcerated them in the first place. Unfortunately, this logic is flawed.
Overall, the connection between race and gang involvement is complex, and many different factors contribute to it. The book Juvenile Justice in America by Bartollas and Miller provides a more detailed analysis of this topic, as well as other issues related to juvenile
Gangs are long-term sellers, so they have an incentive not to drive customers away by abusing their power. ”(Skarbek). Most inmates who are recruited mostly for their protection are usually the ones who get out of prison in 1 year or less. Therefore the gangs use them once they are out or threaten them. The gangs in prison are very bad and that's why we need to fix the prison
They display lack of fear at any turn of events, which eventually lands them in prison. However, these young people view prison as a place where they can harden themselves up and enhance their street reputations. The persistence racism, hopelessness and alienation of the minority groups are the main factors that constitute to the violence they engage in. The negative feelings exhibited by Whites towards the minority groups are fully confirmed by the high crime rates. This in turn also legitimizes the perception by the street oriented individuals towards the street rules.
In Chicago, and all over the nation, the effects of gang activity have been displayed, specifically in low income and poverty torn communities. Poverty is measured depending on a family’s annual income and determining if the amount falls below the poverty threshold for the family’s size. If the annual income does fall below the threshold, then the family and every individual in it is considered to be in poverty. Gang activity is more visible in the areas specifically in major cities similar to Chicago where poverty is a commonality in communities. although gangs might add structure in order where the government fails to do so in the projects and and similar low income communities the negative effects such as the distribution of drugs, violence,
Prison gangs thrive on crime within the facility. If not addressed their involvement in crime will continue to grow and pose a threat to other inmates, staff, and the institution. If procedures are not put into place then gang membership will only continue and remain a safety concern. Administration must ensure their staff members are adequately trained and know how to act and deal with the gangs. Because the prison community is so private more research needs to be done to understand the workings of prison gangs and get more current, detailed, data.
When in prison, we see that those who were in gangs are still in gangs and that those who were not, are likely to join during their sentence. Naturally the prisons are filled with criminals who not only bring with them a record of past wrong but also an attitude of anger and or survival when they walk behind the walls of prison. This attitude of anger fueled by the thought of survival keeps most from ever experiencing renewal or change when behind bars. While in the world they were criminals running from the law and while in prison
Summary This article Gang & Security Threat Groups Issues In Jail Today was written by George W. Knox from May through June of 2022. This article was written based on the information and feedback from the NGCRC 2019 jail survey. It is an article that compares surveys that are similar in topics that were conducted in 1993 and 2019 being the most recent. Some of the comparisons from the two surveys were gang increase and the percentage of jail classification systems that takes gang/STGs membership into account.
Gang Definition and Classification Classifying gangs is no simple task and to begin you must thoroughly understand the definition and requirements of being classified as a such. There are multiple definitions of a gang, according to The Modern Gang Reader but the one I will focus on is “A street gang is any durable street-oriented youth group whose involvement in illegal activity is part of its group identity.” Now that the definition has been identified it needs to be broken down further to clearly differentiate why this definition is essential.
This paper draws on existing sociological research in identifying a number of theories used in explaining the formation of gangs. The theories discussed are social structure theories, social conflict theory, and social process theories all of which highlight elements of strain in different forms as they relates to gang formation. According to Merton, (as cited in Schneider & Tilly, 2004) structural theories significantly emphasize the role of social and economic structures as the causes of delinquent behavior and tend to treat criminal behavior as the result of the undesirable and dysfunctional structures (P. 3.).
Weak family ties, single parent households, multiple transitions within a family, and poverty/financial stress are all potential influences for youths to join a gang (Howell & Egley, 2005). Family risk factors can also include parents refusing to give their children the proper education or lack of discipline at home (Howell & Egley, 2005). Family members that are in gangs can also influence their children to join a gang themselves (Herrenkohl et al. 2010; Lahey et al. 1999). Risk Factors Related to School. Thornberry et al.
Gang violence has been a problem in society for several of years and is a growing problem each and every day. The youth that is involved in gang violence will have numerous effects upon them that will come soon or later when associated with a group of thugs. Children and teenagers if they still go to school when accompanying a gang, they face the heightened risk of dropping out of school; teen parenthood; be victimized by another gang ; abuse drugs and alcohol; commit petty and violent
Throughout the 17th-century gangs have been causing havoc in people's life and destroying the society. The National Institute of Justice (2011) has defined a gang as "A group of collective members which create an atmosphere of intimidation among citizens. " Many of these gangs are well organized, using different forms of violence to control neighbourhoods and to conduct their illegal activities. The National Gang Threat Assessment (2011) reports that “Gangs are responsible for an average of 48 percent of violent crime in most jurisdictions.” Street Gangs have caused incidences of violence that is confined in the inner city of many countries.