The definition of a gang as most of us know it, is an organization or group of criminals. A violent group that comes in many different types’, race, age, and geographic background. However, most gangs reside in urban areas and in poor community. The most recognizable gangs that the American media, culture, and justice system look at frequently is African American gangs. Those are the at-risk gangs or thugs that is frequently said to African American gangs. In the 1990s, gang violence was on the rise, where it was dominantly founded in youths. Anderson, Dyson, and Lee (1996) argued that when a group of African American youths join together and commits delinquent acts and crime, they already categorized as gangs to the American public. This affect and many other affects is what creates an increase in gang violence. Those other factors are socioeconomic status, history, race, gendered, and geographic background. They play a huge role on the creation and formation of gangs. Theses factor will help understand the cause of gang’s geographical livings, and the strains that instilled in African American gangs. Overall, an awareness that will help stop the violence in black youth in dominate urban areas.
The Causes of African American Gangs Anderson, Dyson, and Lee argued that the main cause of the creation of gangs is Robert Merton theory on Strain. Merton (1938) believes that the conflict between culturally induced goals and institutionalized means to achieve goals or the
References Egley, A., & Howell, J. C. (2012). Highlights of the 2010 National Youth Gang Survey. Retrieved from: https://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/237542.pdf Sanders, R., & Moore, S. (n.d.). Mandatory Waiver for Juvenile Gang Members in Tennessee. Retrieved from: http://www.belmont.edu/burs/pdf/Social%20Work-%20Sanders%20and%20Moore.pdf Searles, K. (2017).
Criminal and conflict gang whose primarily intent of crimes for tangible gains. Social structure theorists consider that the main components to illegal behavior are the ascendancy of social and economic influences that are distinguished in rundown communities where the population is predominantly lower-class citizens (Siegel, 2010). This following theory goes into helping us comprehend ways the human behavior, is the result of physical
In the newspaper paper article, “No Sanctuary in Chicago’s street Gang wars,” Kass (2017) focuses on a recent murder in Chicago. Kass states that Chicago is a place of death do to the ongoing gang wars that Chicago is experiencing. Kass (2017) further points out Chicago gang crime is an “intergenerational problem, of grandfathers and fathers and sons and mothers and daughters wearing their gang colors.” Kass’ statement about in gang crime being an intergenerational problem is consistent with prior gang research. Intergenerational gangs is not a new phenomenon.
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.
In chapter 19 of Membership in Youth Gangs and involvement in Serious and violent offending, Terence P. Thornberry examines the correlation between youth gang membership and their participation in serious crimes. Throughout the reading, Thornberry highlight’s what he believes to be the three most important findings in his research. First, our author provides research exhibiting just how youth gang members are responsible for a majority of serious and violent crimes committed by the general youth. According to the reading, prior studies have determined that gang members are significantly more involved in serious delinquency than non-gang members. For example, Fagan (1990) study of a general adolescent sample revealed that only 23 percent of the participants of the study where a part of a gang, but accounted for 67 percent of felony assaults, 66 percent of minor assaults and 66 percent of robberies.
Utilizing research findings and realistic experiences, Shakur, Howell, and Griffiths disprove myths about gangs, justify the reasons for young people being recruited because of their desire to be understood by others similar to them, and girls integrating themselves into the groups from their relationships with members. Howell and Griffiths managed to explain the principles behind gangs and their members' lifestyles, while Shakur provided real gangster experiences as supporting evidence for the research findings. Theories to gangs may be existent, but without proper research leading to the findings, or experiences from subjects who lived the lifestyle, beliefs about the organizations merely become empty
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.
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.
Most of the gangs in the United States started from the urban regions. Despite the belief that the gang has been existing from a very long time, the gang in the United States started at around 19th century specifically at major cities such as New York, other cities like Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, as well as Miami and other major cities. The poor sections of the cities provided a more room for the vice in the United States. The gangs were based on ethnicities such as the Irish, Italians, and polish among many other ethnicities in the USA. The gangs were organized in groups that included; the shirt tails, who could wear their shirts outside their pants as a sign of group affiliation.
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
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 have been and are a growing problem. Prison organizations throughout the United States have tried many different strategies to address the issue of prison gang members. One of the problems is that gang members are more of a threat to the staff and other inmates than regular inmates who are not in a gang. The prisons have problems begin able to house certain serious offenders that need to be kept separate because of the limited spacing. Gangs in the prison have a higher disruption and incident rate then non gang members.
Gangs represent themselves by symbolizing different colored bandanas for each gang, wearing baggy clothes, and mainly jeans and t-shirts. Rap music is typically associated with gangs also. Lingo of gangs can be things such as heavy use of slang, derogatory terms which are usually used to describe other gangs, and secret codes. A secret code of the largest American gang, the Bloods, is “suwoop” which is supposed to imitate the sound of a police siren. Tattoos can represent a gang too, as many will get tattoos all over their bodies that symbolize which gang they are associated with.
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.
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.