Gang Injunctions Against Diablos

According to, Schram, & Tibbetts, (2014) based on the characteristics of social structure in the neighborhood three different types of gangs are formed; conflict gang, criminal gang and retreatist gangs. According to, Logan, &Sullivan, (2010), the youth immigrants were exposed to violence and it is the only thing they know, therefore making them vulnerable to joining MS-13 gangs.

According to Juana Bordas “the Latino population in the United States grew by 43 percent in the last decade, accounting for more than half of the population gain” (IX). As a consequence the Latinos represent one of the largest and most diverse groups in the USA (cf. Saenz 352).

The city of Las Vegas has changed rapidly from becoming a beautiful city to a violent place to live in. The city has seemed a rise in homicides as well in the last few years. The strong presences of these gangs are taking innocent lives and making the community a harder place to raise a family in. Many of the gangs in Vegas account for most the drug trade, as well as the staggering homicide rate. The gang problem is not only a problem in Las Vegas, but it is all over the world. Gang violence is a problem in every major United States city including Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD) has implicated many programs to fight the increasing gang issue across the valley, from bringing back the gang unit to having more police officers patrol the known gang spots. These programs were implicated to stop the criminal gangs that are looking to build their territory in Nevada. The three criminal gangs that are mainly affiliated with Nevada are the Gersons’, the Crips, and the Playboys.

In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers, who are getting involved in some dangerous things very early in life. In the novel The Outsiders, the “Greasers” which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one. There is a number of reasons that range from simple to complex, on why teenagers join gangs, and we can help by finding solutions to their specific problem before they choose to join one. To help someone get out of a gang, we as a society need to show there’s more out there in the world that they could do that will make a positive impact.

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.

Most gangs include mainly male people who can range up to the ages of 12 to 25 years old. Gangs are commonly found in large cities, which either include a white dominant race or a black dominant race. They follow a consistent pattern of either being truants and come from unsupportive families. They can also be people who are unemployed and struggling to make means and therefore they result to gang activities. They are seen to be associated with criminal activity and violent behavior as well as prostitution and drug laundering including many other criminal offenses. Due to gangs being in transgressing behavior it can be viewed as a social problem. However gang related activities could be based on how you define the term. George W. Knox, the creator of the National Gang Crime Research Center, believes that it depends on who defines the term. Such as a politician, a researcher or a government official. A social scientists definition is said to depict gangs as “denotable adolescent group of youngsters ” (Malcom W. Klien, 1971) who engage in illegal behavior which follow an internal organization by adopting a gang name that claim control and defend their own territory against other rival territory and the rest of the general

Gang violence is a growing problem in this world. No parent would like to imagine their kids dealing with weapons or being threatened by them. These violence’s affects each child individually and their families as well. These gangs recruit multiple different individuals for many reasons such as bribery, family traditions, or even threatening. Although, many kids feel like they have to be a part of it but there are many resources out in this world to prevent them from believing so.

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).

Kass’ statement about in gang crime being an intergenerational problem is consistent with prior gang research. Intergenerational gangs is not a new phenomenon. For many youths, gang life is all they know. Many gang members have other family members who are involved in gangs already. In Lauger’s (2012) ethnography of the DFW boyz, he found

There has been a misconception towards gangs in America. When one thinks of a gang, possible characteristics that would come to mind are that they root in poor neighborhoods, that their members are all ethnic minorities, and possibly that they are composed of all males. But in this case we have a gang that is not composed of ethnic minorities and was not born in a poor neighborhood. According to Brian William Ludeke This gang is known as the “Malibu Locals Only” or the “MLO” gang, which is a group that resides within the lovely neighborhood of Malibu, California and it is composed of Caucasian males (Ludeke). According to Ludeke writer of the article Malibu Locals Only: "Boys Will Be Boys", Or Dangerous Street Gang? the “MLO” even though they

Some kids join gangs for protection and family and sometimes just for a fight. In the article called “ Rest in peace Doc” it’s about a boy named Doc also known as Desi. This boy had lost his family in an accident and him and his brother have the gang as a second family because the real family had left. Desi had joined the gang for protection because his parents had died in a rumble or a fight. It states in paragraph 1 that “I heard because his parents had been beat up by a rival gang just to disrespect them and he was hurt pretty bad in the incident.” This quote supports this because Desi lost someone he loved and he uses the gang as his protection in rumbles.

Gang activities have been increasing over the years from crimes ranging from robberies to homicides. In California, estimates were made by the Justice Department that approximately 175000 to 200000 persons were members of gangs. In the county of Los Angeles gang activities for over a period of five years accounted for over 23000 of the crimes that occurred.(Friedrichs. M. 1999). Gangs have become not only a problem for those communities where the gang's ar located but has become a problem for everyone. These gangs have also incurred a significant impact upon the

Gangs are negative groups of people to associate with. They are composed of very dangerous people. Gangs and gang violence should be eliminated so that the amount of people that get harmed because of these can be decreased. Gang violence should be stopped because it negatively affects businesses, schools, and communities.

The National Gang Center Bulletin was written in order to give us information on the presence of gangs in the schools. The percentage of students in both middle and high school really shocks and saddens me; I did not realize that this number was so high. There should not be thirty-five and forty-five percent of students in any grade level affiliated to gangs. This article also reveals that not only are male students joining, female students are becoming members as well. Everyone knows that gang life follows you no matter where you go, so by these kids still being in school, they bring the trouble around other students and if affects and jeopardizes their safety. I feel as though private schools have little to no crime because over half of the students in these communities cannot afford the yearly tuition.

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. Most gangs are made up of young males that are of a similar background and have a desire of acquiring